Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Damage (Abe Glitsky, Bk 4)

Damage (Abe Glitsky, Bk 4)
jjares avatar reviewed on + 3266 more book reviews


John Lescroart is one of my favorite authors. He has 3 series that interlock with each other. Dismas Hardy is the major character in the lawyer series, Abe Glitsky handles the police series and Wyatt Hunt is the self-employed PI.

DAMAGE is the fourth Abe Glitsky novel; however, Dimas Hardy and Wes Farrell join Abe as main characters. In all of Lescroarts books, San Francisco is literally a character. Whether the marine layer or city politics or famous city landmarks are part of the mix, San Francisco is always the background upon which the characters struggle.

Shock of the century, Wes Farrell is now the DA for San Francisco. Wes is a 2011 version of a beatnik or a hippie. He travels to his own drummer and strolls into his law office in worn t-shirts that offer wry comments on the wearers psyche (HEAVILY MEDICATED FOR YOUR SAFETY is one example). Over several books, Wes has gotten more serious about his life and career; this is the result.

The media moguls of San Francisco are the Curtlees. They are unscrupulous power-brokers with fingers in most of the city pies. However, their heir, Ro Curtlee was found guilty of a vicious rape and murder 10 years ago. Everyone associated with the prosecution of Ro was demoted or fired from their jobs thanks to the under-the-table actions of the Curtlees.

Now, Ros lawyers have won a retrial and Ro is released from jail. Suddenly, witnesses from Ros first trial die horribly. Glitsky is sure Ro is exacting revenge; wet-behind-the-ears Wes faces the powerful Curtlees as he starts his job as DA.

The Curtlees go after Abe Glitsky in the press; Abe can find no evidence that Ro is behind the mounting death count. The tension mounts and the reader must hold on as he joins a wild roller-coaster ride.


The Abe Glitsky Series
1. A Certain Justice (1995)
2. Guilt (1997)
3. The Hearing (2000)
4. Damage (2011)