Betrayal (Dismas Hardy)

Dismas Hardy and his buddy Abe Glitsky are back, together with the rest of the colourful cast from the legal world of San Francisco. And the restaurant business. Lou the Greek and Moses at The Little Shamrock are serving the hungry/curious (today's Special at Lou's is not for the fainthearted) and thirsty as faithfully as ever. Secretary commander Phyllis in charge at the office and wives Franny and Treya at home, complete the daily order of things for our two friends.

The story is up to date, starting out in Iraq. Actually about two thirds of the book does not include Dismas & Co. at all, who only show up for the wrapping up of the mess and ensuring a happy ending.

Evan Scholler and Ron Nolan meet on different missions in Iraq. Their paths cross in connection with a serious incident which kills almost all lieutenant Scholler's men and leaves Evan seriously wounded. He is flown back to The States for brain surgery and further treatment. Having lost lots of his faculties both mentally and physically, the prognosis is for a long time somewhat shaky. But against all odds, Evan improves and becomes the miracle guy getting to be - almost - as good as new.

But Evan and Ron end up in a deadly conflict, both over what happened in Iraq and about Evan's beautiful girlfriend Tara. A conflict which ends with Ron's death and Evan ending up in prison for life. Attorney Charlie Bowen disappears while preparing Evan's appeal. His wife commits suicide, or does she?

The courtroom scenes at Evan's trial are simply brilliant. Even though I had to peep at the end in order to find out..., they kept me awake all night. Almost unbelievable that Lescroart is not a trial lawyer. These scenes kept me completely hooked and on edge until the predictable result. Didn't matter if it was predictable, the characterization and badgering between prosecution and defense is as good as it gets and far the best part of the book.

After Bowen's death Hardy takes over the appeal, and although it's neatly wrapped up, I felt a tiny bit disappointed with the last chapters. Hardy takes chances, setting not only his own life but that of his wife's, in peril. Seemingly, he knows what he does, and of course, James Bond never dies... But still. There is a fairytale flavour in the air here, saved, however, by the three last pages of the epilogue.

All is good which ends well. "The Betrayal" is another fine work by John Lescroart. If not quite a five, a solid four.

Books -> Subjects -> Crime, Thrillers & Mystery -> Authors, A-Z -> L -> Lescroart, John
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John Lescroart

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