Rating: 
Summary: Another great story from John Lescroart
Review: John Lescroart gets better and better with each book and so do his two main characters, Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I could probably read a book about Abe and Dismas mopping a kitchen floor and be entertained, but Lescroart always gives his readers so much more. In this latest installment, we find Dismas, the defense attorney, and Abe, the homicide cop, butting heads as they try to solve the mystery of who killed Parnassus Healthcare CEO, Tim Markham. Unlike other reviewers, I wasn't certain who the killer was until the end of the novel. There were several crimes in the novel, ranging from hit and run to lethal injection to the murder of an entire family. Are these crimes connected? Were these crimes committed by the same person? Following the characters as they try to answer these questions pulls the reader into the action.
One of my favorite lines in the book was spoken by hospital administrator, Mike Andreotti, as he explained to Dismas and Abe "that even the lowliest GP has a self-image just a notch below God's". This book addresses ego, greed, and the good and bad sides of healthcare in the United States. Like Clarence Jackman's fortune cookie stated, "Don't get sick", if you can help it. If you've not read the previous nine books in the series, you won't have any trouble following along. If you aren't new to the series, you'll be glad to see old favorites like Pico Morales, David Freeman, Jeff Elliot, and good old Wes Farrell, who I'd worried I might never see again. It was also nice to meet some new folks, like Bracco and Fisk. Lescroart always manages to take a hot topic, like managed health care, and paint an exciting mystery around it, while still presenting characters his readers can enjoy getting to know along the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: As a huge fan of Dismas Hardy, I found myself a bit let down by this latest work. There is none of the courtroom drama, and Dismas keeps telling himself he should spend more time with his family, but can't seem to get it together. There is a cheap trick at the end to mislead the reader. Lescroart does a better job writing about law than medicine--the forensic details are inaccurate, the mode of death described would not be detectable on autopsy.
Rating:
Summary: SOLID READ
Review: Well written legal thriller with a powerful ending. Slow moving to start this book picks up in intensity throughout to the final pages. Second best mystery of the year, MURDER DOESN'T FIGURE was first, a fast paced read more to my liking. You can't go wrong with either, they are both exceptional.
Rating:
Summary: The Oath Leaves No Doubt
Review: John T. Lescroart is the master of this genre. This is the 10th outing for Dismas Hardy and Lescroart continues to excel at his craft. This story revolves around fraud and mis-management in the world of HMO's but does so without being preachy or shrill. As in all of the Hardy books, there is plenty of backgroud detail, plenty of procedure and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing right to the end. We also get the opportunity to observe a couple of rookie cops working under Abe Glitsky and see the way he works to develop their investigative instincts. As always, all of the characters are nicely fleshed out, we get to know something new about all of the regulars, re-visit a couple of characters from past books and meet a couple of new ones. All the dialogue cracks, the details are right, the sense of the city is right, this is just another knockout. Many other serial writers could take a few pages from Lescroart's handbook on how to keep a series alive and changing. In another twist for Lescroart, this entire story takes place without ever once setting foot in a courtroom, but the story holds up very well despite that.
Rating:
Summary: Starts slow, ends strong.
Review: I love legal fiction. This one started slow; I tend to prefer the "hit the ground running" thrillers like those written by a Norm Harris, or a Nelson DeMille, or even some of Grisham's books. But "The Oath" did end strong. So I was eventually satisfied. The opening scene is seen through the eyes of Mrs. Lopez, the worried mother of a sick child. Here John Lescroart makes a strong statement as we see a concerned mother manhandled by a less than caring HMO system. I have long held the opinion that the term "health care" has become an oxymoron. In the next scene a man is killed by a hit and run driver. Enter Lescroart's protagonists Dismas Hardy and his best friend, homicide cop Abe Glitsky. In this story we know whodunit early on. One of the early reviews of this book pointed this out, saying that knowing who the killer is "...cuts down the suspense." It was my understanding that when we know who the antagonist is from the onset of the story, that the story is a thriller. When we do not know who did the deed until the end of the story, then it is a mystery. This is a thriller, so I had no problem with knowing whodunit early on. John Lescroart is a master of characterization and dialogue. From the book: (Luz tried to smile. She couldn't help but worry. Ramiro was no better. In fact, she knew that he was worse. Despite her resolve, a tear broke and rolled over her cheek. She quickly, angrily, wiped it away, but the doctor had seen it. "Are you really so worried?") That's great stuff. If you love legal thrillers, as I do, then you will love this book. Highly recommended. Cammy Diaz, lawyer
Rating:
Summary: a powerful novel of lescroart
Review: I read this novel not too long ago. A family member of mine just introduced me to it and i had never heard of john lescroart before at all. But i have to say it was something of a book to read. One of the best that i think that I have read of this author in a while. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a good book to read on one of those rainy days.
I am going to check out The first law from my local library and The second chair sound pretty good also.
Ryan Barry
Music1379@aol.com
Rating:
Summary: A Writer's writer!
Review: Several years ago I stumbled across one of Lescroart's early works. It was great -- make that terrific -- and I promptly searched Amazon for more by his pen, then ordered and enjoyed every one of them. Dismas and his erstwhile cop pal, Abe Glitsky, came to be as familiar to me as Batman and Robin were to a youthful, comic-book addicted me.
My hobby of writing short fiction for an on-line writers' club has whetted an appetite for beautifully crafted novels, stories that leave you hanging right up to the last page. Nobody does it better than John Lescroart.
Now if I only knew how to correctly pronounce his name.
Rating: 
Summary: New Favorite Author
Review: Of the many books I have read this was definetly a good one. John Lescroart has joined my list of favorite authors. In this book, Glistky and Hardy return when they find out a corporate CEO has been killed. But why? The story develops when the autopsy reveals overdose of Potassium and besides that other patients have been dying quite too often. The deals with the problems that big companies deal with in regards to costs, hmo, and everything. The surprises come throughtout the whole book, and we don't really find out who killed the CEO and why until the very end of the of the book. Great book!!
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Book from Lescroart!!
Review: John Lescroart has once again written an intense book surround a murder investigation. With his usual characters, attorney Dismas Hardy and Homicide Investigator Abe Glitsky, Lescroart once again keeps the action coming nonstop. This book involves some very real issues in the United States today. Issues surrounding health care and how we pay for it are discussed throughout the book within the story. The plot thickens as one of Hardy's clients is suspected of murder, and Glitsky thinks he has his man. But, as usual in a Lecroart novel, there are numerous twists and turns until there is finally a stunning ending. Did Hardy's client commit the crime? Will Hardy and Glitsky be able to maintain their friendship? What's going on behind the scenes at a San Francisco hospital? If you pick up this book, you won't put it down until you know the answers to all these questions.
Rating: 
Summary: The Oath
Review: This is the first Lescroart novel I've read. Though I'll try another, it won't be because this one is great. It isn't. I wouldn't recommend starting here. The prose is very good, and SOME of the characterization quite remarkable--the character of Dr. Kensing is original and not at all black-and-white, hardly the virtuous innocent of much genre fiction. Some of the psychological development is good--watching Bracco and Fisk grow to their respective bits of self-knowledge is satisfying. One vignette between Hardy's wife and kids is as fine a piece of writing on affection as you'll find. But I'm gonna have to take other reviewers' word that the Hardy/Glitsky friendship is believable in other novels. Though some of their dialog is quite witty--reminiscent of Spenser and Hawk in Robert B. Parker's singular novels--mostly the relationship as portrayed here it is just stupid. No one in his right mind would remain friends with Glitsky after some of his machinations here. "Ah, you've completely betrayed me, and lied to me, but since it is work-related and friendship is more important than professional conflict, let's have a barbeque, old bud." Like that. Uh-huh. And Hardy is sort of a cipher. I didn't understand at all what makes him tick. What really left me empty was the denouement. It could not possibly be more cliched. There is simply nothing interesting or original or insightful or surprising in it. And in genre novels, the denouement is supposed to involve some showdown between the good guy and the bad guy. Here, the falsely accused guy we've spent most of the novel getting to know gets cleared and drops out of the picture too soon, so he is no part of the resolution. The only person who gets cleared in the climax is a relatively minor character whom we've not been given any reason to care much about. Genre novels are called genre novels because they observe some rules of the genre--and one is that the resolution is suppose to be where the innocent is cleared and the surprise guilt of someone else is revealed. It's a battle of good versus evil, where nothing is as it seems, and we are all reassured because--against all odds-good beats evil. Here, that just doesn't happen I figure Lesroart is worth another try, because of the things I've commented positively on here. But this one just doesn't cut it.
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