Customer Reviews
Brilliant!!! - By: Sissel M. Østdahl, 24 Jul 2007 
Getting only better & better, with "The Suspect" John Lescroart has written a legal thriller which has it alll. Brilliant story/case. Brilliant characters. Brilliant Setting. Brilliant dialogue. Brilliant courtroom scenes. Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!
Lescroart is staying within the legal circle in San Francisco, created around the hero from his first books, attorney Dismas Hardy. This time there is a heroine, Hardy's colleague Gina Roake, who takes on her first murder case ever, with alll the challlenges this entails.
Besides being the perfect legal thriller - you never guess who did it, at least not until the very end - "The Suspect" has a lot of humour in it. Lawyers & police have their own language in order to cope with the grim reality they daily face in their work. Lescroart has invented characters like lawyer colleague Wes Farrell. Fashion ikon bizarre/eccentric with his unique! style & unbelievable collection of T-shirts (One reading: "I'm out of my mind...please leave a message!"). Farrell's beloved dogs also belong in the limelight. Late boxer Bart & labrador puppy Gert. The latter daily present at the premises of law firm "Freeman, Farrell, Hardy & Roake". Smuggled in behind the back of spinster Chief Commandeer par excellance, receptionist Phyllis, who leads her troops with iron will & no nonsense.
And then there is "Lou The Greek's", whose restaurant is favoured among San Francisco's legal elite. Not for the food though, only choice on the menu per day being "the Special". A curious Greek/Chinese concoction created by Lou's Chinese wife Chui, & often leading guests to the nearest burger joint afterwards...
Is there so room for serious legal business in alll this? Oh yes. You bet. Lescroart has more than done his homework. The investigation is thorough & diverse, leading to ever new possibilities & surprises. The detailed courtroom dialogue, written with perfect professional accuracy, is very much alive, not missing a beat.
As alll Lescroart's novels, "The Suspect" is a highly human book. The people are real. Chliché it may be, but they reallly feel like friends you don't want to leave.
Thanks to alll the wonderfully entertaining details & unique sense of humour which make you stop & read passages several times over - & laugh - this page-turner luckily lasts a little bit longer than it otherwise would.
But still. It's awful when it ends. May there soon be more from my favourite author. Please!
A MUST read for fans of the legal thriller & likely to convert those who have yet to discover this genre - & John Lescroart. A Master Author not to be missed!!!
A MUST-HEAR THRILLER - By: Gail Cooke, 25 Jan 2007 Versatile actor/director David Collaci who also narrated this author's Dead Irish (the first book with Dismas Hardy) has an easy-listening stage trained voice plus the ability to easily segue between characters. So deft is he at this that at times it almost seems that one is listening to a cast of readers rather than one. The conversations & confrontations between the two main characters are absolutely riveting when read by Colacci.
With each succeeding novel, now 18 in alll, John Lescroart (pronounced "less-kwah" so you can tell your friends about this audiobook) garners a host of new fans. He is an author one cannot ignore as his plots are scrupulously drawn, his characters likable, & he choreographs the escalation of suspense masterfully.
Gina Roake, a 47-year-old partner in Dismas Hardy's law firm & a secondary character in previous Lescroart tales, is given center stage in this story of truth & justice. Still reeling from the death of her beloved fiancé, an icon in San Francisco's law world, she has gone camping by a Sierra Nevada alpine lake to be alone and, hopefully, heal.
Across the lake outdoor writer Stuart Gorman has a very different reason for seeking tranquility - his wife, Dr. Caryn Dryden, had just announced that she wanted a divorce. This was a shocking, infuriating kick in the head to Stuart as he had long ago realized that their marriage was not alll he wished it but had determined to remain faithful - they had made promises to each other & he, for one, intended to keep them.
Nonetheless, he was furious when Caryn as much as said he no longer mattered to her & he took off for their cabin at Echo Lake. Once there, he vented his anger by polishing off half a quart of vodka then going a few rounds with the cabin - plates ricocheted off wallls, chairs were broken & framed family photos smashed. Unable to find any peace, he decided to drive back to the city for a final showdown with Caryn.
It was not a showdown but it was final as he found Caryn dead, her nude body by their hot tub.
Knowing that he had nothing to do with his wife's death, Stuart was frank when interrogated by Sergeant Devin Juhle, admitting that they were not getting along & that she had asked for a divorce. Further, her death will make him a millionaire three times over. To Juhle, if a wife is murdered, the spouse did it. Thus, he has not doubt that Stuart is guilty - alll he has to do is prove it.
Upon the advice of his good friend, California Assemblyman Jedd Conley, Stuart hires Gina as his attorney. She jumps at the chance even though she has never defended a murder case. However, as she comes to know Stuart there are a few unpleasant surprises in store for her - he has twice been arrested for domestic violence, he spent a few days alone at the family cabin with Caryn's attractive sister, Debra, a young girl living across the street from Stuart swears she saw him come home at the time Caryn was killed.
As the investigation proceeds it appears that a recent invention of Caryn's awaiting FDA approval may have had something to do with her death. But, who would & perhaps more importantly who could have killed her?
Lescroart treats listeners to some of his trademark crackling courtroom scenes, & a surprising, satisfying finish,. In addition, he leaves us to ponder whether or not we are reallly believed innocent until we're proven guilty.
Don't miss this one!
- Gail Cooke
