The call comes at midnight. It looks like a tragic and petty murder - a rising star in San Francisco's legal firmament found shot in a dark alley. But for homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky, the crime cuts horribly close to home - unknown to anyone, the victim was his daughter. Seething, Glitsky leans hard on his only suspect - a homeless heroin addict found lingering over his daughter's body, with her jewelry in his pocket and a smoking gun in his hand.

The city's embattled, ambitious D.A. Sharron Pratt sees an opportunity to revive her troubled administration by publicly declaring war on the killer and vowing to deliver a death penalty, putting the case on the fast track to certain conviction. Unable to watch a man die for Pratt's political gain, Dismas Hardy warily takes on the defense. But as Hardy's crusade to secure his client a fair hearing ensues, a lethal web of political corruption, legal conspiracy, and cold-blooded murder begins to unravel. In a case that will send shock waves through San Francisco and echo in the private lives of its most prominent citizens, the hearing is just the beginning.

This powerful legal thriller combines social issues and political ambitions gone awry. Lieutenant Abe Glitsky of the Homicide division seeks to find the truth about his daughter's murder. Sharon Pratt, the DA, wants the suspect, a pathetic heroin addict, to get the death penalty. Robert Lawrence reads quietly, letting the thriller tell the story, pushing the narrative when the action heats up. His uneven phrasing and unusual pronunciation of foreign words are the only distractions. As the tale unwinds, the threads that ultimately ensnare the guilty tighten until the startling conclusion. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

 

John Lescroart is the bestselling author of eighteen previous novels, which have sold more than ten million copies. He lives with his family in Northern California.