Betrayal (Dismas Hardy Book 12)
Betrayal (Dismas Hardy Book 12) book cover

Betrayal (Dismas Hardy Book 12)

Kindle Edition

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Price
$9.99
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Berkley
Publication Date

Description

Praise for Betrayal “Lescroart dispatches courtroom scenes with crisp efficiency.”— Entertainment Weekly “Easily usurps the latest from Grisham and Turow.”— The Providence Journal-Bulletin “A great read.”— Booklist “Extremely satisfying.”— Library Journal “A first-rate addition to the author's ongoing series, this should please both longtime readers and new fans.”— Publishers Weekly John Lescroart is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels including the Dismas Hardy series. He lives in Northern California. From Publishers Weekly At the start of the adrenaline-infused 10th thriller to feature DA Dismas Hardy ( Dead Irish , etc.) from bestseller Lescroart, Hardy agrees to wrap up some of the caseload of a Bay Area lawyer who has mysteriously disappeared. After discovering that the lawyer was set to appeal an apparently straightforward murder case, Hardy realizes that the crime had its origins in Iraq, where the alleged killer and his victim first met. With the help of his old friend, Det. Abe Glitsky, Hardy learns that the victim, ex-navy SEAL Ron Nolan, was sleeping with the girlfriend of National Guard Reservist Evan Scholler, who was later convicted of killing Nolan. As Hardy and Glitsky dig deeper, they discover that Nolan had committed several murders himself, and it's up to Dismas and Hardy to unravel the conspiracy that may have roots in the U.S. government. Lescroart weaves his trademark complicated yet fast-moving tale, full of believable characters and crisp dialogue. A first-rate addition to the author's ongoing series, this should please both longtime readers and new fans. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From AudioFile There's much more than usual going on--almost too much--in Lescroart's latest legal thriller featuring Dismas Hardy. Narrator David Colacci handles the plots and subplots effortlessly. Hardy is called on to handle the murder appeal of a veteran of the Iraq war. Not only has the vet's former lawyer mysteriously disappeared, but the lawyer's wife seems to have committed suicide. Somehow the FBI and national security agents become involved. All told, there are four mysteries to be solved. Colacci capably juxtaposes the Iraqi war events with the veteran's legal proceedings--which are exciting and believable, thanks to strong narration. The only blemish on this offering is the author's lack of legal accuracy. But legal accuracy isn't always necessary when you have a good story. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • New York Times
  • bestselling author John Lescroart presents an ambitious thriller featuring San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy.
  • “
  • Betrayal
  • is provocative…a tour de force of a legal thriller.”—
  • The Providence Journal
  • Dismas Hardy agrees to take an appeal to overturn the murder conviction of National Guard reservist Evan Scholler. Scholler had plenty of reasons for revenge—but as Dismas delves into the case, he begins to uncover a terrible truth that drops him right into the complicated world of government conspiracy, assassination, and betrayal...

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(412)
★★★★
25%
(344)
★★★
15%
(206)
★★
7%
(96)
★
23%
(316)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Bait and Switch warning is valid, but this is still a good novel

Before reading this, you have to ask yourself if you're a fan of Dismas Hardy or of John Lescroart. Fans of Hardy will find the book less than satisfying, for the reasons other reviewers have noted: He shows up at the beginning, then disappears from the narrative until the final third of the book. That's just not enough Diz. It reminds me of Clear and Present Danger, wherein Tom Clancy doesn't introduce the series' hero, Jack Ryan, until well into the novel.

That said, Betrayal still works if you're a fan of John Lescroart, who develops real characters who have real flaws. Your heart breaks for Evan Scholler, through his errors in judgment and through his anguish upon returning to the U.S. from Iraq. You understand Ron Nolan as much as you despise him. Tara, the girl who comes between them, strikes a chord for any guy who's lost a girl only to see her take up with a suave but despicable hound.

Another reviewer was annoyed by these characters' stupidity. I thought they were more flawed than stupid, but an argument can be made for either position. They were real, and that, I believe, cannot be argued.

I am not a veteran. As such, I do not know whether Lescroart's portrayal of Scholler while on active duty can or should be considered insulting to the troops. I'd be interested in what others have to say on the matter.

But as a novel, Betrayal had me from beginning to end. Speaking of endings, I think it's fair to say that this one is morally ambiguous, and it fails to tie up a couple of loose ends. While you do get an answer to the central question of the novel, others are just left hanging.

Kind of like real life, which I have to believe is Lescroart's point.
5 people found this helpful
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Iraq happens.

I've been a Lescroart fan for many years, and recently I'm on a project to read the whole Hardy/Glitzky series. I'm still less than halfway through this book, and started reading some reviews, and I'm puzzled that so few people have commented on the detailed depiction of the early stages of the Iraq war. I was hoping for some informed comment (critical or otherwise) from readers who had first-hand knowledge of that situation, because I don't, and I am really impressed by the amount of research that must have gone into the making of this book. I wanted someone to say "That's what it was like, all right," or perhaps "He really got it all wrong, it wasn't like that at all." That seemed to be what the book was about, much like some of Jeff Shaara's excellent historical novels, with a plot revolving around imaginary characters whose lives are deeply affected by the accidents of a war gone out of control. That war occurred right in the middle of Lescroart's writing career, and it's not surprising that it would make a prominent appearance in his chronicles of law and justice in the San Francisco Bay area, temporarily displacing Hardy, Glitzky et al from their normal center of the stage.
4 people found this helpful
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A different Dismas Hardy book

This is a very good book, but if you are a Dismas Hardy fan you might be disappointed as Hardy is just in the book a little in the beginning and doesn't become a part of the story until three quarters of the way through the story. The first two thirds of the book are about the client that Hardy ends up representing, first when he is a soldier in Iraq and then when he comes home and is accused of murder. I really liked the insight into the client reading it as his story, much different from other Dismas Hardy books that I have read. I would give it five stars except the ending was very anticlimactic and seemed hurried as if the author suddenly decided he needed to end the book as quickly as possible.
2 people found this helpful
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A different Dismas Hardy book

This is a very good book, but if you are a Dismas Hardy fan you might be disappointed as Hardy is just in the book a little in the beginning and doesn't become a part of the story until three quarters of the way through the story. The first two thirds of the book are about the client that Hardy ends up representing, first when he is a soldier in Iraq and then when he comes home and is accused of murder. I really liked the insight into the client reading it as his story, much different from other Dismas Hardy books that I have read. I would give it five stars except the ending was very anticlimactic and seemed hurried as if the author suddenly decided he needed to end the book as quickly as possible.
2 people found this helpful
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Exposing private security in Iraq

This is really a story about private security companies providing a variety of help to the US government for obscene amounts of money. There is a murder in the San Francisco area in which a veteran of the Iraq war is accused of killing an agent of a security firm. All sorts of dealings are exposed between the security firm and certain Iraqi families. We do not see Hardy until he gets the imprisoned veteran off by exposing the nefarious work of the private security firm
1 people found this helpful
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Not really a Hardy novel

This is only a Dismas Hardy novel in a bookend fashion. It is really the story of a young man caught in the corruption if Iraq and the murder of one of those evil me who tried to steal the love of his life. This is a descent read, if you let yourself buy into the conspiracy theory of how far people will go for money.
1 people found this helpful
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Good reading

John lescroart writes interesting books that bring real life and the law together. His characters are believable. His knowledge of the law is educational
1 people found this helpful
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Five Stars

Lescroart always exceeds my expectations!
1 people found this helpful
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John Lescroart books are the very best!!

As always with John Lescroart - his writing is excellent and his story line is absolutely great. This was one of his very best - impossible to stop reading until the very end.
1 people found this helpful
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just you wait

It started off in some places I did not want to be ,however it evolved into quite a yarn.
1 people found this helpful

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