Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Signet
Release Date: 2003
ISBN: 0-451-21022-0
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Mass Market Paperback
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Genre:   Mystery/Suspense
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Beverly J. Rowe 
Reviewer Notes:  some violence
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The First Law
By John Lescroart


   After convalescing for over a year from a heart attack and gunshot wound Abe Glitsky returns to the force, only to discover that his beloved homicide detail is now out of bounds to him and that he has been transferred to head the payroll department. He is warned not to meddle in the homicide investigation of his father's best friend who was killed during a robbery.

   Abe's good friend, Dismas Hardy, a San Francisco defense attorney, represents John Holiday, the main suspect in that crime. Hardy is convinced that John Holiday is innocent.

   Patrol Specials are a private police force that keeps watch over paying clients, and date back to San Francisco's wilder days. Dismas is in the process of putting together a lawsuit against these Patrol Specials when suddenly, the only law is survival. Diz's partner, David Freeman is beaten unconscious and lies near death and Diz thinks that is related to the murders. The police believe that Hardy is a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky is on the wrong side of the law. Both Hardy and Glitsky are forced to try to solve the murders on their own, outside the law, while defending their own threatened families.

    Lescroart is a master at plotting suspense novels that keep you up all night with characters that you love like family. This thriller is a departure from the courtroom drama that I always enjoy in John's Hardy/Glitsky novels, and though it was not what I expected, I enjoyed this suspense novel immensely. The action is fast and furious and has some unexpected twists and a climax that will leave you breathless.