The Mercy Rule - Softcover

Lescroart, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755320050 ISBN 13: 9780755320059

Publisher: Headline Book Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

The Mercy Rule is a brilliant and moving human drama set against a backdrop of relentless suspense, legal complexity and moral ambiguity. Dismas Hardy, the former bartender, loving husband and father, and reluctant defense attorney of The 13th Juror, returns here in his most challenging case. Vowing to spend more time with his family, Dismas is hesitant to represent Graham Russo, a could-have-been-great baseball player-turned-lawyer who is indicted for the murder of his father, Sal. Everyone close to the Russos knew that Sal was dying and that he needed morphine injections to ease his suffering. Graham admits to administering these injections, but insists he wasn't there the night of Sal's overdose. Was it suicide, mercy, or murder?

About this title

Review

Dismas Hardy, the dart-playing, saloon-keeping lawyer who is one of John Lescroart's most consistently interesting and appealing heroes, faces a dilemma: if he can prove to a jury that Graham Russo helped his father Sal kill himself because the sick old man asked him to, a liberal San Francisco jury will probably vote to acquit Graham of first-degree murder. Hardy would love to plead manslaughter to escape the wrath of the state's attorney general who wants to nail Graham. However, despite the evidence against him, Graham insists he didn't do it. What is a lawyer to do, and who can he believe?

Although Lescroart leads the reader up and down a few blind alleys before the truth comes out, the mystery's not the thing here. It's the characters and their back stories that make this such a good read. Foremost among them is Graham, who washed out of pro baseball and walked out of a promising law career before finding the father who once deserted him long ago. The core of the story is Graham's relationship with Sal, who's losing his mind to Alzheimer's but may still be a threat to a federal judge who was once his closest friend. Then there's Sarah Evans, the homicide cop who falls in love with her suspect. For good measure, there are some changes in the lives of those characters who are familiar to readers from other Dismas Hardy adventures--Abe Glitsky, the half Jewish, half black cop; Drysdale, the D.A. who's been beaten in court by Dismas in previous outings; Frannie, Dismas's wife; Moses, his brother-in-law; and Dismas himself, who becomes more interesting every time Lescroart brings him back. While the pacing is langorous and the denouement not as tight as it might be, The Mercy Rule provides a complex and satisfying reading experience. --Jane Adams

From the Publisher

Advance praise for The Mercy Rule:

"John Lescroart has written a thought-provoking and important novel. Well written, well plotted, well done. A winner!"
--Nelson DeMille

"An edge-of-the-seat legal thriller that has it all--hot-button issues, deception, greed, corruption, and a labyrinthine plot that will keep you guessing until the very last page."
--Faye Kellerman

"The Mercy Rule is that rare book--a superb novel and a superb thriller. It's the best legal thriller I've read in this decade. I dare anyone to read twenty pages and not be absolutely taken with it. Absolutely superior work."
--T. Jefferson Parker

"A masterpiece. Stacked with powerful and unforgettable characters, taut and suspenseful, The Mercy Rule is a brilliant and compelling courtroom drama."
--Karen Kijewski

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0755320050
• ISBN 13: 9780755320059
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English