Hard Evidence (Dismas Hardy) - Softcover

Lescroart, John

4.03

3,759 ratings by Goodreads

9780804112758: Hard Evidence (Dismas Hardy)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804112754 ISBN 13: 9780804112758

Publisher: Fawcett, 1994

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The first evidence is found in the belly of a shark: a hand sporting a jade ring. The hand belongs to a Silicon Valley billionaire. When the rest of his bullet-ridden body washes up on shore, Dismas Hardy, assistant D.A., is suddenly plunged into San Francisco's murder trial of the century.
A Japanese call girl with a long list of bigshot johns is the defendant. But a series of bizarre twists and turns blows the case wide open, making Hardy himself a target for everyone from the victim's sexy daughter to the vengeful judge who wants Hardy to sizzle . . . .
"A gripping courtroom drama that may well be Lescroart's breakthrough novel . . . As always, Lescroart creates compelling, credible characters and holds the reader's attention through every step of the plot." -- Publishers Weekly
"A compelling combination of courtroom drama and whodunit . . . Sparked with crackling dialogue and vivid scenes of its San Francisco setting . . . Lescroart is a fine writer." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

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About the Author:

Weekday mornings John Lescroart (less'-kwah) drives to his Davis, California office. There, on the top floor of a wood frame building sandwiched between two rambling fraternity houses, he devotes seven concentrated hours to his novel-in-progress. At 5 p.m., the 50-year-old father of two heads home for family pursuits. An evening with his wife and their two children, a dinner he enjoys cooking. Later the Lescroarts pile in the car for their children's many activities. Weekends find Lescroart entertaining friends and sometimes playing baseball, softball, golf, perhaps fishing.

The balanced lifestyle Lescroart resolutely maintains while directing his career as an internationally bestselling author would be the envy of the characters in his compelling novels--novels such as A Certain Justice, The 13th Juror, and The Mercy Rule. For while Lescroart delivers page-turning suspenseful action that has drawn starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and praise from Larry King, People magazine, the Wall Street Journal and many others, what distinguishes the author's engrossing reads is something more difficult to create. That something is a study of characters under pressure, characters who haven't achieved the balance John maintains in his life. They are characters whose value systems find them fighting an ongoing battle between demands of the job as they seek justice in the courtroom and in the station house and the insistent needs of their families.

And, as in his gourmet cooking, Lescroart adds the seasoning that makes his stories so memorable that once readers get a taste, they acquire an appetite for all his books. That seasoning is the thought-provoking backdrop of front page issues such as domestic violence, racial conflict and assisted suicide. But don't expect a difficult read in a John Lescroart book. He has an easy-going style, with a talent for pacing and crisp dialogue.

John has won the prestigious Joseph Henry Jackson Award for Best Novel by a California author for his first book, Sunburn; a Shamus Award nomination for Best Novel for Dead Irish, and an Anthony Award Nomination for Best Novel for The 13th Juror. Most recently, his short story "The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra" was chosen as one of Houghton-Mifflin's Twenty Best Mystery Short Stories of 1997.

An entertaining, humorous speaker with as much to say at the microphone as on the printed page, the New York Times bestselling author can occasionally be persuaded to leave his northern California digs for such engagements.

From AudioFile:

This early book in the Dismas Hardy series opens with the discovery of a severed hand in the stomach of a dead shark, with only a jade ring to help identify the body--that is, until the rest of it washes up on shore. Hardy starts out as the prosecutor of the case but ends up on the side of the defense as he attempts to unravel the mystery. David Colacci is a great storyteller. The highlight of his performance is in the voices he uses for each character and the accents, both foreign and American, that suit each perfectly. In Colaccis hands, the authors sense of humor shines through, as do the storys intrigue and suspense. S.S.R. Winner of AudioFle Earphones Award � AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright � AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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