The Fall: A Novel (Dismas Hardy) - Hardcover

Lescroart, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1476709211 ISBN 13: 9781476709215

Publisher: Atria Books, 2015

Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart, a riveting new novel of legal suspense featuring Dismas Hardy and his daughter, Rebecca, now grown up and an associate in Hardy’s law firm.

Late one night, a teenage African American foster child named Tanya Paulson plummets to her death from the overpass above San Francisco’s Stockton tunnel. But did she fall...or was she pushed?

Rushing to produce a convictable suspect in the glare of the media spotlight, homicide inspectors focus their attention on a naïve young man named Greg Treadway. Greg is a middle school teacher and he volunteers as a Special Advocate for foster children. At first, the only thing connecting him to Tanya’s death is the fact that they shared a meal earlier that night. But soon enough, elements of that story seem to fall apart...and Hardy’s daughter, Rebecca, finds herself drawn into the young man’s defense.

By the time Greg’s murder trial gets underway, Dismas and Rebecca have unearthed several other theories about the crime: a missing stepfather who’d sexually assaulted her; a roommate who ran a call girl service; a psychologically unstable birth mother; and a mysterious homeless man who may have had dealings with Tanya. Or Greg Treadway himself, who is perhaps not all that he first appeared. But how will they get these theories in front of a jury? And if they can, what price will they have to pay?

With signature suspense and intricate plotting, The Fall puts Dismas Hardy and his only daughter in the middle of one of John Lescroart’s most complex and thrilling cases yet.

About this title

About the Author

John Lescroart is the author of twenty-eight previous novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ophelia Cut, The Keeper, The Fall, and Fatal. His books have sold more than ten million copies and have been translated into twenty-two languages. He lives in Northern California.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Fall 1

THE BODY FELL straight out of the sky.

Those were the words in her original statement, and that was exactly how it had appeared to Robyn Owen. No foreshadowing, no warning. She had just turned right out of the Sutter-Stockton garage and was about to enter the tunnel when all at once the body fell out of the sky and landed on the hood of her brand-new Subaru. The head bounced against the windshield, shattering the safety glass into a spiderweb. Robyn had slammed on her brakes as she screamed. She’d been going fast enough to send the body flying, rag doll–fashion, what seemed an impossibly long distance in front of her.

The time was exactly 11:03 P.M. on her dashboard clock. She was leaving the parking garage after a nice dinner at Campton Place—and no, she was not drunk!, as she’d told the police officers about a hundred times, blowing into a breathalyzer twice to prove it.

Before turning, she had checked to her left for oncoming traffic in her lane and noted the car about a block down, coming toward her. This turned out to be the BMW that had tried to stop after Robyn had slammed on her own brakes, but still plowed into her after the impact. Robyn hadn’t been speeding. The Beemer had not been speeding, either: It hadn’t forced her to super-accelerate out into her lane; it was a normal safe distance from her when she had turned. Robyn did not lay rubber coming out of the garage. She couldn’t have stopped or slowed to keep from hitting the woman, because she never saw her, never had even a hint of her existence, until she landed on the Subaru’s hood. There hadn’t been anything she could have done that would have led to a different outcome.

And who was going to pay for the repair to her car? Did insurance cover bodies that fell out of the sky? She suspected it did not.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1476709211
• ISBN 13: 9781476709215
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320