The Second Chair (Dismas Hardy Series)

by John Lescroart

Other authorsDavid Colacci (Reader)

2010

Status

Available

Publication

Brilliance Audio (2010), Edition: Abridged

Description

Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:#1 New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart weaves together a story of a privileged youth on trial for murder and an entire city on the brink of panic in this suspensful and stylish Dismas Hardy legal thriller. Although he appears to have reached the top, Dismas Hardy, rainmaker and managing partner of his thriving San Francisco law firm, has lost his faith in the justice system. When his young associate, Amy Wu, brings in a high profile, controversial double murder case, he decides to sit second chair�??in defense of a wealthy, privileged young man even he has trouble believing. At the same time, Hardy�??s friend Abe Glitsky has just been promoted to deputy chief of the Investigations Bureau, and has trouble of his own. Hounded by a hostile media, distanced from day-to-day police work, Glitsky must struggle against a wave of violence that has put the city on the verge of panic. As the tension builds around them, Hardy and Amy�??s search for the truth will take them down a perilous path, and force Hardy to face his own demons in order to clear his client�??and s… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member EssFair

Suffering from some disillusion since the death of his friend and mentor and the illegal shoot-out he and his friends became involved in order to protect their families, Hardy is just going through the motions at his law firm. One of his young lawyers messes up a case by assuming her client is

guilty. Hardy agrees to serve as second chair and revives his passion in the law by helping their innocent client win his case. Glitsky, too, is having some problems since the shoot-out and his promotion that requires PR skills that he doesn’t have instead of his investigative skills. As usually Hardy and Glitsky find their cases intersecting. Nice entry into the series with a fast paced ending resulting in the capture of a serial killer.

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LibraryThing member claude_lambert

This is an important book. The genre is what they call "legal thriller": there is a defense lawyer and a kid accused of murder. Can the lawyer save the kid? Did the kid commit the crime? The setting is very classic.
What is worthwhile is that every character has flaws, and the flaws impact the

story: the lawyer drinks too much and it makes her overconfident. The judge is pissed off, so he tends to punish the accused, not the lawyer. The accused kid is like all teenagers; a bad liar, and it has consequences.
It makes of this an original book and a pleasure to read. I also like that the subject of how we define justice is at the heart of the story. Is justice about working within "the system" or about the truth? Does the truth matter? Should it matter to a lawyer? Can a lawyer who has heard hundreds of clients say "I am innocent" while they were all guilty keep an open mind? Is that even possible? It is a real question. I visited people in jail many times, and the most discouraging aspect of it is that every prisoner has a good explanation and a good excuse. It is not just that these prisoners have no sense of responsibility, it is OUR human nature: we are not all going to jail, but all have good excuses for what we do wrong.
There are a few minor choices in the plot construction that I disagree with, but no matter: I enjoy this.

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LibraryThing member nyiper

Listening to the audio made it a little difficult to figure out who was who in the character list but as soon as I figured it out the story moved right along and now I will be looking for more of his older books, like this one, with these particular main characters.

LibraryThing member drthubbie

Well paced - enough to have me stay up late to finish it.

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