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The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5)
The Mercy Rule - Dismas Hardy, Bk 5
Author: John Lescroart
Justice... — Once Dismas Hardy was a cop. Now he spends his days in a lawyer's suit, billing hours to a corporate client in a downtown San Francisco office. Hardy's wife and kids like it that way. Then one client changes everything. — Compassion... — Graham Russo, a former baseball star, is charged with murdering his dying father. Was it suicide, t...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780440222828
ISBN-10: 0440222826
Publication Date: 8/10/1999
Pages: 640
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 114

3.9 stars, based on 114 ratings
Publisher: Island Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

jjares avatar reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 3426 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Another great book it seems to have been ripped from the front page of a newspaper. In the 1990s, there was lots of talk about mercy killing (or assisted suicide or euthanasia) and Dr. Kevorkian (aka Dr. Death). It was a hotly debated topic for several years.

Dr. Kevorkians interview on 60 Minutes and his self-made video of him assisting a man to die created a firestorm. In 1999, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to a 10-to-25 year prison sentence. He was released in 2007 and died of natural causes in 2011.

This book was released in the midst of all the uproar and I think John Lescroart handled the issue well. This story is about an elderly man, Sal, who is experiencing Alzheimers. However, Sal has started to worry about his headaches which turn out to be inoperable brain cancer. He is in incredible pain.

After disappearing from his childrens lives for 15 years -- Sal and Graham (the eldest of the 3 kids) reconnect. Because of the nearly constant pain, Graham has given morphine injections to his father. When Sal dies, Graham is arrested for his fathers death.

Be sure you pay attention to the Twinkie defense I fell out of my chair laughing while reading about that! Lescroart has a wonderful sense of humor and the dialog between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky is often priceless. 4.5 stars

Dismas Hardy
1. Dead Irish (1989)
2. The Vig (1990)
3. Hard Evidence (1993)
4. The 13th Juror (1994)
5. The Mercy Rule (1998)
reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
You can't get much better than a John Lescroart book.
Read All 20 Book Reviews of "The Mercy Rule Dismas Hardy Bk 5"

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reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 29 more book reviews
For lovers of police procedural/courtroom mysteries, this is an excellent book and will keep your interest right up to the end.
reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 3 more book reviews
Loved this book,one of Lescroart's best books. Highly recommend it.
scrapbooklady avatar reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 472 more book reviews
The good thing about a Lescroart mystery is not so much the mystery as the characters who intersect the mystery. Murder's the name but the players are the game. Here Lescroart touches on an emotionally charged issue, euthanasia or mercy killing. There's a nice analogy with the game of baseball, perhaps unintentional, which is that in the early levels of the game the adolescent players learn 'the slaughter rule,' allowing a team which has no chance of winning having fallen behind an insurmountable lead, to exit with some self respect intact.
taskmaster avatar reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 17 more book reviews
Increadiable story if you follow Dismas Hardy you'll love this book!
reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 2 more book reviews
Great read, could not put it down.
reviewed The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy, Bk 5) on + 167 more book reviews
Another great read by Lescroart!!


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