Helpful Score: 2
Although intended to be a stand alone, I would strongly recommend reading the previous Dismas Hardy book entitled "Dead Irish" to understand some of the self-torment on the part of Dismas Hardy that continues into this book.
For those that have read "Dead Irish", this book is not nearly so dark and tortured. Not that it's a comedy since there are plenty of people dying, being set up in criminal schemes and hard choices are faced by many of the main characters. However, the overall climate of the book is much less severe.
As to the general plot - an old colleague of Hardy's named Rusty from the DA's office warns him that a murderer who had threatened to kill them both when he was released was being released soon. Rusty's houseboat becomes the scene of an apparent double murder and it turns out that lots of people had a motive to kill Rusty, including an ex-cop, a jealous husband, the mafia, a prosecutor and the ex-con murderer.
For those that have read "Dead Irish", this book is not nearly so dark and tortured. Not that it's a comedy since there are plenty of people dying, being set up in criminal schemes and hard choices are faced by many of the main characters. However, the overall climate of the book is much less severe.
As to the general plot - an old colleague of Hardy's named Rusty from the DA's office warns him that a murderer who had threatened to kill them both when he was released was being released soon. Rusty's houseboat becomes the scene of an apparent double murder and it turns out that lots of people had a motive to kill Rusty, including an ex-cop, a jealous husband, the mafia, a prosecutor and the ex-con murderer.
Helpful Score: 1
A "Hardy" book for adults.....Dismis Hardy that is....great SF attorney character. I love all his books.
Helpful Score: 1
A great story teller, I love Dismas, you really get to know the guy. Hoping along that he finds the murderer. You just can't put the book down.
Lescroart kept me going back and forth until very close to the end on "who did it." Too often, I can figure out the ending long before the last chapter. I took this book along with me, out of the house, just in case I might be able to slip in a couple of pages of reading. I rarely take a book off my nightstand. The characters are also well-developed and invited me to engage in their lives.
too many characters to keep up with along with too many explanations of each characters problem, etc and etc.
nine and a half years ago, a young thug leaving the courtoom after his sentencing promised to kill two prosecutors. He just got out of prison. One of the prosecutors is missing. The other one, Dismas Hardy is running out of time....
Good read
Another Hardy/Glitsky thriller; I think it's their best one.
Good book
As a recent fan of Dismas Hardy et al, I ordered the first two books in the series to learn more about the origins of this entertaining cast of characters. The Vig provides a lot of the background for Diz as he is portrayed in later books. The writing and plotting are not up to the smooth storytelling of Lescroart's later books, and the characters are not as fully drawn and consistent, but it is still a good read. I enjoyed seeing where it all started and having an adventure to boot.
Book #2 - Grand ... great author
This was my third Lescroart book. I like the first 2 enough to read another. The Vig, though, was the best of those I've read. I really good read. He keeps the story moving, and his "scene-setting" is as excellent as is the story itself.
Dismas Hardy, have to love him. He is down and out, helping solve another exciting murder.
Second in the long-running Dismas Hardy series. A good, complex mystery with a satisfying ending.
very good
not so good
Ex-San Francisco prosecutor Dismas Hardy (seen in Dead Irish ) seems to be mending his life as bartender and part-owner of a saloon, even spending more time with his ex-wife. Then prosecutor Rusty Ingraham appears with news that Louis Baker, whom he and Dis had sent away years ago, has been released from jail and is out to kill Rusty and Hardy. Within two days, a woman is murdered on Rusty's houseboat and Rusty is missing. Dis has a tough time convincing detective Abe Glitsky that Rusty has been killed by Baker. There are other suspects: the dead woman's husband; a cop driven from the force by Rusty; and a Mob loan shark. Hardy starts his own investigation--and an affair with a pregnant young widow. With a murder of a young drug-dealer, a Mob-like hit, a suicide and other felonies, the case turns in different directions before Dis nails the villain. A large cast, swift pacing and good local color--the bleak look at life in a housing project is riveting--fuel a gripping yarn. A thoroughly good read.
Soldier. Cop. Lawyer. Dismas Hardy's done the tough jobs, and had some tough luck. Now he's kicking back and tending bar at the Shamrock in San Francisco. But the past returns in the form of Rusty Ingrahamâa former fellow prosecutor who drops by for a drink, warning Hardy that a perp they put away nearly ten years ago just got releasedâ¦and might still be looking for revenge. Next thing Hardy knows, Ingraham's houseboat becomes a murder scene, with a dead woman on board and Ingraham, presumably, at the bottom of the bay. To save himself, Hardy's got to solve the case.
Really good mystery.
First of the Dismas Hardy books. Liked it a lot.
Down-and-out-lawyer Rusty Ingraham left behind a murdered woman and a houseboat splattered with blood. All the evidence said Ingraham was in San Francisco Bay. Dead. But a friend of Ingraham's, former cop and prosecutor Dismas Hardy, isn't so sure. And Hardy has to find out, because a stone-cold killer, now paroled, once threatened to kill Ingraham and Dismas Hardy both.
Now, to save his own skin, Dismas must face down liars and killers on both sides of the law. From mob foot soldiers to brokenhearted lovers to renegade cops, a dozen lives are tied to the fate of Rusty Ingraham-and the payback has only just begun...
Now, to save his own skin, Dismas must face down liars and killers on both sides of the law. From mob foot soldiers to brokenhearted lovers to renegade cops, a dozen lives are tied to the fate of Rusty Ingraham-and the payback has only just begun...
