Customer Reviews

Betrayal: A Novel (Dismas Hardy Series)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For those of you expecting another great Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitsky novel, don't be fooled by the book jacket. Hardy/Glitzky appear in the first ten pages and then not for another 250-300 pages, reappearing only for the last 110. This book should not really be advertised as featuring these characters. I'm glad I got it from the library or I really would have been unhappy.

First - I'm a big Lescroart fan. I've read all his books, but this one disappointed me. After reading a preview of Betrayal I was happy to learn that Hardy and Glitsky were coming back!!! As Betrayal's book jacket says "...millions of fans have been waiting three years for the return of San Fransisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy and his buddy...". Well, keep waiting as this isn't it. Hardy and Glitsky are involved in pages 1-12. Hardy...well, he finally reappears on Page 301 (422 total pages in the book). Glitsky fares only slightly better - making a brief 3 page appearance between pages 12 and 301. In between is the story of a done wrong Iraq war veteran, his girlfriend, and a man in the middle - a mercenary working for a corrupt government contractor. That story - I frankly didn't find to be very exciting...None of the characters were very likeable, there was little suspense, and I found it predictable.... I feel a little misled by the previewed information released. It's my opinoin Lescroart had a mediocre story focusing of government contractor corruption and found a way to weave in his popular characters. Maybe my disappointment with the lack of a Hardy/Glitsky focused story line biased my opinion. Based on the other reviews so far, looks like I'm in the minority.

I like to read about Dismas Hardy and his friend in SFPD,Lt. Glitsky. I do not like political commentary on thus use of contractors to fight in a war in a novel I am reading for enjoyment. It was a very disappointing and disjointed presentation.

Anyone who is considering buying this novel because they sorely miss Abe and Dismas, will be bitterly disappointed, as I was. Please do not believe the positive reviews for this book, as they surely must be have been written by those with ulterior motives, such as employees of the publishing company, etc.

It appears that the author had an extremely mediocre story that did not include Glitsky or Hardy, and, for whatever reason, stuck it in the middle of this particular novel, and added a short beginning which included the duo, and a longer ending with the same. The book is so contrived, and so pasted together, that it leaves the reader with only bitter disappointment. The bulk of the story, about the war in Iraq and the subsequent trial was so boring, I found myself skipping many, many pages just to get through it. The characters are as dull as the trial.

As a whole, I would have given this book 2 stars. However, the blatant betrayal by the publisher to cash in on the popularity of Dismas and Abe, and the author's allowing it to happen, turns my stomach. Please do not waste your money. If you are a die hard Lescroart fan, as I used to be, either borrow it or go to the library if you must read it. Just remember you have been warned.

If you have looked at reviews of this author's books before, you will know that I am a huge, however not uncritical, fan of this author. Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky have been the central characters of the Lescroart novel for many years, although in the last few years he has tried to wean us off a solid diet of them with some success.

This novel is following that track, although the later part of the book returns us to the "good old days" as Hardy and Glitsky return to the fore.

For much of the book Lescroart draws out a story that starts in Iraq with the chance meeting between National Guard Lt. Evan Scholler and Ex- Navy SEAL, Ron Nolan. Scholler and his men have become separated from their original unit as they come into an area at the Bagdhad International Airport that is being controlled by Allstrong Security an American Contracting Company. One thing leads to another and Jack Allstrong manages to get the guardsman attached to his area and used as convoy guards.

During this duty Nolan (sort of an executive officer for Allstrong) and Scholler get to be friendly and during a discussion Scholler confides to Nolan that he is still writing to a former girlfriend back in the states, but she has not answered him. They broke up over his deployment to Iraq which she (Tara Wheatley) didn't approve of. He has written ten times to her without reponse. Nolan indicates that he is flying to California on Allstrong business the next day and will be happy to personally deliver the latest letter and ask if she has read the others.

It is an offer that was made with the best of intentions and it was this simple errand that started what eventually led to the betrayal that prompted the title of the book.

To tell more than that is to tell too much.

Lescroart weaves this story like the master story teller that he is and in doing so has delievered a novel that will resonante with you long after you have read the last page. Strongly drawn characters bounce off one another in a book that is put together like a three act play with all of the acts blending into one oustanding addition to this author's compendium of accomplishment.

John Lescroart's "Betrayal" is the story of two men who meet in Iraq in 2003 and later become bitter enemies. Because of a bureaucratic snafu, Second Lieutenant Evan Scholler and his eight men find themselves on convoy duty for a military contractor named Jack Allstrong. Scholler and those under his command are forced to risk their lives to protect the interests of the amoral and aggressive Allstrong. He is an opportunist who arrived in Baghdad nearly penniless and, months later, became a multi-millionaire by cheating and lying. To people like him, "basically the entire country's for sale." Scholler soon meets Ron Nolan, Allstrong's senior official and chief troubleshooter, who is making twenty thousand dollars a month, tax free. The persuasive and charismatic Nolan involves Evan in some nasty activities that are both illegal and dangerous. In addition, Nolan learns that Evan is desperately trying to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend, Tara Wheatley. On a visit to the states, Nolan falls in love with the beautiful Tara and decides to do whatever he can to win her for himself. Ron and Evan are on a collision course that is bound to end in disaster.

Lescroart constructs his book with great skill, telling a complex but seamless tale that begins in 2003 and concludes in 2008. This is a powerful and creative work that has elements of a political thriller, courtroom drama, murder mystery, and romance. The scenes that take place in Iraq provide a harrowing look at the chaos, corruption, and rampant violence that makes this one of the most dangerous places on earth. In addition, the author brings home the terror that our soldiers feel every time they go on patrol, and the misery that afflicts the unfortunate men and women who return from their tours of duty with brain injuries and/or post traumatic stress disorder.

The protagonist, twenty-seven year old Lieutenant Scholler, lacks good judgment, especially while under the influence of alcohol. Ron Nolan is a self-centered and vicious sociopath who takes full advantage of Scholler's naiveté. Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky, the central characters in a number of Lescroart's previous novels, make brief appearances. It is Hardy's role to untangle a complex web of deceit that may allow the guilty to go free and the innocent to suffer unjustly. As Dismas eloquently states, "The moral rot that festered in Iraq and in the halls of power both here and abroad had poisoned the communal well." It is unjust but realistic that such villains as Allstrong and Nolan can break the law with impunity and profit from their misdeeds. A minor flaw is Lescroart's penchant for heavy-handed editorializing. It is clear in certain passages that the author is expressing his personal opinion in a none-too-subtle manner. This quibble aside, "Betrayal" powerfully demonstrates the terrible toll that war invariably takes on the men and women who serve in combat as well as on their loved ones who wait in fear for bad news that they pray will never come. All in all, this is a compulsively readable novel with an intense, shocking, and thought-provoking conclusion.

I've read most of what this author has written. I enjoyed his writing very much. However, this one doesn't measure up. It's melodramatic, trite, very hateful toward the US operations in Iraq and is marketed incorrectly as a Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitsky book when they are very minor players who are not even involved thru most of the book. This might be a 3 star for some authors, but compared with what this author has done in the past, I give it 2 stars.

I'm a big fan of Lescroart, but feel betrayed by this book. After "waiting three years", Dismas and Abe are merely pawns in wrapping up a fairly boring story. Two out of his last three books have not been very good, in contrast to the uniformally great prior books. I hope the author is not going the way of W.E.B. Griffin and a few others where standins are doing all the work (unsuccessfully.) While I would agree he is light years more readable than Grisham, Lescroart needs to put more effort into the next book.

While I'm at it, the "new" easy to read paperback book format is anything but easier to read. The new size is unwieldy and not user friendly. Seems like an excuse to raise prices without any benefit to the reader.

I think this book is well named. It's how I felt after spending $27 to get a book that is NOT about Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I read the beginning and the end. I couldn't finish the middle because it is all too real about Iraq and I read all about that in the media. I like Lescroart so much I even bought his music CD (which was great). But I will be cautious from now on.

This story is overwritten. At least half of the 552 pages could have been condensed into a smoother read. The same plot ideas go round and round and through several versions. It was easy to read every other page, even then with spot reading and speed reading, and still appreciate the story.