The Hearing (Dismas Hardy Series) [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

John Lescroart (Author), Robert Lawrence (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2007 | Series: Dismas Hardy Series (Book 7)

The call comes at midnight. It looks like a tragic and petty murder - a rising star in San Francisco's legal firmament found shot in a dark alley. But for homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky, the crime cuts horribly close to home - unknown to anyone, the victim was his daughter. Seething, Glitsky leans hard on his only suspect - a homeless heroin addict found lingering over his daughter's body, with her jewelry in his pocket and a smoking gun in his hand. The city's embattled, ambitious D.A. Sharron Pratt sees an opportunity to revive her troubled administration by publicly declaring war on the killer and vowing to deliver a death penalty, putting the case on the fast track to certain conviction. Unable to watch a man die for Pratt's political gain, Dismas Hardy warily takes on the defense. But as Hardy's crusade to secure his client a fair hearing ensues, a lethal web of political corruption, legal conspiracy, and cold-blooded murder begins to unravel. In a case that will send shock waves through San Francisco and echo in the private lives of its most prominent citizens, the hearing is just the beginning.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When the police find Cole Burgess crouched over Elaine Wager's body on a deserted San Francisco street, they don't have to look very far for means, motive, and the assumption of guilt. The heroin junkie is carrying the gun that killed the rising political star, he has her jewelry and wallet in his pockets, and he flees as fast as his smacked- out legs will take him--right into a fire hydrant. But homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky isn't willing to leave anything to chance. Elaine was his daughter, though neither had ever acknowledged the relationship. Desperate to avenge his daughter's murder, the policeman (whose razor-sharp profile mirrors an even edgier personality) encourages his detectives to "sweat" the suspect for a confession.

The DA is equally eager to capitalize (pun intended) on the murder: bent on reversing her public image as being soft on crime, Sharron Pratt declares that her office will seek the death penalty. Enter Dismas Hardy, author John Lescroart's smooth-talking Irish lawyer, cajoled into defending Burgess. He doesn't like his client, but he doesn't trust the confession nor Pratt's sudden blood thirst. Joining investigative forces with Elaine's paralegal, Treya Ghent, and Glitsky himself suspended after news of the confession leaks out, Hardy will find himself on the trail of corruption and deceit in the most rarefied of legal circles.

The Hearing is a big, burly legal thriller, and its size is both vice and virtue. Lescroart handles his courtroom scenes with a deft touch, but his ex judicia narrative is often ponderous. He tends to introduce plot developments with sweeping statements, bolstering them with clumsy retrospection, and his characterization leaves something to be desired: "the very cute Amy Wu" has "large enough breasts so that people rarely noticed the bit of thickness at her waist"; and "Visser had a couple of character flaws that were going to negatively impact his aspirations on the force." These cavils aside, The Hearing will doubtlessly appeal to Grisham and Turow fans-- and to Lescroart's own considerable retinue. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Another satisfying, character-driven legal thriller will be happily embraced by new and longtime fans of master plot-weaver Lescroart (The 13th Juror; etc.). Former San Francisco cop and current defense attorney Dismas Hardy's latest assignment pits him against his rival, D.A. Sharron Pratt, whose popularity in the polls is slipping. Although averse to murder cases, Hardy tries to help an acquaintance by defending heroin addict Cole Burgess, who is accused of murdering Assistant D.A. Elaine Wager, the popular daughter of a deceased female senator. What Hardy doesn't know (nor does anyone else) is that Wager's father is Hardy's best friend, Lt. Abe Glitsky of SFPD homicide. Abe overreacts by sweating Dismas's client into a coerced confession; under media pressure for her New Age approach to criminal justice, Pratt arms for re-election by calling for the death penalty, handling the grand jury hearing along with her chief assistant and sometime lover, Gabriel Torrey. Meanwhile, Dismas's mentor, brilliant defense attorney David Freeman, chances across evidence that may link a city official to Dash Logan, an ambulance-chasing lawyer known for his scams. Abe, suspended for leaking Cole's confession, begins to doubt Coles's guilt and decides to take on the D.A. in order to track down the real killer. Lescroart brilliantly sets scenes in the hearing phase that allow credible leeway for courtroom pyrotechnics later on. The richness and diversity of the large cast neither slows the pace nor confuses the narrative, as even minor characters take on memorable presence and depth. Readers will savor the mounting tension and the many twists and turns along the way to the surprise ending. (Apr. 23)Forecast: A vigorous, six-month marketing blitz, kicked off with the release of a teaser chapter in Lescroart's Nothing But the Truth in February, should help make his latest another bestseller.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (November 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423334086
• ISBN-13: 978-1423334088
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 7.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting thriller, May 5, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hearing (Dismas Hardy) (Hardcover)

High-ranking police officers often receive calls to come to a crime scene in the middle of the night as just happened to San Francisco's Lieutenant Abraham Glitsky. Someone killed attorney Elaine Wager, a candidate for a judgeship, but this trip is personal as Elaine is Abraham's illegitimate daughter, a fact she never knew. He informs his staff that he expects them to "sweat" a confession from Cole Burgess, a two-bit junkie.

They succeed and book Cole for first-degree murder. Cole's sister hires Dismas Hardy to at least obtain drug treatment so he does not linger in a cell going cold turkey. He agrees to handle that, but nothing more until the ambitious DA decides to use Cole to further her political ambitions by seeking the death penalty. Dismas takes on the role of defense attorney because he begins to have doubts that Cole is the killer.

THE HEARING is one of the year's best legal thrillers as it entertains and shocks in a believable manner. John Lescroart masterly creates characters that are hard on the outside, but contain a soft spot inside their gut. The well-designed story line uses the motivations of the cast to propel the action forward, especially the humorous duels between Dismas and Glitsky. A great storyteller tells quite a story.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lescroart Surprises Again1, May 1, 2001

By 

Chris Suerdieck (Mattoon, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hearing (Dismas Hardy) (Hardcover)

In this latest of the Dismas Hardy novels, John Lescroart shows that he is more than up to the challenge of continuing series.

He brings back Hardy and Glitsky and a wealth of other characters. In past books he has tended to focus on Hardy or Glitsky as the main charater, but in this outing he gives them equal billing which provides for a nice balance. All of the secondary characters are eqully well developed and Lescroart keeps enough twists and turns going in the plot to keep this book from becoming predictable.

Lescroart is by far my favorite author of this genre and with this book out does himself. While many authors would turn to formula and coast through a story this far into a series, Lescroart never lets down. We find out more about Hardy and Glitsk's kids and once again David Freeman is back with a solid contribution.

On top of the characterizations there is a very well developed legal story here. Once again Lescroart goes outside the norm and has the bulk of the legal story take place during the preliminary hearing, another neat trick.

An excellant extension of the Hardy saga and well recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lescroart's Best Yet, May 25, 2001

By 

Suzanne Vitale "jackeroophillip" (Bowling Green, Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hearing (Dismas Hardy) (Hardcover)

Dismas Hardy is back with his ideals intact, his marriage strong, his defense practice going well, and he is a thoroughly likable main character in a series of good legal thrillers. Also back is Abe Glitsky, the tough cop who is Dismas' best friend. In "The Hearing" Abe has a problem and Dismas has to help solve the case as he defends a drug addict with few redeaming qualties who has supposedly killed Elaine Wager. Elaine was perceived to have been a leading member of the black legal community with a good reputation. One of her secrets was that Abe Glitsky was her father. Abe had learned the truth before Elaine's murder, but had not confronted her with it, and after she was killed, he went after the first suspect with a vengence. He refused to allow the suspect medical attention as he was going through herion withdrawl and gave the go ahead for a strenuous interrogation resulting in a "confession." The suspect, Cole Burgess, looks like a promising candidate especially since he was found near the body and had her money and jewelry on his person. Cole's mother is the only one who really cares any longer about what happens to him.

Dismas Hardy is the reluctant defense attorney brought in by Cole's mother. As the story continues, a web of political corruption unfolds within the DA's office and the police department. Elaine Wager's own life was not what it had seemed to be, but as she began to investigate some of the corruption she found, she was trying to made amends when she was murdered.

Elaine's personal assistant, Treya Ghent, is an interesting new character in this series who adds another dimension to the life of Abe Glitsky. This author has successfully brought his characters through his books as they have become old friends and acquaintances to those of us who read everything Lescroart writes.