The Hearing
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 Hearingis a big, burly legal thriller, and its size is both  vice and virtue. Lescroart handles his courtroom scenes with a deft  touch, but hisex judicianarrative 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 Hearingwill 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.