In this 18th book in the 'Dismas Hardy' series, John Lescroart ties up hanging elements from previous books. Thus the author revisits crimes that occurred in 'The First Law' - where Russian mobsters were implicated in mass murder and 'Fatal' - where infidelity had dire consequences. Though this book could be read as a standalone, familiarity with the series is beneficial.
*****
Dismas Hardy's genteel secretary Phyllis McGowan has worked in his San Francisco law firm for nearly forty years, and considers it her sacred duty to monitor visitors to his office.
Thus Hardy is shocked when Phyllis disappears from her desk for several days without explanation. Hardy is even more flabbergasted when Phyllis returns and is arrested for being an accessory to murder. Moreover, the arrest is rough and humiliating, and results in Phyllis having a dislocated shoulder.
Hardy is certain this harsh treatment was instigated by District Attorney Ron Jameson, a power hungry egomaniac who has a grudge against Hardy.
Hardy not only campaigned against Jameson in the last election, he made Jameson's rival Wes Farrell a partner in his law firm.
When Hardy gets a chance to speak to Phyllis, he learns that her ex-convict brother Adam asked her to assist an illegal immigrant named Celia Montoya. Phyllis agreed, with dire consequences. Celia has now been arrested for murdering Hector Valdez, the brutal pimp who forced her into prostitution - and Phyllis is accused of helping Celia flee.
Hardy, who's furious about Phyllis's harsh treatment, files official complaints against Jameson and engineers a scathing newspaper column about him. Jameson is furious and embarrassed, especially when his teenage children take him to task. As retribution, Jameson starts an investigation into a ten-year-old crime that involved Hardy's client John Holiday. The case was closed, but Jameson believes that Hardy and his friend - former Head of Homicide Abe Glitsky - were implicated somehow.
The situation is even more complicated because SFPD Homicide Inspectors Beth Tully and Ike McCaffrey believe that District Attorney Jameson LITERALLY committed a felony several years ago, and pinned the crime on someone else. With the encouragement of Hardy and Glitsky, the Inspectors are quietly reopening the case.
All this sets up a complex 'cat and mouse' scenario where Hardy wants to take Jameson down, and Jameson hopes to get Hardy indicted.
To say more would be a spoiler.
Other important characters in the story include Jameson's wife Kate - who feels his new job as District Attorney is driving a wedge between them; Jameson's secretary Andrea - a beautiful woman who catches his eye; and District Attorney's investigator Chet Greene - who's determined to 'find the dirt' on Hardy and Glitsky.
The novel held my attention, but it's not one of Lescroart's best books. The plot feels repetitious since Investigator Greene questions one person after another about the same thing, with no new answers. On top of that, the story's climax is too much like a deus ex machina, and left me feeling unsatisfied.
Still, I'd recommend the book to Dismas Hardy fans who want to keep up with the lives of favorite recurring characters.
Thanks to Netgalley, John Lescroart, and Atria for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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This Hercule Poirot mystery, written by Sophie Hannah, emulates the style of Agatha Christie. As the story opens Poirot is enjoying a meal at Pleasant's Coffee House in London when an agitated woman rushes in.
Poirot soon makes her acquaintance, learning that her name is Jennie and that she believes she'll soon be killed - and that she deserves to die. Later that night three people are found dead in three separate rooms of the ritzy Bloxham Hotel, each body neatly laid out with a monogrammed cufflink in his/her mouth.
Poirot, concerned that the deaths are somehow connected with Jennie, investigates with Scotland Yard Inspector Edward Catchpool (who narrates the story in the style of Poirot's old sidekick Captain Hastings.)
Poirot soon learns that all the victims are from the village of Great Holling and are well acquainted with each other. As the investigation proceeds Poirot talks to many witnesses, including the staff of the coffee house and hotel. He also dispatches Catchpool to talk to the residents of Great Holling.
However, though Catchpool gleans some useful information, he's a lot like Captain Hastings - a rather dim chap who functions mostly as a character for Poirot to bounce thoughts off.
The story has lots of characters, including the waitresses of Pleasant's Coffee House, the manager and employees of the Bloxham Hotel, and numerous citizens of Great Holling - who are reluctant to talk to Catchpool. Nevertheless the Scotland Yard detective discovers that something terrible happened fifteen years ago that led to the current deaths. I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
In typical Christie style Poirot figures out what happened and assembles the usual suspects to explain everything and reveal the perpetrator.
Unfortunately Hannah doesn't really capture Christie's writing style and the story feels dragged out. Worse yet it leads to a denouement that's contorted, labored, and not believable. In short the book doesn't feel like a 'real' Agatha Christie and I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating: 2 stars
This 2nd book in the 'Brilliance' trilogy picks up right after the events in the first novel. To recap briefly: Starting in the 1980s, a small percentage of humans with unusual abilities began to be born - somewhat like the characters in the TV series 'Heroes.'
These extraordinary people - called brilliants, abnorms, or twists - cause fear in average people, who are concerned that the brilliants will take over the world and force everyone else to serve their needs. As a result, powerful 'regular' people want to contain, subvert, and mark ('chip') the abnorms…..and some abnorm groups fight back with terrorist tactics.
Nick Cooper is a twist who's trying to keep the peace by working against extremists on both sides, but it's a hard job that leads to a lot of violence. At the end of book one, someone's death changes the stakes for everyone.
*****
As 'A Better World' opens, an abnorm organization called 'The Children of Darwin' (DAR) is organizing a siege of Cleveland, Ohio; Fresno, California; and Tulsa, Oklahoma by stopping food supplies and cutting off electricity. As a result the government blocks the roads out of these cities, supposedly to capture the terrorists lurking inside. What this tactic really does, however, is trap the cities' residents inside, and they soon become hungry, cold, and desperate.
In one thread of the story we follow scientist Ethan Park, who lives in Cleveland. When baby food disappears from grocery store shelves Ethan takes his wife and infant on the run - determined to find a way out of the city.
Unfortunately, it's not just the roadblocks the scientist has to worry about. Ethan works at the Advanced Genomics Institute, and he and his boss - Dr. Abraham Couzen - have discovered the genetic basis of brilliance. The fact of the breakthrough, which is top secret, has leaked and both normal and abnorm organizations want 'the formula.' Thus Dr. Couzen has been kidnapped and various people are after Ethan.
Meanwhile twist Nick Cooper - whose talent is reading body language - has been asked to work for the new President of the United States, Lionel Clay. President Clay, a former history professor, isn't savvy about politics and isn't comfortable with the aims of his advisors - who want to completely control the abnorms…..or maybe even wipe them out.
President Clay, however, would like to establish good relations between regular people and brilliants. For this reason the President dispatches twist Cooper to negotiate with two abnorm leaders: John Smith - a militant terrorist; and Erik Epstein - a billionaire who established the New Canaan Holdfast in Wyoming.....a community where abnorms live together in relative safety.
Cooper has a partner, twist Shannon Azzi - who can seemingly 'appear and disappear' - and who's a dead shot with a gun.
This is important, because Cooper is in the sights of the twist assassin Soren Johansen - who sees the world in slow motion.
There's plenty of action in the story as the norms and abnorms try to outwit and outmaneuver each other - and it looks like the United States may be heading for all out civil war. Cooper is doing all he can to ward this off, and decides he needs to speak to Dr. Ethan Park - which pulls the story's plotlines together.
All this leads to a dramatic climax that sets the stage for book three.
I enjoyed the book, which is fast-moving and exciting. Nevertheless, I have a small criticism. Sakey sets his story entirely in the United States, and never even mentions the 'brilliant' situation in other countries. I think the author should have addressed this (at least briefly) since - in a real world scenario - abnorms would be a global phenomenon.
I'd recommend the book to science fiction fans.
Note: 'A Better World' can be read as a standalone since background information is included. However, I'd strongly recommend starting with 'Brilliance' to learn about the characters.
Rating: 3.5 stars
