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weaselweader's review against another edition
3.0
Three stories for the price of one!
The first, and for my money, the least interesting of the three, is a straight-up police procedural hunt for a serial killer dubbed The Executioner. Well, yeah … what else would you call an apparently motiveless killer whose MO involves getting up close and personal with his victims before dispatching them at virtually point blank range with a silenced handgun? The plot execution (argh … forgive me!), while not as low as mundane or pedestrian, certainly never reaches gripping or compelling. Interesting and workmanlike is perhaps the best description.
The second story is a legal procedural which provides an in-depth description of the juvenile trial of a minor charged with a double murder. Interesting, informative and even occasionally heartwarming but, once again, it fails to clear the hurdle of becoming a page-turner or a gripping thriller. Some readers might describe this piece of THE SECOND CHAIR triad as compelling, but it would almost certainly be because of the high level of interest involved with the legal twists and turns of dealing with a minor defendant and the systemic differences between juvenile and adult arrest, court procedures, imprisonment and sentencing.
The third and final tale (and, IMO, the cream of the crop) is strictly a character-focused behaviour driven story. Abe Glitsky is now SFPD’s Deputy Chief of Investigations and Dismas Hardy is the managing partner of his law firm. Both are successful and have arguably reached the zenith of their successful careers as a result of a combination of skill, luck, management, focus and performance. So what’s the problem and why aren’t they happy? Blend in an up and coming, young female lawyer who seems hell bent on a path of failure and self-destruction because she is devastated by the loss of her father. Although the idea that job performance and success is not synonymous with happiness and satisfaction seems obvious, it makes for an interesting story when the resulting behaviours drive the day to day work in the resolution of the two procedural plot-lines.
THE SECOND CHAIR is not a novel that will leave readers breathless but I can still say the John Lescroart is a great go-to author for a relaxing, enjoyable read. You might not close the last page with a “Wow” on your lips but you’ll still have a satisfied smile. I’m a continuing fan and John Lescroart remains on my go-to reading list.
Paul Weiss
The first, and for my money, the least interesting of the three, is a straight-up police procedural hunt for a serial killer dubbed The Executioner. Well, yeah … what else would you call an apparently motiveless killer whose MO involves getting up close and personal with his victims before dispatching them at virtually point blank range with a silenced handgun? The plot execution (argh … forgive me!), while not as low as mundane or pedestrian, certainly never reaches gripping or compelling. Interesting and workmanlike is perhaps the best description.
The second story is a legal procedural which provides an in-depth description of the juvenile trial of a minor charged with a double murder. Interesting, informative and even occasionally heartwarming but, once again, it fails to clear the hurdle of becoming a page-turner or a gripping thriller. Some readers might describe this piece of THE SECOND CHAIR triad as compelling, but it would almost certainly be because of the high level of interest involved with the legal twists and turns of dealing with a minor defendant and the systemic differences between juvenile and adult arrest, court procedures, imprisonment and sentencing.
The third and final tale (and, IMO, the cream of the crop) is strictly a character-focused behaviour driven story. Abe Glitsky is now SFPD’s Deputy Chief of Investigations and Dismas Hardy is the managing partner of his law firm. Both are successful and have arguably reached the zenith of their successful careers as a result of a combination of skill, luck, management, focus and performance. So what’s the problem and why aren’t they happy? Blend in an up and coming, young female lawyer who seems hell bent on a path of failure and self-destruction because she is devastated by the loss of her father. Although the idea that job performance and success is not synonymous with happiness and satisfaction seems obvious, it makes for an interesting story when the resulting behaviours drive the day to day work in the resolution of the two procedural plot-lines.
THE SECOND CHAIR is not a novel that will leave readers breathless but I can still say the John Lescroart is a great go-to author for a relaxing, enjoyable read. You might not close the last page with a “Wow” on your lips but you’ll still have a satisfied smile. I’m a continuing fan and John Lescroart remains on my go-to reading list.
Paul Weiss
martyfried's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy all of John Lescroart's books, especially the ones with Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. Glitsky has about the driest sense of humor I know of; many would say he has none at all, so he's a good straight man for Hardy's jokes and pranks, which are fairly constant.
This book, like most of them, starts off with some poor, undeserving soul getting into deep trouble, where things look very bleak to impossible. Sometimes Hardy's clients are so apparently guilty that even his friend Glitsky won't believe that he's not simply trying to get a guilty client off. In this story, the client is a 17 year old boy charged with a double homicide. He's been carrying a gun around for weeks, he was writing a book that described the crime almost exactly, etc. He's looking at life without parole, and facing a best case of 8 years incarceration. Even his lawyer is sure he's guilty. Sad, but no problem - Dismas Hardy comes to the rescue, as usual.
This book, like most of them, starts off with some poor, undeserving soul getting into deep trouble, where things look very bleak to impossible. Sometimes Hardy's clients are so apparently guilty that even his friend Glitsky won't believe that he's not simply trying to get a guilty client off. In this story, the client is a 17 year old boy charged with a double homicide. He's been carrying a gun around for weeks, he was writing a book that described the crime almost exactly, etc. He's looking at life without parole, and facing a best case of 8 years incarceration. Even his lawyer is sure he's guilty. Sad, but no problem - Dismas Hardy comes to the rescue, as usual.
scrappymags's review against another edition
3.0
This was a garage sale find that I had put on a shelf and forgotten until a bout of illness had me looking for a lively mystery. I liked this book. I thought the plot line was rich and I thought it sufficiently had suspense and some humor throughout and kept my attention. My only issue was I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the protagonist, Amy Wu, which surprised me. (Not a spoiler).. in the beginning she is grieving over the loss of her father and I felt bad for her, but the way she acted through the novel, I couldn't really get on board with her character and didn't find myself really cheering for her. The boss - Dismas Hardy, now he I adored. In fact, would love to see more books with HIM in it, plus that's a pretty great name. A nice read. Enjoyed it.
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