When Dismas Hardy agrees to clean up the caseload of recently disappeared attorney Charlie Bowen, he thinks it will be easy. But one of the cases is far from small-time - the appeal to overturn the murder conviction of National Guard reservist Evan Scholler, who has been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor named Ron Nolan. Two rapid-fire events in Iraq conspired to bring the men into fatal conflict: Nolan's relationship with Evan's girlfriend, Tara, a beautiful schoolteacher back home in the states, followed by a deadly incident in which Nolan's apparent mistake results in the death of an innocent Iraqi family as well as seven men in Evan's platoon. As the murky relationship between the U.S. government and its private contractors plays out in the personal drama of these two men, and the consequences for Evan become a desperate matter of life and death, Dismas Hardy begins to uncover a terrible and perilous truth that takes him far beyond the case and into the realm of assassination and treason.
From the treacherous streets of Iraq to the courtrooms of California, Betrayal is a magnificent tour de force of pure storytelling.
There's much more than usual going on--almost too much--in Lescroart's latest legal thriller featuring Dismas Hardy. Narrator David Colacci handles the plots and subplots effortlessly. Hardy is called on to handle the murder appeal of a veteran of the Iraq war. Not only has the vet's former lawyer mysteriously disappeared, but the lawyer's wife seems to have committed suicide. Somehow the FBI and national security agents become involved. All told, there are four mysteries to be solved. Colacci capably juxtaposes the Iraqi war events with the veteran's legal proceedings--which are exciting and believable, thanks to strong narration. The only blemish on this offering is the author's lack of legal accuracy. But legal accuracy isn't always necessary when you have a good story. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
John Lescroart is the bestselling author of eighteen previous novels, which have sold more than ten million copies. He lives with his family in Northern California.
