Rent “A Certain Justice” by John Lescroart

POW! Zing! Ka-Zam! BANG! John Lescroart continues to sparkle, amuse, entice and entertain in this fast-paced novel.

If you are new to this author’s novels, you are not going to be disappointed in what you read. If you are a long time fan and enthusiast of this very talented writer, you are not going to be disappointed in what you read either! I have read almost 10 of this author’s works in just the last six months and he never…NEVER…fails to snag me at almost the first sentence. That literary love affair continues until the last sentence – every time!

Equally, he never bores me or gets caught in the “same old, same old” rut that many authors get enticed into after a few books. There is such an interesting and diverse mix of characters to read about – each one being featured prominently at one time or another in one of Lescroart’s tomes. In A Certain Justice you will very much enjoy the off beat (and often dryly humorous) friendship of Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky, you’ll cheer the return of Wes Farrell to his love of law – as well as the on-going round of folks and familiar faces who pop in and out of Lou the Greeks – another staple of a Lescroart book!

As always, Lescroart is topical in his subject matter and absolutely honest in the portrayal of his characters. Pick up one of this man’s books and get to know the rich, real and robust characters that you will find in every book by John Lescroart and most definitely in this one!

Rent “The First Law” by John Lescroart

Aficionados of Mr. Lescroart’s books are wildly vocal in their love of his work, the stylization of his characters and the on-going fascinating legal story lines that encompass all of his characters at one time or another (and none of them are boring!!). Please add my voice to that cry of “LOVE IT!”

In this particular book, I became involved in the mechanisms of the police processes – and the human underpinnings of corruption that is a part of the law, whether we like it or not. The ethical dilemma proffered in this novel is as real as it gets – we’ve all had to make a decision based on a reality and not a scale of fairness – we’ve all had the school of hard knocks come rapping at our door and we’ve all faced the moral decisions that had to be made the hard way. Abe Glitsky and Dismas Hardy are caught in a whirlpool that seems about destroy them and their families.

When a book can make me FEEL the emotions of anger, wrongness and fear felt by the characters, then that author has a talent indeed…and Mr. Lescroart, you are indeed talented!! No matter if you pick up his first book in his series invovling Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky, et. al., or pick up his tenth – there’s no character confusion…in fact, I’ve been reading his books in a “scatter-shoot” mode – in no particular order – and it has never caused a problem in knowing his characters or enjoying his plots.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield:

This genre of book, not my normal literary fare by any means, surprised me completely. I chose it for my Bookswim “pool” because I decided to taste a different type of literary “meal” from my usual menu of thrillers, who-dunits and murders extraordinaire…nothing could have surprised me more than to find myself thoroughly engrossed in this author’s almost “Dickensonian” tale.

At times I felt like shaking the main character, Margaret Lea, to get her attention as the suspense of this author’s gothic suspense debut snarled me in the story. This is by no means a fault of the author, but instead kudos to her ability to make me, usually a skeptic and critic of most gothic suspense styled novels until now, become entrapped in the story of Margaret, Angelfield and the mysterious Vida Winter.

Ms. Setterfield’s style of text and personification are both charming and simple to consume…but in a way that has you wanting more and more as you continue through the book. When she describes the ruins of Angelfield and the sense of foreboding often found in the gothic genre, it came across as accurate and actual…not contrived or counterfeit. Again, I applaud you Ms. Setterfield! Her characters are flesh and bone…spirit and dust…light and mirrors…all rolled into one but given a life, in words, that pulls you into them to feel them as they “live.”

The most amazing aspect – and I say this with a bit of chagrin, mind you – is that the plot twist (oh yes, there is definitely one!) caught me fully unprepared! I’ve always considered myself adept at figuring out, long before I get to a book’s end, who did the murder, who is the culprit or what twist transpired to make the book worth reading – The Thirteenth Tale ended with my being humbled at not figuring it out before I read it. Again, I applaud you Ms. Setterfield!

So, as I leave the table of The Thirteenth Tale, I’m fully satisfied, replete and ready for another course of this author’s work!