Scan barcode
A review by weaselweader
Nothing But the Truth by John Lescroart
2.0
Dull characters that nobody will care about at all!
As part of the long-running Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky series, Nothing but the Truth falls completely flat for me and is an utter failure as a legal "thriller"!
San Francisco attorney, Dismas Hardy is shocked to find out that his wife has been jailed for contempt when she refuses to answer a question posed to her in a grand jury investigation of a recent murder. The prosecuting attorney, definitely on a legal fishing expedition behind the closed doors of the grand jury, asked her about a conversation that she had with a friend who was a potential murder suspect. Because the friend had told her a secret in absolute confidence, she utterly refused to answer the question and stood her ground by allowing her self to be cited for contempt and placed behind bars.
What seemed like a preposterously weak premise in the first place ends up being dragged out into an overly long novel with dull characters whose fate will matter not one whit to most readers.
There were, I admit, two saving graces which saved me from simply setting the novel aside unfinished. First was the opportunity to learn a little something about grand juries and their place in the American system of jurisprudence. Second was the opportunity to meditate for a moment on the meaning of trust in a solid marriage and how a marriage can falter on the rocks of pre-occupation with work, career and anything other than marriage itself.
Other reviewers have sung the praise of this series but I'm sure not tripping over myself to look for other novels in the series on the basis of this one. Not recommended.
Paul Weiss
As part of the long-running Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky series, Nothing but the Truth falls completely flat for me and is an utter failure as a legal "thriller"!
San Francisco attorney, Dismas Hardy is shocked to find out that his wife has been jailed for contempt when she refuses to answer a question posed to her in a grand jury investigation of a recent murder. The prosecuting attorney, definitely on a legal fishing expedition behind the closed doors of the grand jury, asked her about a conversation that she had with a friend who was a potential murder suspect. Because the friend had told her a secret in absolute confidence, she utterly refused to answer the question and stood her ground by allowing her self to be cited for contempt and placed behind bars.
What seemed like a preposterously weak premise in the first place ends up being dragged out into an overly long novel with dull characters whose fate will matter not one whit to most readers.
There were, I admit, two saving graces which saved me from simply setting the novel aside unfinished. First was the opportunity to learn a little something about grand juries and their place in the American system of jurisprudence. Second was the opportunity to meditate for a moment on the meaning of trust in a solid marriage and how a marriage can falter on the rocks of pre-occupation with work, career and anything other than marriage itself.
Other reviewers have sung the praise of this series but I'm sure not tripping over myself to look for other novels in the series on the basis of this one. Not recommended.
Paul Weiss