The Ophelia Cut

Dismas Hardy, Book 14

By: John Lescroart

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

When a brutal rapist is murdered, a loving father stands accused of the crime. Defense attorney Dismas Hardy must defend his brother-in-law and old friend Moses McGuire in a thrilling case that hits far too close to home.

Moses McGuire has good reason to be concerned about his beautiful 23-year-old daughter, Brittany. She moves quickly from one boyfriend to the next, and always seems to prefer a new and mysterious stranger to a man she knows something about. But her most recent ex, Rick Jessup, isn’t willing to let her go, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped.

Within 24 hours, Rick Jessup is dead, Moses McGuire is the prime suspect in the investigation, and Dismas Hardy has been hired to defend his brother-in-law. Making things even more complicated, McGuire has fallen off the wagon, and his stay in prison could bring to light old secrets that would destroy Hardy and his closest colleagues’ careers.

As the overwhelming evidence against McGuire piles up, Dismas Hardy focuses on planting doubt in the minds of the jurors - until, in a feat of legal ingenuity that is staggering in both its implications and its simplicity, Hardy sees a new way forward that might just save them all. But at what price?

For the first time since 2009, Dismas Hardy, the author’s most beloved protagonist, returns in a masterful novel that showcases Lescroart’s extraordinary storytelling gifts: a cast of flesh-and-blood characters, morally complex situations, and relentless, nail-biting suspense.

©2013 John Lescroart (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

He did it again

I have just begun enjoying this author. This is the third book of his that I have listened to. Each has kept my attention and enjoyment. The characters in this book are very real and relatable. Couldn't guess if I was rooting for a bad guy or a good guy!

Irritating narration

Any additional comments?

I don't believe I've heard this narrator before, and I will avoid listening to him again. He performs way too fast, which likely he believes amps up the drama although it makes me feel rushed and harried. In addition, he does not put any pause in between sections (such as the switch from what's going on with one character to a different scene) so I'm listening along and all of a sudden I wonder "how did we get from there to here in this split-second?"

I have read most of the Dismas Hardy books, which is a much more enjoyable endeavor than this listening.

surprise ending

Didn't see the final fewchapters comung at all. (spoiler alert) With MM gone, who will rescue Brittany?

Classic Hardy

I have read or listened to every one of the Dismas Hardy novels, along with most of John Lescroarts other books. In the past several novels there has been an absence of real substance. This book is written with the same zeal and character driven plot that his older books were and in that it excels. Its full of interesting little ethical questions and conundrums, along with a great story. You wont be disappointed with this book. Just like all of the other Hardy novels this one will twist and turn and throw you off your seat every time you think you've got something figured out.

Great buildup....

I really enjoyed the storyline and the suspense, the twists and turns the plot takes, building towards the final chapters. The story lost a little steam before taking a left turn for a last twist. Epilogue was unsettling.

Brilliant

I'm listening to all of JL's books for the second time. They are close to the top of the 800+ audiobooks I've listened to. In the past four years. Each one leaves me thinking he can't possibly write another one better than this and I'm always proven wrong. I unfortunately can't recommend this book and all of the Hatdy/Glitsky/Hunt:/Roake novels higher than five stars. Every second gives so much pleasure.

Time to try something different now, Mr. Lescroart

I have been a happily entertained reader of this series for about 25 years now, initially in print, and then for the last 7-8 years in audiobooks. It is fair to say that I have loved this work. The characters of Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky and their supporting crew have almost become real humans to me. It does help that I live and work in the same area, both geographically and professionally, as these people do, but really, that's not a big part of the appeal of the series. Mr. Lescroart and Mr. Colacci are a perfect combination, with complementary skills and genuine affection for their characters. One thing that really appeals to me is the fact that Dismas and Abe and the others have what seem to be real lives, with births and deaths and marriages and the range of complications that all of us live through during our brief stay here on planet Earth. It would take an encyclopedic review to attempt to give you the flavor of Mr. Lescroart's primary accomplishments. So, I won't attempt that. You would be happily advised to listen to many of the prior books. They are legal thrillers, and Part II is often a bit slow going, as we get to slog through the trials, but even when things begin to get a little boring, our entertainers come up with something new and quirky, or particularly knotty, or emotionally fraught.
The Ophelia Cut (not a good title, which might be a warning) centers on the rape of a young woman and the apparent revenge killing of the man by the young woman's father, Moses McGuire. Of course Dismas represents Moses at the trial, and I won't be a spoiler here about the end of the book. But, the book can at times be forbiddingly complex, and it often assumes that the reader is aware of the details of a massacre involving a number of the main characters here. The group of allies (Hardy, Glitsky, D.A. Wes Farrell, attorney Gina Roake, deceased attorney David Freeman) keeps a volatile secret amongst them. The exposure of this secret threatens them all, providing an underpinning of drama and intrigue to which only some of us readers can relate. In this book we are introduced to a city supervisor (Liam Goodman, whose chief clerk is the victim of the murder) a new chief of SF police, a Korean gangster and trafficker of human flesh named John Lo) and others. The plot gets spread out among these people too far, so that it is hard to keep all the players identified without a scorecard, so to speak. At times I felt a curious mix between boredom and a genuine interest in knowing how things turn out. I could have lived without the boredom, for sure. I think this is another result of the convention by modern novelists to make their books last a standard 300-350 pages in print, or about 12-14 hours in audio. Many younger writers are now shuffling off this mandate, thank goodness. As the late, great Elmore Leonard said, "I leave out the parts that people tend to skip." All writers should have this byword as a sampler knitted and framed on the wall of their writing rooms.
At the end of the book there is a true deus ex machina, which tries our patience a bit because it is implausible, and clearly a desperation move by the defense team. All along I had been thinking, Mr. Lescroart, you have been wildly successful, beyond your most outrageous dreams, but it is time to stop now. Shift gears. I know that he has done that for a couple of earlier books which I haven't read. I get the impression that they weren't as well received as the Hardy/Glitzky books. By this point in his career, the author must be in a position to take truly meaningful risks in doing what he does. I challenge you, Mr. Lescroart, little pipsqueak that I may be: And now it is time for something completely different.

Entertaining but unconvincing plot resolutions

I looked forward to listening to David Colacci's performance (always very well done) of John Lescoart's latest work The Ophelia Cut, and revisiting the many characters he has established so very well.

This book is not a stand alone work -- it is number 14 in the Dismas Hardy series (all books are available in Audible, thanks!) and the plot is linked to number 9, The First Law (which is difficult to listen to due to the reader and it would be good if it was re-recorded by Colacci).

I felt that The Ophelia Cut lacked some of the discipline and care of his previous books. So, what was happening to the author?

Tired? (I hope not -- I'm looking forward to his next novel!) My feeling is that he opted for easy answers to the plot lines that he initially established in his usual intriguing way, and as a result the resolution to the problems were not satisfying. Or was he being overly ambitious? Anyway, disappointly, the overlay of credibility was missing. And, apart from Hardy himself, he did not manage to create that deeply personal involvement with the protagonists that Lescroart normally develops so skilfully.

But this is, none the less, an entertaining listen.

Remember the shootout at the pier?

This is a full-on "mature" Dismas Hardy story. You get what you pay for and the value is good. This is a bit of a clean up story for Hardy fans who read and remember the over-the-top 'on the pier' shoot out where Abe, Dismas and Moses kill a lot of bad guys (six?) and SPLIT. (Only in SF.) Well, this story starts off with everyone worried that Moses is going to start talking six years after the fact and it goes on from there.

The Incident at the Pier is more or less central but so is the date rape of Franny's niece, who happens to be Moses's daughter who may or may not have murdered the man responsible. There seems to be an underlying premise that most fathers would want to murder a man responsible for the date rape of his beautiful and very sexually active twenty-something daughter. I doubt it's the attitude of most of those men or very many of those daughters.

Then, there's a muddled conclusion with muddled implications that should haunt Dismas for the rest of his life even though it was none of his doing. As I recall, Moses was kind of interesting as a philosopher bartender, but he doesn't wear well during his trial with either the other characters or with the reader.

Bravo Dismas Hardy!

I have yet to be disappointed with a John Lescroart book. I have read/listened to all the books in the series and even though it's been a while, I fell right back in with Abe, Treya and the gang and the infamous "Lous". Lescroart is the master of courtroom thrillers and well developed characters. I was glued to it and did not want it to end. Make it your next Audible purchase.