The First Law

Dismas Hardy, Book 9

By: John Lescroart

Narrated by: Robert Lawrence

Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

At last recovered from a near-fatal gunshot wound, Lieutenant Abe Glitsky is back at work. But instead of returning to his old job as chief of homicide detail, he's assigned a desk job in the payroll department, where he has no business investigating murders -until his father's closest friend is shot dead in a downtown pawn shop.

Glitsky asks the new homicide lieutenant about the case, but the brass tells him to stay out of it. Guided by the Patrol Special - a private police force supervised by the SFPD that is a holdover from San Francisco's vigilante past - the police have already targeted their prime suspect: John Holiday, proprietor of a run-down local bar, and a friend and client of Dismas Hardy.

Hardy has ample reason to doubt both his client's guilt and the evidence conveniently stacked against him. Hardy turns to Glitsky for help, but when Holiday is implicated in the grisly killings of two more men, their pleas fall on hostile ears. To avoid arrest, Holiday turns fugitive, and the police believe three things: that Hardy's a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky's a bad cop on the wrong side of the law.

And as the deadly pursuit for a murderer intensifies, Hardy, Glitsky, and even their families are directly threatened by the forces that want to see Holiday brought down. Cut off from the system that they both served, denied justice from the corridors of power, and increasingly isolated at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky face their darkest hour. For when the law that is meant to shield and protect those closest to them fails, they must look to another, more primal law in order to survive.

Check out more titles in the Dismas Hardy series.

©2004 John Lescroart (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

The First Law

I love the author, the narrator I don't like.
He made the story not very interesting.

The best yet

lots of suspense and intrique. I've read 6 of Lescroart's books. This is the best yet. I honestly couldn't put it down.

Loved it

Robert Lawrence has such a nice soothing deep voice. Love listening to him. Story was awesome. Lescroart is very addictive.

Didn't like the narrator's interpretation

As other reviewers have mentioned, the narrator for this one was terrible. I don't mind robotic, really, and would prefer it to a badly rendered accent, as long as the story progresses. This was both robotic and badly rendered. I don't ever recall Moses having an Irish lilt, and this was particularly annoying as it came and went. And the black cop who lisped--come on--what was the point of that? Abe's father was the worst kind of stereotype.

I hung in there and finished but did a lot of eye-rolling. And the story? I did not care for the vigilante ending, and really it just dragged on too long.

There are much better installments in this series.

Almost 5 stars

I would have rated this higher if Lescroart had imagined a way to crash that helicopter before the a*******s started shooting. Depictions of animal abuse always harsh my buzz, even when enjoying an otherwise great listen. That being said, this one contained an uncharacteristic level of raw violence for a lawyery book. I'd say this was Robert Lawrence's best performance of the three, and he's improved a lot. His voice was really well suited to the subject matter here. All in all, in my opinion, this was the most gripping of the series so far, and yes, I am a fan.

Top Notch Legal/Crime Drama

Where does The First Law rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This might be my favorite of the Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitzky series

Who was your favorite character and why?

Glitzky is my favorite character in this audio book, as the embattled former lieutenant in this thrilling story. The author did a great job with the Glitzky character, who has no official authority in this story, but had to take charge in a complex case with corruption and incompetence in the SFPD.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

as usual, the ending is thrilling, pulling the multiple themes together. The various settings in San Francisco are well documented and life like, as I lived in or near the city for 20 years .

Any additional comments?

this audiobook is a must have for your collection.

Guaranteed Entertainment

John Lescroat keeps the Dismis Hardy character alive anticipating the next book he will write.

Love all things Lescroart.

I have read all of John Lescroart's books, and now years later I am going back and listening to them on my ipod. I walk my dog every morning and evening and find that I walk longer when I have a good book to listen to, and John Lescroart's are a great listen! However I didn't notice when I bought this one that David Calucci was not the narrator! I found this narrator does not have the same talent.

Good book + horrible performance = waste of money

As is my habit, when an author I like comes out with a new title, I go back and start from the beginning and listen to ALL of his books before listenting to the new book. As i went through the Dismas Hardy books this time, I wondered why I didn't have The Oath, The First Law or The Hearing in my library. I purchased and downloaded all 3 WITHOUT rereading the reviews. Then I found out why I had NOT purchased them previously. This is one of the all-time worse narrators every to record a book. It's even more horrible because a couple of these are key book in the series. He actually does a lisping detective (REALLY?!!) What purpose does that serve. Hardy's voice read by Lawrence is nasal and whiny. I can't begin to express how difficult it was to listen to these. BEWARE!

Good police procedural

I'd been looking for a good police procedural and found it in The First Law - great characters and well crafted plot with unfolding clues. This is my first Lescroart and now I think I'll back up to the first book in the Dismas Hardy series. My only disappointments with this book were a few places that stretched credibility, and a strange narration. The narrator was brilliant with many of the character voices but also sometimes hesitant as if he was reading it for the first time. I didn't find this to be too much of a problem myself and I do highly recommend this book.