The Mercy Rule

Publisher's Summary

The Mercy Rule is a brilliant and moving human drama set against a backdrop of relentless suspense, legal complexity and moral ambiguity. Dismas Hardy, the former bartender, loving husband and father, and reluctant defense attorney of The 13th Juror, returns here in his most challenging case.

Vowing to spend more time with his family, Dismas is hesitant to represent Graham Russo, a could-have-been-great baseball player turned lawyer who is indicted for the murder of his father, Sal. Everyone close to the Russos knew that Sal was dying and that he needed morphine injections to ease his suffering. Graham admits to administering these injections, but insists he wasn't there the night of Sal's overdose.

Was it suicide, mercy, or murder?

©2009 John Lescroart (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Masterful story-telling

John Lescroart frequently builds his stories around a burning issue of the day. In the case of "The Mercy Rule," he addresses assisted suicide -- which, although "The Mercy Rule" was written back in 1998, remains a burning issue today. Throughout the audiobook, most of the characters are assuming that Graham Russo assisted in his father's suicide; sparking a lively debate in the media, and causing the listener to contemplate the issue. In fact, John Lescroart ALWAYS makes us think when we listen to his novels. David Colacci provides the perfect, versatile voice for narrating this story. A few details date these older Lescroart novels -- like, for instance, the novelty of cell phones and the relatively primitive stage of personal computers back in those days -- but, otherwise, they continue to intrigue and inspire. I would recommend "The Mercy Rule" to all fans of carefully-crafted legal thrillers.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

This book is excellent

If you could sum up The Mercy Rule in three words, what would they be?

Exciting fast paced & engaging

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes lists of twists & turns, good plot.

Which character – as performed by David Colacci – was your favorite?

DismasbHardy

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

The reader had good enunciation but also realistic expression, very easy to listen to. Not over played s in some audible books. Very easy listening.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Best Yet in the series

This is the 5th book about Dismas Hardy, the bartender turned lawyer in San Francisco. I am from San Francisco and Lescroart captures the essence and feel of the city. If you love San Francisco, you will enjoy the descriptions and locales used in the book. The story has a murder (of course), investigation, courtroom drama and a hot button social issue of assisted suicide. The reader does a good job of telling the story and making the characters 'real. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested. There is a scene at the end where the characters are placed in physical danger that seems a bit displaced and the actual murderer is a bit dissappointing but overall this is a great read. If you are a Lescroart fan you will not be dissappointed and if you're new to his works, you will be entertained.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Pretty good one!

I must brag that I had an inkling of some of the outcome early on -- and you should also have caught the clues, and that is okay! There were no big surprises, and there was an element of preposterousness in the discovery of the different strands into one big explanation.

This is one of the better ones, though it may have taken too long to get to the details of the events. I like long books, and chose this one for length, though I like the Hardy series well enough.

I would have liked more substance. One side story that involved Hardy's coworker in an unrelated case was not elaborated on enough. The fracture of the relationship between two old friends was not resoloved well enough for my taste, though we are to believe all is well between them.

I give it 3 stars for being good within this genre.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Wow. Just "Wow."

What a story. Moving, intelligent, and one of Mr. Lescroart's most human mysteries. Thank you.

Excellent

One of his best It is one of the most insightful treatments of Alzimers especially the very end

not worth reading

I usually like his books ,but this one was very slow and not much of a story