The Vig

A Dismas Hardy Novel

By: John Lescroart

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

A beautiful woman paid it with her body. A seedy lawyer used somebody else's money. It's the vig - the exorbitant interest mob loan sharks take on their money. Now, in the city by the Bay, everyone has to pay.

Down-and-out-lawyer Rusty Ingraham left behind a murdered woman and a houseboat splattered with blood. All the evidence said Ingraham was in San Francisco Bay. Dead. But a friend of Ingraham's, former cop and prosecutor Dismas Hardy, isn't so sure. And Hardy has to find out, because a stone-cold killer, now paroled, once threatened to kill Ingraham and Dismas Hardy both.

Now, to save his own skin, Dismas must face down liars and killers on both sides of the law. From mob foot soldiers to brokenhearted lovers to renegade cops, a dozen lives are tied to the fate of Rusty Ingraham - and the payback has only just begun.

Check out more titles in the Dismas Hardy series.

©2006 John Lescroart (P)2006 Brilliance Audio

Decent story, but...

This is a decent story as such, but, quite unusual for me, I figured out what had really happened less than halfway through. So I spent most of the rest of the book wanting to smack the characters on the back of the head and suggest they take into account what seemed blatant obvious to me. I do like to come up with the solution while listening to the story, but have never done it this early in the game. Since it is highly unlikely ;-) that I have miraculously gained intelligence since the previous books I listened to, it must be too easy to guess. If you leave out that it's a bit hard to believe that everyone chasing the bad guys suddenly (i.e. as opposed to other novels in this series) seem to have developed a blank spot in their thinking, it is a good story.

I can no longer bite my tongue.

I consider myself a John Lescroart superfan but I can't stomach the way black people are portrayed in his books. I'm born & raised in South Central LA & even if these characters are supposed to be the stereotypical uneducated black people, not even the most uneducated of us speak like that. IT'S AS OFFENSIVE on paper as it in audio. Mr. Lescroart MUST consult with a real black person about these characters before he looses a chunk of his fan base.
Otherwise, great storyline & David Colacci & in my top 3 fav narrators!

Never disappointed

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

Who did it

Any additional comments?

I'm never disappointed by books from John Lescroart. I've read all of them from #3 on, but finally went back and listened to #1 & 2. Was fun to get more of the history of Dismas and Abe. I thought I had this one figured out, but nope.

Great & complicated plot, but

I figured out "who done it" two hours before the book ended. I don't expect that with ales roar.

Save your money and time

Rain you may need a program to keep the characters in this book straight unless you prefer to stay confused

A Good Read

A good and satisfying read. Gives us some past history for Ditmas Hardy. A good story even if the connection between the sub-plots seemed forced. Well narrated also but not great.

My fault: I Like Stylish British Mysteries

Shouldn't have chosen this in the first place. It has a mundane plot, although advertised as one with "twists," and its indistinguishable characters are neither likable nor memorable. Sadly, the predictable and prosaic writing and slow pacing didn't help. Sigh.

Dizzy :-) with Dis

Love the narration. Some of Lescroart's cop knowledge leaves a lot to be desired, but -- as are tired cop -- if you really made it realistic, you'd want to retire too!
Don't like his representation of how cops feel about the rest of the populace, kind of stays on the cynic side....
But his storylines are good, if predictable, and enjoyable.

Okay but...

This book didn't quite hold my interest. I found my mind wandering frequently while listening. It might have been my issue but regardless, I was not thoroughly impressed with this story and found myself wishing it was over.

Review

Well done and clear narration. Plausible story and interesting locales. The chAracters are interesting and mostly believable. Xxxxxx zzzzz yyyyyy
R

Good Read

I read most of the Dismas Hardy novels years ago. at a loss for something to spend my credit on, I decided to listen to Dead Irish, and quickly followed it with The Vig.. still doesn't disappoint all these years later. Good storyline, characters that yo warm to and connect with, and excellent narration....off to download Hard Evidence .....hooked!