The Rule of Law: A Novel

John Lescroart

Jan 2019 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Attorney Dismas Hardy is called to defend the least likely suspect of his career: his longtime, trusted assistant who is suddenly being charged as an accessory to murder in this instant New York Times bestseller from “the undisputed master of the courtroom thriller” (The Providence Journal).

Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her strange behavior and sudden disappearances concern him, especially when he learns that her convict brother—a man who had served twenty-five years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder—has just been released.

Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into this country from El Salvador and Mexico. That is, until recently, when he was shot to death—on the very same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work. The connection between Phyllis, her brother, and Hector’s murder is not something Dismas can easily understand, but if his cherished colleague has any chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together—and fast.

A whip-smart, engrossing novel filled with shocking twists and turns, “The Rule of Law is vintage Lescroart, drawing on parallels between real-life and hot-button issues while also providing top-notch entertainment” (The Real Book Spy).

Ratings and reviews

Lagged at times but still a good read. Really like the characters and the story is on point. Too much time spent on Hardy's home life(I'm not interested in his wife or kids). I still would recommend this novel to anyone.

The Rule of Law by John Lescroart A Dimas Hardy Novel #18 I usually don’t step into a series on book eighteen but for some reason did just that with this book and had no trouble at all following the story. In fact, it may have made me want to go back and begin with book one of the series and read them all! As mentioned in the blurb about the book The long-time employee of Dismas Precision Hardy (and there is a story I want to hear in the future) has gone missing. He begins to worry early on as her disappearance is so against her normal pattern of behavior. So, he decides to play sleuth and find out what he can about her whereabouts only to have her show up in a few days and immediately be taken into custody by the police. Since he is a lawyer, doesn’t believe she is guilty and has a feeling it is payback of some sort he dives into clearing her name. There is murder and prostitution and human trafficking and political intrigue and a major cover-up and good friends dealing together with issues as they no doubt have done before in the previous books. I believe the author was tying up threads he felt were left hanging from previous stories but they all flowed seamlessly as the story unfolded. This book did bring to light an intriguing underground railroad that I was unaware of and when I looked it up online learned even more. This was an interesting and intriguing story that left me wondering if it could have really happened but as I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters I didn’t worry too much about the details. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books – Simon & Schuster for the ARC – This is my honest review. 4 Stars

About the author

John Lescroart is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine previous novels, including the The Rule of Law, Poison, and Fatal. His books have sold more than ten million copies and have been translated into twenty-two languages. He lives in Northern California.