What do you think?
Rate this book
Dismas Hardy #9
The First Law
John Lescroart -- author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The Oath" and a "master" of the modern thriller ("People")-- returns with a spellbinding novel about events that force defense attorney Dismas Hardy and Lieutenant Abe Glitsky outside the law and into a fight for their lives.
Prodded by his father, Glitsky asks the new homicide lieutenant about the case, but the brass tells him in no uncertain terms 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.
While Dismas Hardy has built a solid legal practice and a happy family, John Holiday has not followed the same path. Despite this, Hardy has remained Holiday's attorney and confidant, and with Glitsky's help, Hardy finds ample reason to question Holiday's guilt. Hardy's case falls on hostile ears, however, and to avoid arrest, Holiday turns fugitive. The police now believe three things: that Hardy is a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky is a bad cop on the wrong side of the law.
As the suspense reaches fever pitch, Hardy, Glitsky, and even their families are caught in the crossfire and directly threatened. The police won't protect them. The justice system won't defend them. Shunned within the corridors of power, and increasingly isolated at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky face their darkest hour. For when the law forsakes them, they must look to another, more primal law in order to survive.
A brilliant and emotionally powerful thrill-ride through the twisting streets of San Francisco, "The First Law" is John Lescroart's most immediate and electrifying novel to date.
430 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 27, 2003
510 people are currently reading
1028 people want to read
About the author
John Lescroart
141 books1,302 followersJohn Lescroart (born January 14, 1948) is an American author best known for two series of legal and crime thriller novels featuring the characters Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky.
Lescroart was born in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Junípero Serra High School, San Mateo, California (Class of 1966). He then went on to earn a B.A. in English with Honors at UC Berkeley in 1970. In addition to his novels, Lescroart has written several screenplays.
Lescroart was born in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Junípero Serra High School, San Mateo, California (Class of 1966). He then went on to earn a B.A. in English with Honors at UC Berkeley in 1970. In addition to his novels, Lescroart has written several screenplays.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
April 4, 2019
Twist and shout! Death and gloom! Very slow start but it picked up through the middle then an ending that could’ve used a little more finesse I thought. I like the series of Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky it’s good to follow them. I seldom read them in order only because I don’t get them in order. Nonetheless it was a good read.
September 19, 2020
finished this morning 19th of september 2020 good read four stars really liked it kindle owned this one is a telling of an event the is told in part in at least one other story forget which one and mentioned in other stories the gunfight at pier 70 and i like how in this story lescroart addresses the idea of what i've called frontier justice...a motif that is prevalent in many of the stories i've read of late and while the other writers never seem to question...to any degree...the idea that one can take the law into one's hands...vigilante justice, another phrase for the same idea...here, lescroart digs a bit deeper into the subject and there's an analogy about the fabled ghetto and what happens there...lack of law, own hands, this that the other. anyway, it's a start. our country this i see. the first law. hmmm.
January 3, 2018
My favorite Dismas Hardy book.
This is the one where they work as a team - not fighting and taking sides with defendants or police procedures - they each know what has to be done to rid the city of a very bad group of people and save themselves and their families even if it goes beyond the law. The loss of one of their own was heartbreaking and reverberates through many books.
This is the one where they work as a team - not fighting and taking sides with defendants or police procedures - they each know what has to be done to rid the city of a very bad group of people and save themselves and their families even if it goes beyond the law. The loss of one of their own was heartbreaking and reverberates through many books.
August 30, 2020
I think that John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy books have a nice balance of character development and plot and a good mix of thought provoking legal and criminal components. For me, book nine was a decent story and worthy entry in the series until the ending, which I found a bit cartoonish and over the top.
July 16, 2016
I did enjoy this book, and would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. It was a bit different than the others I've read in some ways; I guess it featured Abe Glitsky more so than Dismas Hardy, although they all have both. But this one didn't really have as much in the way of legal proceedings, and in fact. I don't think Hardy had an actual paying client.
But the ending was, to me, a little less than satisfactory. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't go into detail about why except to say I always like it when the bad guys are forced to confront their deeds, and perhaps grovel a little. :-)
But the ending was, to me, a little less than satisfactory. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't go into detail about why except to say I always like it when the bad guys are forced to confront their deeds, and perhaps grovel a little. :-)
August 26, 2017
I've been reading him since (16yrs old) now 36. This is one of the most single anxiety ridden reads of his natural page turning themed books.
Classic.
Classic.
April 8, 2021
There's one thing about grabbing a series out of order, you read about things that occurred in the past but you never know the thrill until you read the situation for yourself.
Is it a robbery gone bad, or is there something else happening here? When a friend of Abe Glitsky's father is killed during an apparent robbery, Abe is asked for an update on what is being done. Glitsky is no longer in homicide, he's in payroll and he is basically told to mind his own business.
Glitsky isn't impressed. The Patrol Special, a holdover from San Francisco's vigilante past seems to be heading up this homicide, leading the inspectors by the nose and targeting John Holiday, a client of Dismis Hardy.
As the case moves forward, with more murders falling in the wake, the homicide investigators on the case begin to believe that John Holiday is a cold blooded killer, Dismis Hardy is a liar protecting a fugitive and that Abe Glitsky is a bad cop.
As the violence and murders escalate, and the families of Abe and Dismis are threatened, they learn one simple truth, vigilante justice may be their only savior.
Is it a robbery gone bad, or is there something else happening here? When a friend of Abe Glitsky's father is killed during an apparent robbery, Abe is asked for an update on what is being done. Glitsky is no longer in homicide, he's in payroll and he is basically told to mind his own business.
Glitsky isn't impressed. The Patrol Special, a holdover from San Francisco's vigilante past seems to be heading up this homicide, leading the inspectors by the nose and targeting John Holiday, a client of Dismis Hardy.
As the case moves forward, with more murders falling in the wake, the homicide investigators on the case begin to believe that John Holiday is a cold blooded killer, Dismis Hardy is a liar protecting a fugitive and that Abe Glitsky is a bad cop.
As the violence and murders escalate, and the families of Abe and Dismis are threatened, they learn one simple truth, vigilante justice may be their only savior.
July 2, 2012
I love the Hardy series, but the characters and their characterizations in this one were either Lescroart's earliest renderings of them or a result of something having gone terribly wrong. The multiple (convenient) deaths which follow the first crime stretched credulity. The gratuitous violence involving the murders of two men and the apparent suicide of a "good" guy felt like shortcuts the writer used to build up a (not so convincing) momentum to justify the stupid vigilante climax. I am so glad to have not read these in order. Had I "watched" Dismas, Abe and Moses in this episode, it would have tainted their characters for me and I would not have read the later books.
One problem that kept popping up for me was whenever Hardy was about to do something unethical, he ran it by other people who had to tell him that it was unethical, who listed the legal reasons, etc.. Hardy is a lawyer, and I don't care how close to home the threats may have loomed, he did not need people to remind him of the risks he was taking. That felt like overkill and word padding.
I HATED the rendering of Abe Glitsky in this one. Again, had I read it before coming to "know" him later in the series, I would have been less interested in him. Here we see him as a weak, scared, easily-intimidated man who, by the way, was willing to bend the rules at the request of his father. The Glitsky of the later books would have felt and done none of this. Lescroart would have us believe that a man (whatever his mettle) is easily compromised and his nature almost destroyed by what happens on his job. In this book, Abe was serving detention, demoted from head of Homicide; his passive job in Payroll sapped his masculinity and his common sense. I think this is a little more telltale about the author than the character. The role played by Glitsky is a political/social statement: Take my job away, and the man/woman I once was no longer exists.
Hardy's client, John Holliday was a bigger character than the other characters in the book. To me, with a series and its recurring characters, this was a mistake. Lescroart gave Holliday a likable though ambiguous disposition and throughout the book we are led to believe that Holliday might be guilty. Those aspects of Hardy’s client should have been subordinate to aspects of Hardy and Glitsky. Holliday’s role should not have been bigger (in effect if not dialogue and presence). Holliday’s presence dominated the epilogue, also starring Glitsky and Hardy.
About the ending: The exoneration and the slaughter were stupid, unlikely. It seemed to reek of the kind of inexplicable carnage that is successful with a series like the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. But in Child’s series, Reacher is the protagonist and simultaneously a virtual unknown. Contrasting the ending of Lescroart's "First Law" with the body count endings of a Lee Child novel puts Hardy et al in a silly light.
Lescroart got smart later on. In future installments, Hardy and Abe regain their footing and do more of what they do best. The dialogue improves, the plot and its pacing are right on. In "First Law," the scenes where the two families meet, eat and play were okay, though they lacked the zest of Abe's trademark growl and the zeal of Hardy's and Abe's upbeat spouses and children.
Another problem here is that the book contained too many clichéd problems of the times. Drug/alcohol addiction and recovery, resentful women once wronged, a May-December relationship, residual Vietnam-veteran era rage, marriage/remarriage, dead children, troubled children and second wives, bad cops, good cops, stupid cops, and accidental evidence. These elements are present in all the Hardy books, and the books are generally richer for their inclusion, but in this one, they felt added-on, planted for effect rather than written in as an organic part of the narrative. Lots of beating the reader over the head with the old ghosts to remind us why it was okay for good guys to lapse.
So, while not my favorite, and not a recommended volume, it was okay because it added to the history of the characters we come to know over several more books. I hope there are more Hardy/Glitsky tales to come. Glad this one and Betrayal are out of my way and I can sort of forget the bad impression they made.
September 29, 2018
Der Autor wollte einen neueren Korruptionsskandal mit einer Schießerei à la am O.K.-Corral koppeln.
Deshalb beginnt der Roman mit dem Aufbruch von Serienheld Diz Hardy und Schwager McGuire zum Ort des Gemetzels, die beiden Helden haben ein ganzes Waffenarsenal auf ihren Truck geladen. Auch die anderen Teile des Romans werden mit der Bewaffnung eines der anderen Guten eröffnet, während der Rest des Buches in unverhältnismäßigem Schneckentempo in unzähligen Erzählrinnsalen vor sich hin plätschert. Die Bösen sind superböse und brutal, die eigentlichen Ermittler strunzdumme Erfüllungsgehilfen, die keinen der untergeschobenen Beweise je hinterfragen. Angesichts der Korruption auf allen Ebenen bleibt Juristenheld Diz Hardy der Rechtsweg ebenso verschlossen wie seinem grimmigen Polizistenkumpel Abe Glitsky der Weg über die üblichen Instanzen, denn der ehemalige Leiter der Mordkommission wurde nach Bauchschuss und Beinahetod im vorherigen Fall in die Lohn- und Gehaltsstelle abgeschoben. Der Nachfolger verbittet sich, aus allzu durchsichtigen Gründen jede Einmischung und eliminiert allzu gründliche Kollegen bzw. duldet die Beseitigung von Belastungszeugen in dem Rechtsstreit den Diz und sein Partner gegen den perfiden Leiter eines Wachdienstes eingeleitet haben, der gleich sechs Stadtteile unter seiner Kontrolle hat.
Mit der Inszenierung eines großen Showdown ist L genauso überfordert wie mit der Entwicklung eines Spannunngsfeldes, in dem die Entwicklung in einem Handlungsstrang die Spannung im nächsten befördert, von daher kann man zwar die Absicht loben, aus dem Schema des politisch korrekten Gerichtsthrillers auszubrechen, allerdings fehlen dem Autor sämtliche Talente für den Erfolg in dieser Disziplin, bei raschen Schusswechseln bleibt Elmore Leonard eine uneinholbare Größe und brutaldummen Gangster des Altmeisters sind wenigstens zum Ablachen blöd.
Unter den Danksagungen lobt L seine Lektorin und Verlegerin für die Unterstützung beim ungewöhnlichen Projekt, eine ganze Reihe von Leuten folgt, die ihm über viele Zweifel hinweg geholfen haben, dass es zur Vollendung kam. Hättest du mal lieber auf dein Autorengewissen gehört und nicht auf viele Freunde, nichts als Deinen nächsten Beststeller im Sinn hatten.
Deshalb beginnt der Roman mit dem Aufbruch von Serienheld Diz Hardy und Schwager McGuire zum Ort des Gemetzels, die beiden Helden haben ein ganzes Waffenarsenal auf ihren Truck geladen. Auch die anderen Teile des Romans werden mit der Bewaffnung eines der anderen Guten eröffnet, während der Rest des Buches in unverhältnismäßigem Schneckentempo in unzähligen Erzählrinnsalen vor sich hin plätschert. Die Bösen sind superböse und brutal, die eigentlichen Ermittler strunzdumme Erfüllungsgehilfen, die keinen der untergeschobenen Beweise je hinterfragen. Angesichts der Korruption auf allen Ebenen bleibt Juristenheld Diz Hardy der Rechtsweg ebenso verschlossen wie seinem grimmigen Polizistenkumpel Abe Glitsky der Weg über die üblichen Instanzen, denn der ehemalige Leiter der Mordkommission wurde nach Bauchschuss und Beinahetod im vorherigen Fall in die Lohn- und Gehaltsstelle abgeschoben. Der Nachfolger verbittet sich, aus allzu durchsichtigen Gründen jede Einmischung und eliminiert allzu gründliche Kollegen bzw. duldet die Beseitigung von Belastungszeugen in dem Rechtsstreit den Diz und sein Partner gegen den perfiden Leiter eines Wachdienstes eingeleitet haben, der gleich sechs Stadtteile unter seiner Kontrolle hat.
Mit der Inszenierung eines großen Showdown ist L genauso überfordert wie mit der Entwicklung eines Spannunngsfeldes, in dem die Entwicklung in einem Handlungsstrang die Spannung im nächsten befördert, von daher kann man zwar die Absicht loben, aus dem Schema des politisch korrekten Gerichtsthrillers auszubrechen, allerdings fehlen dem Autor sämtliche Talente für den Erfolg in dieser Disziplin, bei raschen Schusswechseln bleibt Elmore Leonard eine uneinholbare Größe und brutaldummen Gangster des Altmeisters sind wenigstens zum Ablachen blöd.
Unter den Danksagungen lobt L seine Lektorin und Verlegerin für die Unterstützung beim ungewöhnlichen Projekt, eine ganze Reihe von Leuten folgt, die ihm über viele Zweifel hinweg geholfen haben, dass es zur Vollendung kam. Hättest du mal lieber auf dein Autorengewissen gehört und nicht auf viele Freunde, nichts als Deinen nächsten Beststeller im Sinn hatten.
August 1, 2009
This plot was very complex and so it took longer to read than the average mystery. The ending was a little abrupt and if the man who has set up ten murders goes to jail, it doesn't explain well what stopped the mastermind from killing the last three people by ordering a hit from jail which was something Abe and Dismas didn't think about. However, I have read most of this series and I really enjoy Lescroart's style. I deeply was saddened by the death of one of the regular characters. At one o'clock in the morning when I got to the last place, I thought that this death was tragic and I didn't really understand the exit of such a colorful character.
March 9, 2016
Very intense read from Lescroart and I just wasn't sure how Hardy was going to get out of this one. Some unexpected twists and turns in this one. If you haven't read any Dismas Hardy, I would start with the first one and work your way through the series as there is some character developement, espcecially with Abe Glitzky. If you do, be warned that the first and second books weren't that good IMO. If you like a good legal whodunit, then this series might work for you.
May 11, 2013
I enjoyed reading this serious lawyer-police procedural. The characters are well drawn and elicit the appropriate emotions; you root for them or you are turned off. The situations are/plot is just barely believeable, though it asks the question you hope never gets asked--what if it was a frame up?
Lescroat is less glib than Grisham, less complicated than Thurow, more complex than Grafton; this novel is less polished than it could have been but still an enjoyable read.
Lescroat is less glib than Grisham, less complicated than Thurow, more complex than Grafton; this novel is less polished than it could have been but still an enjoyable read.
July 13, 2013
I enjoyed revisiting Abe Glitsky, Dismas Hardy and the crew for another one of their adventures. Although the story seemed a bit far-fetched, with the police in collusion with the Private Patrols, and who knows who else on the take, it was interesting to explore the question of whether it is right or wrong to take the law into your own hands.
I was also interested in finding out about the Pier 70 incident that was referred to in one of the more recent books I read by this author.
I was also interested in finding out about the Pier 70 incident that was referred to in one of the more recent books I read by this author.
February 27, 2018
Ugh. I didn't like this one. In my opinion, it was an unbelievably frustrating and depressing read. The "bad guys" pretended to be "good guys" - and the actual good guys believed them! I finally became so frustrated that I started skimming, only to discover that At that point I called it a day.
October 12, 2020
This took a good time to read as Dismas Hardy & Lt. Abe Glitsky track over 15+ characters and 5 murders (initial theme was Sam Silverman).
The end brings in more Murderers than expected in the book's flow.
The end brings in more Murderers than expected in the book's flow.
April 23, 2016
First book I read by Lescroart. Loved it. If you enjoy John Grisham, you are sure to enjoy John Lescroart.
January 24, 2016
Big, book. Heavy book (and no I am not talking about physical weight, though on second thoughts, that too :p). But worth it.
March 24, 2020
The protagonists in this book were better men & women than I could ever hope to be, because the antagonists were some evil sum*******!!! I wanted to scorch the earth and damn the consequences!!! "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!!!" As you may surmise this book had me all in my feelings!!!
Good stuff!!!
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
Good stuff!!!
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
September 18, 2022
This is a great series which I enjoy. This particular installment was nail-biting near the end. The tension continued throughout the book. Terrific story.
February 8, 2019
I reread this after reading Lescroart's latest book which wraps up the sword hanging over the heads of Dismas, Abe and Gina for all these years. I had read this story about the failure of law to provide justice and protection a long time ago, but had forgotten who all the players were and how the pieces fit together. This is unlike many books in the series because while the end is self-defense, it still feels a little like revenge. And they have to cover up what happened. Worth the reread. I actually listened to most of it, and then read it, when listening was taking too long.
June 18, 2018
The most disappointing of the 9 Hardy books I have read so far. Too far fetched to be possible.
November 30, 2014
BEWARE OF SPOILERS. I DON'T HIDE OR PROMOTE MY REVIEWS. (I write them mainly for myself -- to help me remember titles, authors' names, plots. Also, once I write a review, I find it easier to pass the book along instead of hoarding.)
This book is a key installment in the lore of Dis Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I know I've read several books in the series where the events of "First Law" are cited as history, or as the reason for this or that aspect of the two characters.
Enjoyed seeing more of Abe's fabled Jewish dad, Sol Glitsky.
Sad to go through David Freeman's death, which echoes through subsequent installments.
Had never heard of "private sector" cops patrolling city beats -- makes me wonder whether this practice exists now, or has ever existed in the book's setting, San Francisco.
Such a clever solution by the book's good guys to the threat posed.
I loved the way the shoot-out finale mimics a Western gun fight. Lescroart sets it up that way deliberately, even mentioning that the dockside buildings resemble the false-facade store fronts on main street in an old Western town. It's a movie reference inside in a movie reference, as the book explains that the docks in question were a shooting locale for a movie.
Perfect title for the book's subject matter.
This book is a key installment in the lore of Dis Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I know I've read several books in the series where the events of "First Law" are cited as history, or as the reason for this or that aspect of the two characters.
Enjoyed seeing more of Abe's fabled Jewish dad, Sol Glitsky.
Sad to go through David Freeman's death, which echoes through subsequent installments.
Had never heard of "private sector" cops patrolling city beats -- makes me wonder whether this practice exists now, or has ever existed in the book's setting, San Francisco.
Such a clever solution by the book's good guys to the threat posed.
I loved the way the shoot-out finale mimics a Western gun fight. Lescroart sets it up that way deliberately, even mentioning that the dockside buildings resemble the false-facade store fronts on main street in an old Western town. It's a movie reference inside in a movie reference, as the book explains that the docks in question were a shooting locale for a movie.
Perfect title for the book's subject matter.
January 30, 2015
They date back to the wilder days of San Francisco's vigilante past - the Patrol Specials, a private police force that keeps watch for paying clients. Unfortunately, Sam Silverman - an elderly pawnshop owner and a friend of Lt. Abe Glitsky's father - could no longer afford Patrol Special protection, and now he may have paid with his life. But Glitsky, stuck in a paper-pushing job after being injured on duty, is hitting brick walls as he tries to get help from homicide. and his friend Dismas Hardy, putting together a high-stakes lawsuit against the Patrol Specials, suddenly finds himself defending a friend and local bar owner who's been accused in Silverman's death. Hardy's convinced of John Holiday's innocence - until Holiday goes on the lam. Now, blocked at every turn, both Hardy and Glitsky may be forced to protect not only themselves, but their nearest and dearest - as they step cautiously into a world where the only law is survival.
January 8, 2012
As a literature educator, I feel obliged to give this book 4 stars instead of 5. The book has no great literary value, no life lessons to learn, no particularly clever word use, and no lasting quality; however, as a mystery-genre reader, I feel compelled to give The First Law 5 stars. I don't know when I have enjoyed a book as much. Returning character, Lawyer Dismas Hardy, was a key figure in this novel, but policeman Abe Glitsky was really the main character in this one. I really enjoy the characters with which Lescroart has peopled this series of novels. John Lescroart can be depended upon to provide an interesting and involving read. As usual, I would edit and shorten the final product a little if I were in charge.
August 14, 2017
I've read several of the Dismas Hardy books out of sequence and many refer to the events in this book. They inform many of the characters' actions and motives in the books after this one. I'm really glad I read it so I have the background knowledge necessary. That said, I find it a bit far-fetched, even for mysteries such as this. In any case, I love these characters and the author so I was willing to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the story by reading this story the same way that I would watch a Bourne movie.
August 28, 2011
I always enjoy the Dismas Hardy books. I usually read them or listen to an unabridged version. I was ready for this book and my Mom had it in unabridged CD, so figured why buy it myself when she has it.
I now know why I don't care for the unabridged versions... I always feel like I'm missing something and the characters and plot just don't seem to get as developed. The premis of the book was good and I enjoyed it as always, but I think I'll stick to the full length versions.
I now know why I don't care for the unabridged versions... I always feel like I'm missing something and the characters and plot just don't seem to get as developed. The premis of the book was good and I enjoyed it as always, but I think I'll stick to the full length versions.
June 30, 2014
"The First Law" by John Lescroart.
I've listened to others on CD in the Dismas Hardy series.
I enjoyed the growing through experience relationship between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky. Their sleuthing together and separately caught my attention.
This story held my attention at times and other times not so much.
The ending was a sad attempt at an all out gun fight which I found very predictable. that lowered the excitement level quite a bit for me.
I've listened to others on CD in the Dismas Hardy series.
I enjoyed the growing through experience relationship between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky. Their sleuthing together and separately caught my attention.
This story held my attention at times and other times not so much.
The ending was a sad attempt at an all out gun fight which I found very predictable. that lowered the excitement level quite a bit for me.
February 2, 2017
What happens when everything goes all wrong? When you are a good person, doing what's right, and the world does not believe you? Do you surrender to the evil, and live, or do you fight to your last breath for what is right? This is one of those stories, and a really good one at that!
A lawyer novel, a police story, murder mystery, thriller, morality play, it is all that. I would place it in the category of damn good story and leave it at that!
A lawyer novel, a police story, murder mystery, thriller, morality play, it is all that. I would place it in the category of damn good story and leave it at that!
March 4, 2012
This Hardy book was very different from any of the others I have read. We say goodbye to some of the people we have met through the Hardy series. I was surprised at how much those losses touched my heart. There was a real glimpse into the humanity of all of the characters. I appreciated the frustration that Lescroart, captured at being a victim, that is not believed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews