Guilt
A shocking legal thriller filled with lies and lust
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
No one is above the law...
From New York Times bestseller John Lescroart comes an exhilarating look at a trial that will change the lives of everyone it touches. Guilt is a legal thriller perfect for fans of J.J. Miller and John Sandford.
'A great thriller: breakneck pacing, electrifying courtroom scenes, and a cast of richly crafted characters' - People
Influential San Francisco attorney Mark Dooher - affluent, powerful, totally in control - is accustomed to getting what he wants. When he meets a beautiful young attorney, he decides he wants her, too. But Mark Dooher is a married man, and as legal counsel for San Francisco's Archdiocese, divorce is not exactly an option. Then Dooher's wife is murdered, and Mark becomes a suspect in the case. Even then, there's no cause for alarm. The woman he wants is close by his side. His best friend, the ever-loyal Wes Farrell, is his defense lawyer. And his own client, the Catholic Church, is in his pocket. Nothing - not past crimes, current scandal, or future desires - is going to stop him. Except, perhaps, the truth...
What readers are saying about Guilt:
'Strong characters lead the way in this genuine page turner. A great build up and masterful misdirection'
'Finely drawn characters drive the plot'
'The courtroom scenes are crafted beautifully'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Perhaps it's because he's one of the few writers of legal thrillers who isn't a lawyer that Lescroart has brought so much more to this novel and its predecessors (A Certain Justice, etc.) than simply courtroom dazzle--though the legal infighting here is first-rate. Mark Dooher, head of a high-powered San Francisco law firm, pushing 50 and tired of his alcoholic wife, is smitten with beautiful law student Christina Carrera. He begins a subtle campaign to woo her, revealing himself to readers ("the little compliments, the kindnesses") as manipulative, but believably so. When Dooher's wife is murdered in an apparent burglary, SFPD detective Abe Glitsky finds enough odd clues to press for a murder charge against Dooher. With Dooher's best friend, Wes Farrell, leading the defense (with Christina as second chair), the cold-blooded attorney takes on the police, the court and various hostile witnesses. What raises the drama--marred only by a perfunctory ending--to an unusually sophisticated level is not just the crackling legal action but also infusions of the melting-pot tensions of San Francisco, old-fashioned church politics (including a priest suffering a nervous breakdown after a murderer's confession) and strong secondary characters (a feisty rape counselor, a canny archbishop, a smart and ambitious Vietnamese detective). Guilt pervades the plot: Glitsky's over his wife's slow death from cancer; Farrell's over a less-than-stellar law career; Christina's over an old abortion. Only Dooher can say, "I don't feel any guilt"--though he'll be joined by the many thriller fans who won't feel a twinge about spending a few hours with this robust and intelligent entertainment. $125,000 ad/promo; BOMC selection; author tour.
