avid_read's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
books_and_tea_with_me's review against another edition
3.0
I love this book. It shows when Hardy and Glitzky's friendship took a different turn.
johnnyb1954's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting to read first book of a series (from 1989) and see how Dismas Hardy gets into (back into) crime detection. The story is pretty solid and the writing good - though some of the story written from the black characters' perspectives is a little awkward. And that really is the main problem with this book. The perspective keeps changing and we see things from various characters viewpoints. It's not centered on Hardy and there are a lot of tangents and extra content. In the end a couple of subplots are just left loose and unresolved. With all time invested in developing the various characters throughout the book, it wouldn't have been a problem to just add a couple pages of epilog to wrap these up.
xkay_readsx's review against another edition
3.0
Somewhat slow, but great character.
Dismas Hardy, a former Marine, ex-cop, ex-attorney, and divorced after the death of his son. Hardy is now a bartender at Moses McGuire's pub "The Little Shamrock" in San Francisco. When McGuire's brother-in-law, Eddie was found dead, he asked Hardy to look into it not believing that Eddie would take his own life.
Fortunately, I read book 19 [b:The Missing Piece|56898246|The Missing Piece (Dismas Hardy #19)|John Lescroart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646255818l/56898246._SY75_.jpg|88976082] and absolutely enjoyed it. So here I am back to the beginning of the series, and if I hadn't read the latest book I may stop right here. There were too many characters to keep track of and took what felt like forever to find the killer. I'll check out another book because I know for a fact that the series gets better!
Dismas Hardy, a former Marine, ex-cop, ex-attorney, and divorced after the death of his son. Hardy is now a bartender at Moses McGuire's pub "The Little Shamrock" in San Francisco. When McGuire's brother-in-law, Eddie was found dead, he asked Hardy to look into it not believing that Eddie would take his own life.
Fortunately, I read book 19 [b:The Missing Piece|56898246|The Missing Piece (Dismas Hardy #19)|John Lescroart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646255818l/56898246._SY75_.jpg|88976082] and absolutely enjoyed it. So here I am back to the beginning of the series, and if I hadn't read the latest book I may stop right here. There were too many characters to keep track of and took what felt like forever to find the killer. I'll check out another book because I know for a fact that the series gets better!
mylhibug's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
michaeldrakich's review against another edition
5.0
As thrillers go, this is a good one. You keep thinking the story is going to go one way, but then it takes off on some other tangent, keeping you on your toes.
I really liked the writing style. This story was a real easy read and engaged me throughout. I found all of the characters identifiable and enjoyed the author's ability to introduce some levity now and then in a tense story. It made it seem real as people are always wise-cracking in real life.
In truth, I wanted to give this four and a half stars, holding back half because there was some plausibility denial on my part near the end, but only a little. In the end I relented to the five stars because of how well it reads.
I really liked the writing style. This story was a real easy read and engaged me throughout. I found all of the characters identifiable and enjoyed the author's ability to introduce some levity now and then in a tense story. It made it seem real as people are always wise-cracking in real life.
In truth, I wanted to give this four and a half stars, holding back half because there was some plausibility denial on my part near the end, but only a little. In the end I relented to the five stars because of how well it reads.
rtg27's review against another edition
3.0
The perspective changes are abrupt...making it kind of difficult to follow. still an ok read....looking forward for other books in the series.
wampusreynolds's review against another edition
4.0
A mass-market crime novel published in 1989 will have the conventions that are passé and the cultural baggage of its time. This one is no exception and the twists arent that surprising and the drama not that innovative. That said, there are passages that delight and characters and narrative details make it stand as a great example of its type.