Product Description

People magazine crowns him "a master." The San Francisco Chronicle calls his bestselling novels "compulsively readable." And Larry King hails his legal thrillers as "spine-tingling." In The Oath, John Lescroart pits defense attorney Dismas Hardy and homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky against each other in the most dangerous case either has ever faced.

When the head of San Francisco's largest HMO dies in his own hospital, no one doubts it is anything but the result of massive injuries inflicted by a random hit-and-run car accident. But the autopsy soon tells a different story-an overdose of potassium killed him, and the attending physician Eric Kensing becomes the prime suspect in a high-profile homicide.

Abe Glitsky, though hindered by the inept bunglings of two politically appointed cops assigned to the investigation, quickly sets his sights on Kensing. Desperate and in need of an attorney, Kensing turns to Dismas Hardy for his defense. But as the pressure mounts to indict Kensing, Hardy goes on the offensive, believing that the murder had little to do with his client, and everything to do with business. Hardy knows that all is not well with the HMO, and makes a terrifying discovery: too many patients have been dying, many of them victims of murder-and it looks like it is the hospital that is killing them.

His own marriage tested and his family strained as he struggles to save his client, Hardy must uncover a twisting conspiracy of avarice and violence that takes the lives it is sworn to save. A timely and gripping novel that puts lives-and a long-standing friendship-at grave risk, The Oath is John Lescroart at his galvanizing best.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #236964 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.32" h x 4.28" w x 7.56" l, .78 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

From Amazon.com
Bad medicine makes good plotting in John Lescroart's latest, which brings back lawyer Dismas Hardy and his best friend, homicide cop Abe Glitsky. A string of suspicious deaths at a San Francisco HMO don't look like murder at first--until Tim Markham, the head of the HMO, dies from injuries received in a hit-and-run accident. But did the injuries really kill him? Glitsky believes that Hardy's client, Dr. Eric Kensing, killed his boss. Kensing had at least two good reasons: not only was Markham having an affair with his wife, but his cost- cutting restrictions were threatening the lives of Kensing's patients. Kensing is a bit too heroic for the reader to ever believe in him as a suspect, and the real murderer is pretty obvious from the get-go, which cuts down the suspense. Still, the reappearance of Glitsky and Hardy will be welcomed by Lescroart's many fans, who'll be delighted with the widowed cop's new wife and new life and happy to see the guys back in familiar if well-trodden territory. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
With their reputation for rolling up hefty profits while doling out penny-pinching care, HMOs have emerged as a favorite villain of crime writers. Lescroart gets in his licks with this scalpel-sharp thriller, the ninth in the Dismas Hardy line. This time around, the San Francisco attorney finds himself representing Dr. Eric Kensing, who stands accused of murdering his boss, Tim Markham, the CEO of the Parnassus Medical Group, a struggling HMO providing health services to all the city's employees. An autopsy shows that Markham, hospitalized in critical condition following a hit-and-run, died not of his injuries but of a potassium overdose. It doesn't look good for Kensing. Not only was he the doctor on duty, but he had plenty of motive; his wife was having an affair with Markham. As police investigators, led once again by Lt. Abe Glitsky, home in on Kensing, the case veers in another direction. The police discover that Markham is actually the 12th person to have been killed recently while under Parnassus's care. And Kensing can't be blamed for all of them. The investigation leads police and Hardy to a multitude of suspects, most connected to Parnassus's zeal for ruthless cost cutting. Burdened at times by Hardy's musings and a few awkwardly placed clues, Lescroart's latest featuring the cunning, self-effacing attorney and dedicated family man is still a skillfully researched and executed piece of work. The author wisely steers clear of taking cheap shots at the HMO industry, yet manages to direct a sharp beam into some of its darker crevices. Fans of the popular series should know that there are no courtroom scenes, unusual for the trial-prone Hardy, but Lescroart manages to squeeze in almost every member of his usual large and always entertaining cast. (Feb. 4)Forecast: The reliably excellent Lescroart carries on, delivering yet another winner. A massive ad/promo campaign including the simultaneous release of the paperback edition of The Hearing, a 10-city author tour and a one-day laydown should swell the already well-populated ranks of his fans.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The latest thriller from Lescroart examines the suspicious death of the CEO of a financially troubled San Francisco HMO while he is a patient in his own hospital. Circumstances point directly to Dr. Eric Kensing, the client of defense attorney Dismas Hardy, making Hardy the adversary of his best friend, Abe Glitsky, SFPD's chief of homicide. The story is well paced and well plotted, and the HMO/hospital setting and background are intriguing, but ultimately the package is not well served by narrator Robert Lawrence. His reading is occasionally halting and badly inflected, and some of his vocal characterizations are overdone and cartoonish. In short, a pretty good book, imperfectly read. Not recommended.
Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.