Part of Dismas Hardy, book 10
First published 2004
Dismas Hardy has built his law firm into a success, handling clients who prefer settlements to courtroom battles. His associate Amy Wu brings him a case that will test everything he knows about justice. Andrew Bartlett, seventeen and from a wealthy San Francisco family, sits in jail charged with killing his girlfriend and English teacher. The district attorney wants to prosecute him as an adult, which could mean life in prison. Wu asks Hardy to take second chair as evidence piles up against their young client. While Hardy fights to move the case to juvenile court, another crisis grips the city. A killer shoots random citizens across San Francisco. The media calls him The Executioner. Deputy Chief Abe Glitsky leads the hunt as panic spreads through the streets. Hardy races to save Bartlett from a system that seems determined to destroy him. Glitsky chases a murderer who could strike anywhere. Both cases twist toward conclusions that will shake San Francisco's legal foundations.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, legal-thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: San Francisco
Period: 21st-century
459 pages · Paperback · Berkley
Content warnings: murder, violence