Betrayal

Dismas Hardy #12

by John Lescroart

Dismas Hardy agrees to take an appeal to overturn the murder conviction of National Guard reservist Evan Scholler. Scholler had plenty of reasons for revenge—but as Dismas delves into the case, he begins to uncover a terrible truth that drops him right into the complicated world of government conspiracy, assassination, and betrayal…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal Thriller, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller

432 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2008

About the author

John 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.

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Love triangle murder arrest”

BETRAYAL is an exciting murder mystery and courtroom drama that touches a lot of bases – the Iraqi war; PTSD; corporate corruption and misappropriation of government funds; love and romance; war crimes; and, of course, the compelling courtroom minutiae of a murder trial. Evan Scholler, an Iraqi war vet and current San Francisco police officer has been charged with the brutal murder of ex-Navy Seal and military security contractor, Ron Nolan, who met Scholler during their postings in Iraq.

BETRAYAL is compelling stuff and lovers of the legal thriller genre are sure to make their way through it quickly. The ending will arrive all too soon and, while no readers will be shocked by any unexpected twists or surprise endings, it’s a sure bet that readers will be completely satisfied with an ending that ties up every plot thread and makes perfect sense. It’s also worth adding that BETRAYAL is #12 in the Dismas Hardy series which now extends to a successful string of 18 titles. Hardy continues to grow and please as a mature and fully fleshed out character. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky novels are some of my favorite legal thrillers. Betrayal, the twelfth in the Hardy series, is not among them.

Why? It’s a combination of things. First, there’s not enough of Hardy. The book starts with Hardy being asked to take on some of the cases of an attorney who has disappeared. Fine. But one of those cases turns out to be one of international intrigue involving the military and a private contractor. Throw in a romance gone sour, a seedy guy who takes advantage, and the whole Iraq scene, and it just wasn’t enough to keep me engaged. I found myself skimming it looking for good parts, which I hate to do. I still love Diz and Abe, but this one was just not enjoyable for me.

2.5 stars

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is billed as a Dismis Hardy/Abe Glitsky novel--- It is only MARIGINALLY so.. Dismis and Abe appear in the prologu, and in the novel's climax, but most of this novel is far from being Lescroart's regular stuff..

That's not to discount it.. It still is a walloping page turner of a book that takes the time to deal with the conflict in Iraq, veteran's affairs, and the concept of "contractors" within the conflict.

Ron Nolan is a contractor and Evan Scholler is a National Guardsman. They meet in Iraq and Nolan conducts himself in a dishonorable manner, setting up further conflict between the two men.. Without giving the story away, I want to say that this conflict is the MEAT of the story and the resolution of the novel is almost anticlimactic.

Fans of Hardy may be a bit disappointed that his appearance is slightly more than marginal.. and LesCroart might have tacked the prologue and climax on just to sell more copies of this book, but if he'd found another way to tell the same story and even leave Hardy completely out of this story it would have risen to near greatness.

As it is now.. it is crackerjack-- but not great..

[Linda Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as Disnis Hardy book that I had not yet read. It is quite different from the other books in this series, in that Dismis is far from the main character in the book, his client Evan Scholler is.

The story bounces back and forth between Iraq and the US in the first few chapters, but then takes off with a war story everyone needs to read. It is about the agencies that contract with the US government to rebuild Iraq and the people, the mercenaries they hire. The story gives a whole new meaning to government conspiracies and shows how no matter how little you are, if you can find a shirtsleeve to hold onto, attached to someone in a position of power in government, you can go places. It also tells how no matter what crimes you may commit on foreign or US soil, you are immune to prosecution, unless of course you are a lowly guardsmen trying to do a job you were sent to do.

If you are that lowly guardsman and you find the one person responsible for basically killing all but one of your men and putting you in place to nearly die and you realize what he is up to but your mind refuses to allow you to revisit that night or nearly three additional nights after, will the same laws apply? Or, will you end up convicted and have your life dependant on what Dismas Hardy can not only find but secure?

It is action packed and filled with things that make you wonder what type of a country your own has become.

[Glenna Pritchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The biggest, baddest, most complex, and just plain different Diz and Abe book yet! I admit to feeling bogged down when the storyline took me to Iraq and we stayed there for a long time, but in the end it was so worth it.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Fabulous on the edge of your seat legal suspense on this one. I love Dismas, but sometimes the legal mumbo jumbo can get my eyes glazing, but this one had a huge twist at the beginning and kept me enthralled. At the heart of our book, we have a boy and girl who get into a tiff about boy going off to war and girl just doesn't agree with that. It is ok to fight for our freedom, but just not him. So they break up and he leaves for Iraq. But boy can't forget girl and he writes letters to girl. Girl is stubborn and refused to read boys letters. But boy continues to hope and oily, new friend that works for big evil contractor in Iraq has agreed to hand deliver letter to his girl since he has to go to the states anyway. Boy agrees and off evilness goes ...well to do evil of course.

Evil meets girl and decides that he is taking girl for himself and start to lie like a dog on a rug. Now at the heart that is what this story stems from, Evan our hero loves Tara and Ron is going to destroy the relationship because he wants Tara for himself. So Ron goes back to Iraq spreading his lies to Evan, but Ron wants to try and cement the breaking relationship and gets Evan in a firefight for his life and his troops. After the smoke clears Ron walks away and heads on back to the states, thinking his work there was done. Goes home moves in on Tara and proceeds to live the life of Riley. Causing destruction and mayhem wherever he is...because he can that's why. Come to find out though, Evan was severely wounded, but not killed and is recovering from a head wound. Tara finds out about it and confronts Ron. Ron for his part continues his lies, but eventually Tara and Evan put two and two together and come up with evil Ron. Meanwhile an Iraqi family has come up dead and Evan remembers an incidentnt that took place over in Iraq that was at Ron's hands. Again he comes up with the right answer and goes to Ron's house to prove his theory.

Meanwhile Evan has been having alcoholic issues and is having episodes where he blacking out. Is it PSTD or drinking too much? However, when Ron comes up dead Evan is arrested and charged. His trial is a fiasco and he gets life imprisonment. This is where Dismas starts to unravel the entire uschemeceme when he is working on Evan's appeal. Dismas ends up with the case when Evan's appeal lawyer just happens to disappear before the appeal. Can this just a coincidencence you say??? Dis and Gliztsky don't think so, but now they just have to stay alive long enough to prove otherwise. Is Uncle Sam's fist about to crush a lawyer who thinks too much and a couple of cops on a mission to possibly clear up 8 murders? Read this great book and find out. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the romantic in me needed to see Evan and Tara more settled then the ending. Yes it was happy but I wanted it a bit more cemented or at least had longer with just them being happy and in love. But that is just me and I know some guys wouldn't agree. :-)

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

BETRAYAL (Legal Thriller-Dismas Hardy-SF Bay Area-Cont) – G
Lescroart, John – 12th in series
Dutton, 2008, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780525950394

First Sentence: On a Wednesday evening in early December, Dismas Hardy, standing at the thin line of dark cherry in the light hardwood floor of his office, threw a dart.

Attorney Dismas Hardy takes on a case from attorney Charlie Bowen, who has recently disappeared. Evan Scholler was a National Guard reservist sent to Iraq. Ron Nolan was an ex-Navy Seal now in Iraq working for a private contracting agency supplying security in Iraq. The interaction between Evan and Ron results in Ron being dead and Evan found guilty and in prison for his murder. But was he? Dismas is not so certain.

Absolutely relevant to today and the Bush presidential years, this books deals, in harsh terms, with the war in Iraq, government security contractors and federal waste.

Two-thirds of the book deals with those subjects, the relationship between the two men and it outcome. Only in the last third of the story does Dismas come fully into the story.

I found it rather slow going to that point as I didn’t particularly care about the characters. However, once Dismas and Abe Glitsky joined the story, it picked up. This wasn’t my favorite Lescroart read, but it was still quite good.

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another excellent addition to the several "Dismas Hardy" books I have read.

Unlike most of the books in the series, Dismas comes in at the end of a case. He is simply handling an appeal of a murder conviction in a case already tried. The original lawayer has disappeared so the judge asks Hardy to take over and finish his cases as a favor. Well, you nover know when you may need a favor from a judge. so Hardy agrees....

And when he starts digging he finds loopholes and inconsistencies===enough so he---and his friend, Chief Abe Glitsky---begin to believe the man convicted of murder might not be guilty after all.

The story contains a long flashback to Iraq, where the problems began in the war zone. I found that very interesting and well-done. Dismas and Glitsky do not appear in that section of course, but the events are vital to their case.

Lots of twists and turns, exciting and an unusual ending made this book a winner for me. Recommended for any adult fan of mysteries or thrillers.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was all over the place. Almost half of it was backstory that was so detailed only to then jump into the present that skipped chunks of timeline. None of the characters were remotely appealing. The ending was supposed to be shocking but was more tired than anything. I was so disappointed.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a different and difficult Dismas Hardy book to get through

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dismas Hardy is one of my fave series characters but although he plays a big role in this story, most of the book is about his client, leading up to when Dismas takes over his appeal from a lawyer who is missing. Again, we have a vet from Iraq, who meets a mercenary and makes the mistake of befriending him. Very good read.

[Barry Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost 3/4 of the book involved the back story. This felt like a totally separate book. By the time Dismas and friends came back into the storyline, it felt rushed to get to the ending.

[Mike]

Sept 2009 #12 of 18

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of military, war or espionage fiction, but this one had a number of twists and turns that I found pretty entertaining.

[Lori Rucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up from a bargain table at the airport while on vacation. I had never heard of Lescroart, but the brief on the jacket cover sounded interesting, and I needed something to read on the flight. I quickly realized it was part of a series, although that did not get in the way of my enjoying the current one. I really liked his writing style....the characters were well developed and clearly defined; the pace was fast; and the plot kept me so engaged I could not put it down.

Also, since I have a marine MP as a son, it meant a lot to me that, despite dealing weaving military, military contractors, and corruption in the plot, Lescroart dealt respectfully with the how he portrayed the servicemen and women in his book.

I immediately looked up the rest of his books and began reading them in order.....there were a LOT!! BONUS!! (Discovered a new favorite author, and he has lots of books for me to read. Oh joy, it felt like Christmas!)

Betrayal was a great introduction to Lescroart's work, (and subsequents reads only confirmed the impression)...big thumbs up!

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a Hardy/Glitzky novel. It is an Iraq war story that bleeds over into the US. The attorneys at the original trial are not part of Hardy's firm, the story doesn't take place in San Fran, and it's not part of the Hardy/Glitzky series. Lescroart tacks on a chapter or two at the beginning and end to try to tie it to our favorite characters, but it's just fluff.

The description of the fighting in Iraq gave me nightmares and made me feel bad about the human race. Lescroart has been one of my favorite authors but I may never read another one of his novels.

Fans of Hardy/Glitzky should stay away.

[Marty Fried · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a departure from the usual formula for this series, in that much of the book was background leading up to a case that Dismas Hardy inherited. A lot of it took place in Iraq, and lacked the usual humor and banter between the main characters, but it was interesting in that it gave a good sense of what it was like over there, and how money and human life were both wasted by our involvement. The formula of building up a hopeless case was still there, though; but in this case, even the defendant didn't know if he was guilty, so it made it even harder to figure out what happened. But that never stopped the team of Hardy and Glitsky before, so why would it stop them now.

[Jenn Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is a novel, I fully believe the amount of government oversight on contractors working on behalf of the US government in the Middle East is grossly out of hand. With lack of oversight some contractors are not making decisions with America’s interests as priority and that makes me sad. This book really gets you thinking about that and what can happen when individuals get ‘large heads’ and make bad decisions. The story itself dragged a bit at times but the conversations that stem from the issues mentioned in the book, made the book an interesting read!

[Keith Rowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Believe it or not I’m a big fan of John Lescroart! Which makes me a big fan of Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. So I think I’m going to read a mystery and an Iraq war story broke out that wouldn’t let go! I read 300 pages and barely got a whiff of our 2 favorite lead guys. I gave up. Next time I’ll pay more attention to the trailer!

[Lynelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately the majority of this book was focused on the backstory of independent contractors in Iraq. By the time we returned to Giltzky and Hardy I had forgotten how they were even involved in the case! The wrap up and ending was underwhelming to say the least. Definitely not one of the better offerings in a usually good series.

[Delany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not one of his better ones, IMO. The main characters (the good guy and his girlfriend) are both too naive/stupid to be likable, and the bad guy is all bad, no complexity at all. I got nearly 2/3 of the way through and then ditched them all.

[matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read twenty years after the fact, because it's definitely a book set in time (though I guess it could have been set during any war). As usual, the writing is strong, and the drama is top-notch. The epilogue is a nice touch.

[SoulSurvivor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just shy of 4-star !

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Lescroart book yet. I really enjoyed this one.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the plot, got a little long during the trial part, but enjoyed it overall

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

“RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “LESCROART FINALLY ADDS SOME ACTION AND GOES TO WAR!”
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I am a loyal Lescroart reader and have read all his books. But to be frank the last few years have produced humdrum story lines. During this time period the main protagonists attorney Dismas Hardy and his best friend detective Abe Glitsky have aged, and the author’s razor sharp “street-fighting” edgy story telling has dulled along with them. The readers adrenaline used to be jump started as we read about tense scenes where Dismas would take matters into his own hands in his battle for truth and justice, and more times than not the following morning would be faced through a fog of alcohol over indulgence. The reader was now left with Dismas talking about his “BLACK CAST-IRON FRYING PAN” that hung on a marlin fishhook over the stove along with intricate descriptions of all the ingredients he mixed into his meals. And how many times do the readers need to be told that his angel of a wife Frannie has red hair?
With the release of “BETRAYAL” Lescroart has once again bared his rapier sharp writing “chops”. The guts of the story takes place in Iraq during the current war. Twenty-six-year-old Second Lieutenant Evan Scholler a National Guardsman from Northern California and his men are activated and deployed to Iraq. When they get there, no one in the American command even knew they were coming. They come into contact with Allstrong Security, an American contracting company. Two members of Allstrong, Jack Allstrong, the owner and Ron Nolan, a senior official, will change Evan Scholler’s and his loved ones lives forever! The scenes in Iraq are described as if they were ripped from the headlines all of America has been reading about for the last five years: Shady contactors, death all around you, and young lovers separated by continents and the distance of war. You’ll read about contractors similar to Halliburton making insane amounts of money, and millions of dollars of cash being handed out and carried around in backpacks as if it were an everyday occurrence. Jack and Ron would drink scotch and play catch with a plastic-wrapped bundle of five hundred – hundred dollar bills – FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! Payoffs and kickbacks are as prevalent as sand in the desert. Then of course there is the battle for life and death on every street where every person and every car is a potential suicide bomber. Split second decisions have to be made that decide whether entire platoons will live or will die. And only the Americans have that life-determining decision burdened with the extra weight of “THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT.” When Evan is critically wounded in just such a battle, Ron Nolan of Allstrong is the one who makes the decision that will become one of the most crucial events in this captivating story. One of the many serious wounds that Evan endured was a massive brain injury. As I am a brain tumor survivor, I must complement the author’s description of what it is like to survive and endure the harrowing fight to recover the most basic memory capabilities that most people take for granted. I could not remember what a lamp or a dresser was, and Evan during Christmas couldn’t remember what those animals were called that flew and pulled Santa’s sled. The author was “SPOT-ON”!
The story makes its way back from Iraq to Northern California and the reader is expertly led down a path surrounded by murder, lies, love, legalities, investigations, cover-ups, prison… and yes “BETRAYAL”! Lescroart is back, better than ever. I recommend this book highly!

[David Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book jacket had almost no information about the subject of the book. It told nothing about the first half which takes place during the Iraq war and deals with a National Guard Lieutenant, Evan Scholler, whose squad is deployed to provide protection details for a civilian company operating in Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Evan's girlfriend, Tara Wheatley, was opposed to the war and broke up with him because of their differences. Evan sent numerous letters to her but she never responded.
The representative for the civilian company, Ron Nolan, worked with Evan and became friends with him.
During an operation to provide transport and protection for picking up a money shipment, things go bad when Ron opens fire on a civilian van, killing the family inside. Locals respond and two of the three Humvees in the convoy are destroyed, six of the soldiers die, and Evan is severely injured.
He spends months recovering from his injuries suffering from severe PTSD along with bouts of alcoholism.
During his recovery at Walter Reed Hospital, Evan asks Ron to deliver a letter to Tara and when he does, Ron falls for the beautiful Tara. He lies to her about Evan and lies to Evan about Tara.
Evan returns home and events lead to Ron being murdered and Evan accused of the killing.
All of this takes place in the first half of the book. The next part deals with the trial of Evan for the killing of Ron.
It isn't until more than 2/3 into the book that the series character, Dismas Hardy, comes into the story, taking on the appeal of Evan's conviction.
This was a great story with some interesting surprises along the way.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am truly conflicted about this book. I might have even rated it a 5-star except for one glaring issue. On the one hand, the book is full of unexpected changes that challenged my ability to keep up. And Lescroart is an excellent mystery writer. However, this book had way too much vulgar language in it. I've read most of the Dismas Hardy series, and one of the things that I've appreciated is the lack of cursing, particularly the missing "f-bomb". But by the time I was halfway through this book I had been overwhelmed with the language. The mystery alone kept me going, hoping that it would clean up. Now that I've finished the book, I realize that the language was due to the subject matter at the time - men in the military in a war zone. When the book transitioned to being Dismas Hardy et al in the USA, the language cleaned up. I'll continue with John Lescroart's books as I enjoy the mysteries, and trust that the lack of vulgar language will continue in the remaining books.

[Gary Gallucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful story that is presented in multiple layers. First, San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy is contacted by a local judge and asked to follow-up on the cases of a missing attorney. Among them is the controversial appeal of former soldier Evan Scholler. Next, we are thrust back in time to when Evan and his company were serving in Iraq and the disaster that befell them there. Then we return to San Francisco, where a strange, seemingly unconnected series of murders take place and Evan is the primary suspect. He's indicted and given a life sentence. Now Dismas is back on the scene, taking up the appeal that was left unfinished on behalf of his new client, Evan Schooler. Great writing, fantastic story. This is further evidence how a seasoned profession like John Lescroart stays on top of his game.

[Gary Hahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another outstanding book in this series, but very different approach than in other books so far in this series. After reading the Prologue, the first 5 chapters didn't mention the normal main characters in this series at all. Chapter 6 gave a hint of how the story line already begun without the main characters might intersect, but from chapter 7 through 29 the originally story line was the only focus. Finally in Chapter 30 the storyline began to involve the normal main characters. At first I thought maybe I'd opened another eBook by mistake rather than Betrayal. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and there was actually a surprise ending in the Epilogue, just when you thought you had read the ending in the last chapter.