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Dismas Hardy #8
The Oath
"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.
468 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 14, 2002
301 people are currently reading
1281 people want to read
About the author
John Lescroart
141 books1,300 followersJohn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
May 11, 2025
A timely cautionary tale on the profit motive in health care!
HMO executive, Tim Markham, is hit by a car during his regular morning run and subsequently succumbs to his injuries in the ICU unit of his flagship hospital. Despite the fact that his death appears to be a slam-dunk case of hit-and-run vehicular homicide, there are circumstances surrounding the man and how the hospitals are managed that lead investigators to consider it may in fact have been a murder. Further investigation gives rise to the possibility that the halls of the hospital are being haunted by some sort of Angel of Death who has committed as many as a dozen murders over the last few years. The question is “why?” and the sleazy business practices of the hospital’s administration are definitely one of the possibilities.
Although THE OATH was written the better part of 20 years ago, it’s a workmanlike, enjoyable legal and police procedural that questions the myriad conflicts of interest that arise between the profit motive of HMOs and the best medical interests of patients unfortunate enough to need their care. Given the current political conflicts over the issue in the lead-up to the 2020 election, it’s certainly a timely novel that would likely raise more eyebrows today than it did when it first appeared on bookstore shelves. That the villain of the piece is easily predictable takes away marginally from THE OATH’s impact as a legal or medical thriller, but its interest as a political statement that is very relevant today remains.
Recommended as an enjoyable and controversial diversion.
Paul Weiss
HMO executive, Tim Markham, is hit by a car during his regular morning run and subsequently succumbs to his injuries in the ICU unit of his flagship hospital. Despite the fact that his death appears to be a slam-dunk case of hit-and-run vehicular homicide, there are circumstances surrounding the man and how the hospitals are managed that lead investigators to consider it may in fact have been a murder. Further investigation gives rise to the possibility that the halls of the hospital are being haunted by some sort of Angel of Death who has committed as many as a dozen murders over the last few years. The question is “why?” and the sleazy business practices of the hospital’s administration are definitely one of the possibilities.
Although THE OATH was written the better part of 20 years ago, it’s a workmanlike, enjoyable legal and police procedural that questions the myriad conflicts of interest that arise between the profit motive of HMOs and the best medical interests of patients unfortunate enough to need their care. Given the current political conflicts over the issue in the lead-up to the 2020 election, it’s certainly a timely novel that would likely raise more eyebrows today than it did when it first appeared on bookstore shelves. That the villain of the piece is easily predictable takes away marginally from THE OATH’s impact as a legal or medical thriller, but its interest as a political statement that is very relevant today remains.
Recommended as an enjoyable and controversial diversion.
Paul Weiss
December 29, 2022
This is the first Lescroart novel that I've read. I enjoyed the complexity of the plot and the original depiction of the lead characters. For me there were too many ancillary and minor players in the book so I decided to concentrate on the lead characters and overlook the actions of the minor folks. That strategy helped my enjoyment of Lescroart's work.
Dimas came over as an over-worked attorney with zero staff support but who acted more like a private investigator as he defended his client, Kensing. The other lead character, Glitsky, was a rather unsympathetic police office whose his tunnel vision could have lead to a gross miscarriage of justice if it hadn't been for Dimas's dogged investigation.
I liked the ending and the unexpected explanation for the hit-and-run.
Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.
Dimas came over as an over-worked attorney with zero staff support but who acted more like a private investigator as he defended his client, Kensing. The other lead character, Glitsky, was a rather unsympathetic police office whose his tunnel vision could have lead to a gross miscarriage of justice if it hadn't been for Dimas's dogged investigation.
I liked the ending and the unexpected explanation for the hit-and-run.
Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.
February 13, 2016
This is a well written mystery that starts out as a hit and run but turns into a murder mystery. There is a also a medical malpractice investigation tied into the case. This is book 8 in the series but it read ok as a stand alone. Dismas Hardy is a lawyer hired by Dr.Eric Kensing, a prime suspect in the murder. Abe Glitsky is Hardy's friend and head of the San Francisco homicide squad. There are other characters who evidently have recurring roles in the series, but Hardy and Glitsky are the main characters and on opposite sides of this case.
This book started off slow but held my interest throughout. I was not sure who the murderer was until almost the end. This book was lent to me by a relative who enjoys Lescroart's books.
I like his ability to describe body language: "She smiled with all the warmth of a cobra."
This book started off slow but held my interest throughout. I was not sure who the murderer was until almost the end. This book was lent to me by a relative who enjoys Lescroart's books.
I like his ability to describe body language: "She smiled with all the warmth of a cobra."
July 13, 2018
great book tho longer than should be
May 28, 2011
In The Oath by John Lescroart, multiple mysteries coalesce into a fascinating conundrum. When a “hit and run” driver hits the head of an HMO (probably one of the few occupations that would be despised more than a lawyer in our popular culture), it’s difficult to know whether the act was attempted murder or led to an opportunity for attempted murder. When negligence leads to death in the marquee hospital of the same HMO, it’s difficult to know whether that death is connected to other “convenient” deaths in that same hospital. More than any other Dismas Hardy mystery that I’ve read so far, this novel offers a virtual kaleidoscope of motives and opportunities for murder with plenty of refracting color from Dismas’ ongoing struggle to keep his marriage/family intact if not entirely happy and his combination competitive/collaborative friendship with Abe Glitzky, head of homicide for SFPD. Everywhere one looks, there is a fascinating complexity to this story.
I was disappointed to reach the point in the book where I read an obituary on one of the important supporting characters in the series. My respect for the author went up yet another notch when I read how he handled the events surrounding that obituary (I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you). Lescroart prepared a spicy recipe of guilt, reality, and grief (mixed with hope—wouldn’t want anyone to think the whole book is a downer) that was just right.
Now, I don’t mean to imply that Lescroart’s craft completely fooled me. I was fairly certain about the “villain” responsible for the pivotal event(s), but this master storyteller managed to make me doubt my own suspect at various points in the book. Maybe the suspect I “liked” as the pivotal “villain” didn’t do all of the dirty work himself/herself. Maybe Dismas was wrong in his assumptions this time. Maybe this potential alibi for one of the suspects did it. Maybe the events in the book have no bearing to each other, just like standard police procedure would assume until there was sufficient evidence to establish the case. At one point, Lescroart gave a color and a clue related to a foreign language to take the reader’s suspicions in a certain direction. This proves to be important evidence, but not with the suspicion with which it is introduced. I love it when this happens in a mystery. The author is clever enough to shake my faith in my own deductions and then, shows me how wrong I was to doubt my conclusions.
Finally, I truly appreciated the fact that the protagonist wasn’t overconfident in this one. In some of the earlier Dismas Hardy stories, I felt like he was certain that his “courtroom tricks” as one opponent (and even a judge) called them would win the day. This time, I felt like Hardy weighed law, justice, his client, and the case very carefully at many different junctures. He seemed more mature, if you will. Needless to say, this episode in the series is nowhere near a disappointment.
I was disappointed to reach the point in the book where I read an obituary on one of the important supporting characters in the series. My respect for the author went up yet another notch when I read how he handled the events surrounding that obituary (I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you). Lescroart prepared a spicy recipe of guilt, reality, and grief (mixed with hope—wouldn’t want anyone to think the whole book is a downer) that was just right.
Now, I don’t mean to imply that Lescroart’s craft completely fooled me. I was fairly certain about the “villain” responsible for the pivotal event(s), but this master storyteller managed to make me doubt my own suspect at various points in the book. Maybe the suspect I “liked” as the pivotal “villain” didn’t do all of the dirty work himself/herself. Maybe Dismas was wrong in his assumptions this time. Maybe this potential alibi for one of the suspects did it. Maybe the events in the book have no bearing to each other, just like standard police procedure would assume until there was sufficient evidence to establish the case. At one point, Lescroart gave a color and a clue related to a foreign language to take the reader’s suspicions in a certain direction. This proves to be important evidence, but not with the suspicion with which it is introduced. I love it when this happens in a mystery. The author is clever enough to shake my faith in my own deductions and then, shows me how wrong I was to doubt my conclusions.
Finally, I truly appreciated the fact that the protagonist wasn’t overconfident in this one. In some of the earlier Dismas Hardy stories, I felt like he was certain that his “courtroom tricks” as one opponent (and even a judge) called them would win the day. This time, I felt like Hardy weighed law, justice, his client, and the case very carefully at many different junctures. He seemed more mature, if you will. Needless to say, this episode in the series is nowhere near a disappointment.
August 2, 2012
Dismas Hardy, San Francisco attorney, takes on a client who becomes a suspect in a murder case. Eric Kensing was the attending physician when the head of an HMO died in his hospital. The victim had been hit by a car but an autopsy showed that excessive levels of potassium had been administered to him just before he died, bringing on a heart attack.
Hardy believes his client is innocent but Kensing has difficulty comprehending that he is the prime suspect. He manages to lie to his attorney about critical times and persons, thinking it doesn't matter; he's innocent. His obfuscations cause Hardy a great deal of pain, but he continues to work for his client. And part of that work involves looking for the real killer.
Hardy's relationship with Abe Glitsky, homicide detective, is threatened along the way. The two have been friends for years but they are working different sides of the fence this time, and acting in the best interest of different interests.
Much of the book is, in fact, about these two men. The plot is a vehicle for exploring their feelings and actions. Which appealed to me, given that I prefer plots that are character-driven.
It turns out that there are several possible murderers, but only one other stands out. Again and again Kensing emerges as a real possible. Are we to find out that Hardy has it wrong? It's happened before. I won't tell.
It's a good legal thriller, more on the outskirts of the law than on the courtroom.
Hardy believes his client is innocent but Kensing has difficulty comprehending that he is the prime suspect. He manages to lie to his attorney about critical times and persons, thinking it doesn't matter; he's innocent. His obfuscations cause Hardy a great deal of pain, but he continues to work for his client. And part of that work involves looking for the real killer.
Hardy's relationship with Abe Glitsky, homicide detective, is threatened along the way. The two have been friends for years but they are working different sides of the fence this time, and acting in the best interest of different interests.
Much of the book is, in fact, about these two men. The plot is a vehicle for exploring their feelings and actions. Which appealed to me, given that I prefer plots that are character-driven.
It turns out that there are several possible murderers, but only one other stands out. Again and again Kensing emerges as a real possible. Are we to find out that Hardy has it wrong? It's happened before. I won't tell.
It's a good legal thriller, more on the outskirts of the law than on the courtroom.
August 4, 2009
I hesitate to mark this as a legal mystery as, unlike many of Lescroart's other books, there is very little that takes place in a courtroom except for a couple of grand jury scenes.
No need to summarize the plot as the book's description does that just fine without any spoilers and this book would be ripe for spoilers. Not a great book, just a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the repartee between Glitsky and Hardy, two best friends, who manage to focus on their own conflicting jobs and irritate each other no end, yet manage to forgive and forget.
You'll learn some interesting economics of running a hospital and HMO and trying to keep the HMO going provides the motivation for several of the "mercy" killings that lead to the penultimate murder. I did find the murderer's motivations to be rather unconvincing, but then again, I don't value money and power the way her/she/it (no spoilers there) did.
No need to summarize the plot as the book's description does that just fine without any spoilers and this book would be ripe for spoilers. Not a great book, just a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the repartee between Glitsky and Hardy, two best friends, who manage to focus on their own conflicting jobs and irritate each other no end, yet manage to forgive and forget.
You'll learn some interesting economics of running a hospital and HMO and trying to keep the HMO going provides the motivation for several of the "mercy" killings that lead to the penultimate murder. I did find the murderer's motivations to be rather unconvincing, but then again, I don't value money and power the way her/she/it (no spoilers there) did.
January 26, 2016
This was definitely the best John Lescroart book I've read so far, although I've enjoyed them all, this one really had me torn between reading like crazy to get to the end and trying to restrain myself to make it last longer. Although it was becoming more obvious who the killer had been as I got closer to the end, the twist in the tale was the final reveal which was the icing the cake for me.
February 10, 2014
I've yet to find a Lescroart book I didn't like. Solid mystery, engaging writing style and familiar characters. This book was written 12 years ago, but it still rings true, as health-care firms try to balance costs and treatment efficacy.
September 19, 2017
It's exciting and emotional watching the pieces come together. Usually a brisk read.
January 24, 2020
A hit and run accident puts the head of San Francisco’s largest HMO into his own hospital, where he dies. At first, everyone believes that he died from complications from the accident; but the autopsy indicates he was murdered by an overdose of potassium. The prime suspect, the attending physician who holds a grudge with the man for several reasons; the number one, is the man’s affair with Dr. Kensing’s wife which cost him his marriage!
Detective Abe Glisky is hindered by his political appointees who are charged with finding the hit and run vehicle. His best friend, cop turned defense attorney believes his client his innocent and is doing another investigation. Not cool where best friends are concerned!
Hardy believes that this murder has less to do with his client and more to do with the business, and he is determined to learn the truth.
Hardy’s client puts him on the trail of too many deaths in the hospital’s ICU. One of the two political appointees is proving his worth, although he does make rookie mistakes. In the end, Glitsky, Hardy and the two rookies set the true killer up and it almost cost Glitsky his life!
Oh, how I love these books!
Detective Abe Glisky is hindered by his political appointees who are charged with finding the hit and run vehicle. His best friend, cop turned defense attorney believes his client his innocent and is doing another investigation. Not cool where best friends are concerned!
Hardy believes that this murder has less to do with his client and more to do with the business, and he is determined to learn the truth.
Hardy’s client puts him on the trail of too many deaths in the hospital’s ICU. One of the two political appointees is proving his worth, although he does make rookie mistakes. In the end, Glitsky, Hardy and the two rookies set the true killer up and it almost cost Glitsky his life!
Oh, how I love these books!
March 18, 2020
First things first, The Oath should be read BEFORE The Hearing. For some reason The Oath is listed as Dismas Hardy #8, and The Hearing as Dismas Hardy #7. That is incorrect.
Now to the book itself. Lescroart never really disappoints. His books may SOMETIMES be a little long, but they are usually oh so good, and he does not disappoint with The Oath. There are some moments that are a little melancholy, but the plot is top notch. Just be prepared to temper those moments of sadness so that you can fully immerse yourself into the Hardy/Glitsky world and enjoy a really good novel.
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
Now to the book itself. Lescroart never really disappoints. His books may SOMETIMES be a little long, but they are usually oh so good, and he does not disappoint with The Oath. There are some moments that are a little melancholy, but the plot is top notch. Just be prepared to temper those moments of sadness so that you can fully immerse yourself into the Hardy/Glitsky world and enjoy a really good novel.
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥
May 30, 2025
A lot of twists and turns in the storyline. It took me a bit to keep all the names of the characters in my head, because there were a lot. I had a suspicion of the killer and I was right! Not giving it away.
March 22, 2019
Very satisfying read. Drug companies and hospitals making money on the sick patients. Corruption and murder.
February 27, 2022
THE OATH [2002] By John Lescroart
My Review 4.5 Stars*****
I just finished reading this outstanding whodunit on a windy, rainy February night in 2022. This novel is the eighth installment of the author’s popular Dismas Hardy series, and it is difficult to believe it was released 20 years ago. The author transports us back to the sights and streets of San Francisco and into the lives of his main protagonists Defense Attorney Dismas Hardy and BFF Abe Glitsky, the head of the homicide division in the SFPD. The story takes place in the not-so-distant future following the events of the previous novel [THE HEARING]. Diz and Abe are fiftyish and more aware of their own mortality following Abe’s heart attack in the last book. He is now married to the lovely Treya Ghent, 19 years his junior, who was introduced as the widower’s his new love interest in the last go around. The setting is the advent of the new millennium and HMOs were a popular target for assassination at the time. It isn’t surprising that the author would take his own stab at big medicine. The reality of aggressive managed care is more frightening than a horror novel, and certainly scarier than this admittedly well written medical/legal thriller from Lescroart. I can remember 9-11 back in 2001. I happened to be corresponding with a gentleman from New Zealand that day and we were discussing the impact of universal health care in his country. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he was waiting months to have additional diagnostics and definitive medical management undertaken. I can imagine an individual having no input of any kind into picking his or her own PCP, having no input into his or her own care, the diagnostics or procedures ordered or performed, specialists consulted, surgeries scheduled or medicines prescribed. The thought scares me to death.
The title [“THE OATH”] refers to the Hippocratic Oath, and this particular installment of the Hardy series is a hybrid of police procedural and legal shenanigans set against a backdrop of frightening medical fiction. Fans who enjoy the adrenaline rush of a good courtroom battle may be a little disappointed since the novel is devoid of any courtroom action.
However, the author caters a veritable buffet of suspects and an assortment of criminal enterprises in this delectable taste of murder and mayhem in the medical field. You may never feel safe in the corridors and ICU Unit of a respected hospital again. The murder mystery (or more accurately murder mysteries, plural) kept me steadily entertained and turning pages. The catalyst for the complex plot is the hit-and-run of health-conscious Tim Markham, CEO of the Parnassus Medical Group. The struggling HMO is providing health services to all the city's employees, Markham surprisingly survives emergency surgery only to die a little later in his ICU bed. The shocking autopsy results disclose a potassium overdose. His death in ICU is classified as a homicide which leaves Dr. Eric Kensing, a man with means, motive, and opportunity squarely in Glitsky’s crosshairs for a murder indictment.
Hardy finds himself as Dr. Kensing’s Defense Attorney almost by happenstance. Fans of the series will know all about Pico and his passionate quest of “walking the sharks”. Hardy and Eric’s mutual friendship with Pico lead to Hardy taking Kensing on as a client. It isn’t my intention to dole out spoilers (despite the fact that fans of Lescroart have almost certainly have devoured this highly publicized release from two decades ago). Let’s just say that before you know it, there is the shocking news of four more bodies heading to the morgue. The potential murders/suicide occur outside the hospital, but are suggested to be intrinsically linked to the homicide of Dr. Tim Markham in his ICU bed.
Hardy is finding out that Dr. Kensing is not the ideal defendant and that he needs to buy some time before the legal system swallows his client whole. His single-minded goal to keep Kensing out of jail spawns an intriguing agreement between the prosecutorial arm of the judicial system and the primary suspect’s Defense Attorney. The reader learns that Clarence Jackman is the newly appointed district attorney. The previous DA, Sharron Pratt, from prior installments of the series had just resigned in disgrace. He has a new Assistant DA named Anne who is strong, smart, and savvy about internal politics in the criminal justice system. The new DA Jackman’s somewhat naïve alignment with Diz Hardy’s proposition alienates the principled Abe Glitsky to the extent he storms out of the meeting and the business drives a wedge between Abe and Diz who have been as brothers.
This is an exceptionally entertaining entry in the Hardy series with whodunits in every direction. There are murders to spare, but MOs differ, threads connecting the deaths are either nonexistent or impossible to find. In addition to CEO Tim Markham meeting his waterloo in ICU, there are the multiple murders outside the hospital mentioned earlier, and even more confoundingly a rash of premature deaths among critical or terminal patients who are on borrowed time. Is there an Angel of Mercy operating beneath the radar for who knows how long? How many killers are we talking about anyway? One of the more fascinating twists is that Hardy becomes aware that he must put on his prosecutorial hat to save his client, specifically because only be naming the guilty can he expect to exonerate the would-be defendant Dr. Kensing.
Recurring characters in Hardy’s universe are present and accounted for, to include the always entertaining David Freeman, now seventy-six and still practicing and spouting wisdom. Freeman is of course Hardy’s long-time mentor, landlord and the most well-known and flamboyant lawyer in the city. Jeff Elliot, in his early forties now, confined to a wheelchair due to MS, and the writer of the “City Talk” column for the Chronicle is also along for the ride in this complex murder mystery.
Glitsky has a couple of politically connected rookies from Hit and Run assigned to his homicide division to investigate vehicular homicides, and naturally the two detectives are the butt of jokes and continuously demeaned by the seasoned homicide investigators under Abe’s command. These albeit peripheral characters come alive to the reader due to the staggeringly ability of Lescroart to create colorful and realistic characters in his novels. Their efforts to help and function in the field after a hit and run they are investigating turns out to be a bona fide homicide. The stressed out Glitsky is aghast at the notion of turning these two rookies loose to investigate a murder. The thread of the car that was involved in the hit and run is instrumental in tying up a nagging “loose end” that was plaguing me at the conclusion of the novel.
Lescroart is noted for his sprawling epics and character driven plots. This is another way of conveying that his books are l-o-n-g with 600+ pages being the norm and not the exception. This particular entry is a case in point. My only criticism would be to edit out some of the anecdotes that pertain to his son Vincent’s ball games, “the Beck’s” teenage irrational paranoia, and maybe some of the back and forth between Diz and Frannie juggling the demands of Hardy’s job.
That said, in a Lescroart novel the reader has to ask whether the storyline actually gets mired in the personal life updates of his two main protagonists of Diz and Abe. In this case I’ll admit that the author’s Rubik’s Cube of a plot, articulate storytelling, strong sense of atmosphere, and witty often amusing if not downright funny dialogue among the characters rang true to life and never ceased to keep me entertained. You might not really want to read about Hardy’s chronic guilt trips about not being a good family man, but with Lescroart it is all or nothing the second that you choose to open the book.
Finally, I did accurately guess the villain toward the end, but I had some false stops and starts along the way. The identity of the hit and run driver plagued me all the way to the end, and when the answer was revealed, I felt sheepishly embarrassed because the clues were there. Lescroart also took a page from Deaver’s playbook in the surprising finale. I know that’s a cryptic remark but saying any more would be a spoiler. Let’s say the author had me going for a while.
My Review 4.5 Stars*****
I just finished reading this outstanding whodunit on a windy, rainy February night in 2022. This novel is the eighth installment of the author’s popular Dismas Hardy series, and it is difficult to believe it was released 20 years ago. The author transports us back to the sights and streets of San Francisco and into the lives of his main protagonists Defense Attorney Dismas Hardy and BFF Abe Glitsky, the head of the homicide division in the SFPD. The story takes place in the not-so-distant future following the events of the previous novel [THE HEARING]. Diz and Abe are fiftyish and more aware of their own mortality following Abe’s heart attack in the last book. He is now married to the lovely Treya Ghent, 19 years his junior, who was introduced as the widower’s his new love interest in the last go around. The setting is the advent of the new millennium and HMOs were a popular target for assassination at the time. It isn’t surprising that the author would take his own stab at big medicine. The reality of aggressive managed care is more frightening than a horror novel, and certainly scarier than this admittedly well written medical/legal thriller from Lescroart. I can remember 9-11 back in 2001. I happened to be corresponding with a gentleman from New Zealand that day and we were discussing the impact of universal health care in his country. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he was waiting months to have additional diagnostics and definitive medical management undertaken. I can imagine an individual having no input of any kind into picking his or her own PCP, having no input into his or her own care, the diagnostics or procedures ordered or performed, specialists consulted, surgeries scheduled or medicines prescribed. The thought scares me to death.
The title [“THE OATH”] refers to the Hippocratic Oath, and this particular installment of the Hardy series is a hybrid of police procedural and legal shenanigans set against a backdrop of frightening medical fiction. Fans who enjoy the adrenaline rush of a good courtroom battle may be a little disappointed since the novel is devoid of any courtroom action.
However, the author caters a veritable buffet of suspects and an assortment of criminal enterprises in this delectable taste of murder and mayhem in the medical field. You may never feel safe in the corridors and ICU Unit of a respected hospital again. The murder mystery (or more accurately murder mysteries, plural) kept me steadily entertained and turning pages. The catalyst for the complex plot is the hit-and-run of health-conscious Tim Markham, CEO of the Parnassus Medical Group. The struggling HMO is providing health services to all the city's employees, Markham surprisingly survives emergency surgery only to die a little later in his ICU bed. The shocking autopsy results disclose a potassium overdose. His death in ICU is classified as a homicide which leaves Dr. Eric Kensing, a man with means, motive, and opportunity squarely in Glitsky’s crosshairs for a murder indictment.
Hardy finds himself as Dr. Kensing’s Defense Attorney almost by happenstance. Fans of the series will know all about Pico and his passionate quest of “walking the sharks”. Hardy and Eric’s mutual friendship with Pico lead to Hardy taking Kensing on as a client. It isn’t my intention to dole out spoilers (despite the fact that fans of Lescroart have almost certainly have devoured this highly publicized release from two decades ago). Let’s just say that before you know it, there is the shocking news of four more bodies heading to the morgue. The potential murders/suicide occur outside the hospital, but are suggested to be intrinsically linked to the homicide of Dr. Tim Markham in his ICU bed.
Hardy is finding out that Dr. Kensing is not the ideal defendant and that he needs to buy some time before the legal system swallows his client whole. His single-minded goal to keep Kensing out of jail spawns an intriguing agreement between the prosecutorial arm of the judicial system and the primary suspect’s Defense Attorney. The reader learns that Clarence Jackman is the newly appointed district attorney. The previous DA, Sharron Pratt, from prior installments of the series had just resigned in disgrace. He has a new Assistant DA named Anne who is strong, smart, and savvy about internal politics in the criminal justice system. The new DA Jackman’s somewhat naïve alignment with Diz Hardy’s proposition alienates the principled Abe Glitsky to the extent he storms out of the meeting and the business drives a wedge between Abe and Diz who have been as brothers.
This is an exceptionally entertaining entry in the Hardy series with whodunits in every direction. There are murders to spare, but MOs differ, threads connecting the deaths are either nonexistent or impossible to find. In addition to CEO Tim Markham meeting his waterloo in ICU, there are the multiple murders outside the hospital mentioned earlier, and even more confoundingly a rash of premature deaths among critical or terminal patients who are on borrowed time. Is there an Angel of Mercy operating beneath the radar for who knows how long? How many killers are we talking about anyway? One of the more fascinating twists is that Hardy becomes aware that he must put on his prosecutorial hat to save his client, specifically because only be naming the guilty can he expect to exonerate the would-be defendant Dr. Kensing.
Recurring characters in Hardy’s universe are present and accounted for, to include the always entertaining David Freeman, now seventy-six and still practicing and spouting wisdom. Freeman is of course Hardy’s long-time mentor, landlord and the most well-known and flamboyant lawyer in the city. Jeff Elliot, in his early forties now, confined to a wheelchair due to MS, and the writer of the “City Talk” column for the Chronicle is also along for the ride in this complex murder mystery.
Glitsky has a couple of politically connected rookies from Hit and Run assigned to his homicide division to investigate vehicular homicides, and naturally the two detectives are the butt of jokes and continuously demeaned by the seasoned homicide investigators under Abe’s command. These albeit peripheral characters come alive to the reader due to the staggeringly ability of Lescroart to create colorful and realistic characters in his novels. Their efforts to help and function in the field after a hit and run they are investigating turns out to be a bona fide homicide. The stressed out Glitsky is aghast at the notion of turning these two rookies loose to investigate a murder. The thread of the car that was involved in the hit and run is instrumental in tying up a nagging “loose end” that was plaguing me at the conclusion of the novel.
Lescroart is noted for his sprawling epics and character driven plots. This is another way of conveying that his books are l-o-n-g with 600+ pages being the norm and not the exception. This particular entry is a case in point. My only criticism would be to edit out some of the anecdotes that pertain to his son Vincent’s ball games, “the Beck’s” teenage irrational paranoia, and maybe some of the back and forth between Diz and Frannie juggling the demands of Hardy’s job.
That said, in a Lescroart novel the reader has to ask whether the storyline actually gets mired in the personal life updates of his two main protagonists of Diz and Abe. In this case I’ll admit that the author’s Rubik’s Cube of a plot, articulate storytelling, strong sense of atmosphere, and witty often amusing if not downright funny dialogue among the characters rang true to life and never ceased to keep me entertained. You might not really want to read about Hardy’s chronic guilt trips about not being a good family man, but with Lescroart it is all or nothing the second that you choose to open the book.
Finally, I did accurately guess the villain toward the end, but I had some false stops and starts along the way. The identity of the hit and run driver plagued me all the way to the end, and when the answer was revealed, I felt sheepishly embarrassed because the clues were there. Lescroart also took a page from Deaver’s playbook in the surprising finale. I know that’s a cryptic remark but saying any more would be a spoiler. Let’s say the author had me going for a while.
July 4, 2010
Tenth Dismas Hardy storyline somewhat trite, hence quite mixed reviews
Our only prior exposure to our author was his "Dead Irish" Dismas Hardy story that all but his most ardent fans found rather mediocre, as did we. In that book, half the tome was little but rumination before the action finally commenced. The Oath was thankfully somewhat more entertaining, but, though we failed to guess the villain as soon as many others, it ended with a whimper instead of a flourish. The plot per se was somewhat interesting - a prominent HMO executive is critically injured while jogging by a hit and run driver, but survives surgery only to die mysteriously in the ICU. Indeed, an autopsy reveals he was murdered while in recovery! So a kind of dual-pronged investigation is launched - was it really an accidental hit and run, and is the most obvious suspect, our hero Dismas Hardy's eventual client, attending physician Dr. Kensing, really the hospital perp? Lescroart uses this storyline to attack the now hardly creative idea that HMO's, especially those on financial skids, will invariably sacrifice patient well-being to cut costs. This tactic gets a little tiresome as it seems to have little bearing on the ongoing murder investigation. Finally, a series of killings in the hospital seems to have been uncovered, and a minority male nurse becomes a critical lynchpin in the discovery of the true villain.
Although numerous sub-plots populate the novel - including extra-marital affairs, Hardy's tendency to neglect family for work, two cops just learning their trade, and the unusual friendship between what would otherwise be arch enemies DA Abe Glitsky and Defense Attorney Hardy - Lescroart handles a pretty high character count with enough clarity we can keep track of everybody. While the resultant meandering storyline managed to create enough suspense to capture our interest, we were destined for disappointment at the end. We didn't think the somewhat unspectacular outcome was a fitting conclusion, and many readers reported figuring it out long before the denouement. Also an attempt to fool us into thinking a major character had suffered a fatal wound in the late chapters was unappreciated and inept. Lastly, some attempt at poetic justice in the final chapter, an almost irrelevant epilogue that pointed back to a heretofore irrelevant prologue, seemed irony out of place in an otherwise rather prosaic story.
Lescroart is a successful writer and demonstrates a decent imagination; he seems to enjoy a loyal following and a lengthening bibliography. But the overall craft of this effort leaves us with little incentive to spend our money, let alone our time, taking a chance on his many other books.
Our only prior exposure to our author was his "Dead Irish" Dismas Hardy story that all but his most ardent fans found rather mediocre, as did we. In that book, half the tome was little but rumination before the action finally commenced. The Oath was thankfully somewhat more entertaining, but, though we failed to guess the villain as soon as many others, it ended with a whimper instead of a flourish. The plot per se was somewhat interesting - a prominent HMO executive is critically injured while jogging by a hit and run driver, but survives surgery only to die mysteriously in the ICU. Indeed, an autopsy reveals he was murdered while in recovery! So a kind of dual-pronged investigation is launched - was it really an accidental hit and run, and is the most obvious suspect, our hero Dismas Hardy's eventual client, attending physician Dr. Kensing, really the hospital perp? Lescroart uses this storyline to attack the now hardly creative idea that HMO's, especially those on financial skids, will invariably sacrifice patient well-being to cut costs. This tactic gets a little tiresome as it seems to have little bearing on the ongoing murder investigation. Finally, a series of killings in the hospital seems to have been uncovered, and a minority male nurse becomes a critical lynchpin in the discovery of the true villain.
Although numerous sub-plots populate the novel - including extra-marital affairs, Hardy's tendency to neglect family for work, two cops just learning their trade, and the unusual friendship between what would otherwise be arch enemies DA Abe Glitsky and Defense Attorney Hardy - Lescroart handles a pretty high character count with enough clarity we can keep track of everybody. While the resultant meandering storyline managed to create enough suspense to capture our interest, we were destined for disappointment at the end. We didn't think the somewhat unspectacular outcome was a fitting conclusion, and many readers reported figuring it out long before the denouement. Also an attempt to fool us into thinking a major character had suffered a fatal wound in the late chapters was unappreciated and inept. Lastly, some attempt at poetic justice in the final chapter, an almost irrelevant epilogue that pointed back to a heretofore irrelevant prologue, seemed irony out of place in an otherwise rather prosaic story.
Lescroart is a successful writer and demonstrates a decent imagination; he seems to enjoy a loyal following and a lengthening bibliography. But the overall craft of this effort leaves us with little incentive to spend our money, let alone our time, taking a chance on his many other books.
August 7, 2017
I read this book while on vacation in San Francisco, the setting of the book. It was a treat. I am a fan of the pairing of Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzkey. I love their work and personal relationships.
January 31, 2008
Tediously plotted, poorly written with characters i neither believed nor cared about. Next please.
Want to read
January 4, 2009LOST - 320
March 18, 2018
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.
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.
November 6, 2021
Solid mystery with likeable leads in Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky- decent men trying to do their jobs even when it puts them at odds with each other. I would happily read other entries in the series. When the millionaire CEO of San Francisco's biggest health care provider is hit by a car during his early morning jog, and then dies in his own hospital it looks like a simple hit and run accident. But when the autopsy shows he actual died of a lethal dose of potassium, suspicion turns to those around him at the hospital, and especially on the doctor who had been caring for him. He is not only an outspoken opponent of the system's cost cutting, but the soon to be ex-husband of the woman the CEO had been having an affair with. When the CEO's wife, 3 teenaged children and their pet dog are all found dead the next morning, it looks like the distraught new widow did it- but Glitzky and Hardy aren't so sure. Soon Hardy is representing the doctor and Glitzky is getting ready to charge him.
A lot of behind the scenes information on what goes into our health care and the behind the scenes decisions that aren't always based on medicine. A bad guy with no redeeming qualities- we don't feel any sadness when we find out who did it and why. And a little twist at the end regarding the hit and run that set all this in motion.
A lot of behind the scenes information on what goes into our health care and the behind the scenes decisions that aren't always based on medicine. A bad guy with no redeeming qualities- we don't feel any sadness when we find out who did it and why. And a little twist at the end regarding the hit and run that set all this in motion.
February 22, 2018
This is a compelling entry in Lescroart's series about Dismas Hardy, a fictional defense attorney in San Francisco that is marbled with a lot of true-to-life color about the City by the Bay.
The novel centers on a series of deaths at a local hospital and addresses the conflict in modern medicine between providing good health while also containing costs.
One thing I like about Lescroat's novels is that he creates meaningful relationships between the characters, they are not just stick figures. They coach youth sports, they play darts, they argue with their spouses, they have longstanding friendships. Traits like these humanize the characters and make them more universal.
The weakness of the book comes in the last few pages when Lescroat resorts to some hackneyed tricks to add melodrama to the ending. I have read five or six of his other books and they all concluded more realistically.
The novel centers on a series of deaths at a local hospital and addresses the conflict in modern medicine between providing good health while also containing costs.
One thing I like about Lescroat's novels is that he creates meaningful relationships between the characters, they are not just stick figures. They coach youth sports, they play darts, they argue with their spouses, they have longstanding friendships. Traits like these humanize the characters and make them more universal.
The weakness of the book comes in the last few pages when Lescroat resorts to some hackneyed tricks to add melodrama to the ending. I have read five or six of his other books and they all concluded more realistically.
June 7, 2018
Eighth in a series of Dismas Hardy novels, this edition finds defense attorney Dismas pitted against his long-time friend, homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky as they work towards finding who is killing terminal patients earlier than their expected demise--which wasn't even suspected until the head of a struggling San Francisco hospital becomes a victim, though admitted after being injured by a hit-and-run driver. Many plots and twists in this work as the two--sometimes collegially and sometimes not--try to uncover who the real murderer is, though one is highly suspected...
Very believably written in such a way you don't want to stop reading.
Very believably written in such a way you don't want to stop reading.
August 17, 2020
finished yesterday the 16th of august 2020 good read four stars kindle owned...something new here, couple cops assigned to homocide, car cops, guys usually would look into vehicular homicide, hit and rungs...had "homocide" there, got the red squiggly line...do i need to go stand in a corner with the others? probably. have enjoyed all i've read from lescroart...this one, somewhere around the 75% complete mark, story narrative takes a different heading the other suspects no longer suspect and a bumper sticker is thrown in the mix, gets you thinking, hmmm, as does a death late in the mix-up, figured he got a few letters voicing concern with that direction.
October 19, 2023
3.5.
This time, Lescroart untangles the corruption and unfairness of the healthcare system. Glitsky and Hardy are their usual impressive pair, though not always working in tandem in this case. Family structures continue to be pressured, which makes these books that much more stressful to read.
The scope of this book is, on one hand, vast: it's about a system that is like a giant octopus, reaching out and affecting people on multiple levels, from administration to executives, doctors to patients. But (and especially in comparison to the next book in the series), it's small scale: it comes down to one killer and, as usual, money issues.
This time, Lescroart untangles the corruption and unfairness of the healthcare system. Glitsky and Hardy are their usual impressive pair, though not always working in tandem in this case. Family structures continue to be pressured, which makes these books that much more stressful to read.
The scope of this book is, on one hand, vast: it's about a system that is like a giant octopus, reaching out and affecting people on multiple levels, from administration to executives, doctors to patients. But (and especially in comparison to the next book in the series), it's small scale: it comes down to one killer and, as usual, money issues.
May 16, 2020
John Lescroart’s books tend to be lengthy, this 8th entry in the Dismas Hardy series is 600+ pages, has a large cast of characters and a complicated story that includes both murder mysteries and multiple themes from the medical world. This book is not fast paced but more densely plotted and methodical. Personally, I have been enjoying the character development over the course of the series and I think others who enjoy the previous books will like this one as well; I don’t think it’s a good choice for those looking for a quick and easy read.
June 8, 2021
nice technical; but quick read. about the hypothetic oath of doctors. When Ted Markham , CEO of Parnassus medical group is killed- by a hit and run...but really killed in the ICU and then his family...a whole host of medical malpractice issues are brought to light, and all the hatred everyone had for the insurance group and death. Dismas Hardy and old police buddy Glitsky are on opposite sides, but join together to get to the bottom of the murders and the insurance fraud. Good book-ready for more by Lescroart
April 4, 2020
A very good legal thriller. Not my usual fare, but these days anything that comes to hand with libraries closed and Coronovirus raging will do. This is a very involving story guaranteed to take your mind off everything else.I might not have chosen a book that questions the integrity of hospitals at this time when we need to trust them with our lives, but as a mystery it did keep me quessing right to the end, and I'm pretty hard to fool.
July 27, 2020
The head of a large HMO dies in the intensive care unit of one of his company’s hospitals after being hit by a car. The surprise comes when an autopsy discovers that he had been injected with potassium, enough to kill him. The attending doctor is an immediate suspect. Then, the entire family of the HMO executive is shot to death. Attorney Dismas Hardy is representing the attending doctor and continues to investigate all aspects of the case in an attempt to exonerate his client.
August 10, 2022
The CEO of a Health Organization, which is having multiple problems, is hit by a car and taken to his own hospital. This event triggers a series of events that pit Abe and Dismas against each other. Lots of suspects, multiple murders which may or may not be connected, a new DA in town who is trying to set things back on even keel, political appointees as inspectors in the homicide department, all these things combined to make a really interesting story.
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