In this 21st novel featuring attorney Dismas Hardy, Hardy's secretary Phyllis is arrested for allegedly abetting the murder of a coyote who’d been smuggling women from El Salvador and Mexico—and Hardy takes on Phyllis's case.
Now nearly twenty books in, Lescroart has tried new ways to refresh his series over the past few years. He finally accomplished that here by giving Hardy a worthy adversary in the new DA ... That adds a new element to the story, which works nicely and provides the kind of suspense that longtime fans look for with this series. Likewise, Lescroart hits on timely themes, as immigration and sanctuary cities remain a controversial topic in today’s world of 24-hour news coverage. That said, while much of the undocumented immigration plot thread feels taken from the headlines, the story itself, which focuses plenty on the game between Hardy and Jameson, lends itself nicely to those on both sides of the political spectrum. So no matter which side you lean towards, Lescroart offers enough right down the middle to satisfy anyone looking for fast-paced thrills.
Several strong themes resonate throughout this story including corruption, immigration, and the power of love and family ... Lescroart has crafted another wonderful legal thriller that will easily please his fans and those who aren’t familiar with his body of work.
Hard-core Lescroart fans will no doubt be pleased to see their favorite characters back together again as an investigative team; however, readers only casually acquainted with Hardy and the group, or those deciding to try a Lescroart novel for the first time, will find The Rule of Law off-putting and improbable. The dialogue among these people runs a little too cute for a little too long. If you’re new to Lescroart, you’ll find yourself feeling as though you’re on the outside looking in. The cozy closeness seems patterned on previous episodes of a situation comedy you never got around to watching ... The Rule of Law errs in failing to tell a convincing story involving characters who are worthy of our trust. An exercise in recursion, it relies on its own series arc to fuel its plot, and it provides new readers with absolutely no reason to want to read anything else by this author in the future.
