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The Fall is an insightful read
Book Review
By Derryll White
Lescroart, John (2016). The Fall.
A friend, ex-RCMP, once told me never to talk to the police until I had consulted a lawyer. I thought that a little strange coming from a former cop but is has proven good advice. And that is exactly where this novel begins.
The story focuses around Rebeccca Hardy, ‘the Beck’ and her father, Dismas. This is the Beck’s first murder case. The novel clearly illustrates, in a very entertaining way, the process a trial lawyer uses in examining the facts of a case, cross-examining the witnesses and dealing with the bureaucracy – both police and legal. It also gives real insight into the trials and tribulations of a defence lawyer.
Lescroart, as usual, keeps the dialogue personable and fast, with lots of humour. He also presents San Francisco for what it is, the most liberal city in the United States of America. In the current climate of political depression and world tragedy, it is exhilarating to think of a city that still demands some social justice for its citizens.
****
Excerpts from the novel:
THE TRUTH – Rebecca shook her head. “I know. So stupid. People who haven’t ever dealt with the cops don’t get how serious it gets, and how fast, do they? And Greg could be the poster child for that. Everything he lied about was three hours before Anlya was killed, and he was in bed sleeping when that happened, so why did the details of their dinner matter? And he’s right. They don’t matter.”
HISTORY – “So when we got worried enough, I sneaked up and listened at the door and heard a male voice. I knocked, with Abe there beside me, backing me up. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
“No,” she said. “History is a reasoned account of all the facts that have proved important in explaining human progress.”
“That, too” Hardy leaned his head back against the chair, a grin tickling at the corner of his lips. “And you, my darling daughter, are turning into just a little bit of a wiseass.”
“Gee,” she said. “I wonder where I would have gotten that.”
– Derryll White once wrote books but now chooses to read and write about them. When not reading he writes history for the web at www.basininstitute.org.
