"The Vig" by John Lescroart

                                           
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"Hardy wasn't tired. None of this seemed very real, but he did lie down on his bed and take the Special out of the drawer next to him. He flipped off the light and pulled a comforter over him, his clothes still on, the gun in his hand. He looked at the clock by his bed. It was 11:01. No call....."



An old book but a great book. I started reading this Dismas Hardy series, unfortunately in the middle of it, before I realized it was a series.. So I backtracked and started at the beginning. Great characters. Well written. My kind of cop/detective story. This was book 2- and I believe there are 16 books in this series. Its like the Robert Parker, Jesse Stone series. I often compare cop books to his writing. I find the Parker books very comfortable. Nothing that will stop your heart or make you fall over with your mouth open..but the kind of books that draw you in, make you feel at home and want to keep reading to see where the character goes. 

Dismas Hardy is one of those well written guys. You love him. You wonder about him. You'll worry about him. You'll want to know who is he going to choose? Even his career is in question, but his integrity to the helping of others is not. His love for his friends is evident- even if he is mostly a loaner. Lawyer, ex cop, bartender, veteran of Vietnam, friend, ex wife, new girlfriend pregnant by a dead friend. There is much to choose from here. 

Dismas is approached by an ex colleague. One of the bad guys they put away years ago is getting out of prison. Lewis's last words before they hauled him away was that he intended to rid the world of both Hardy and Rusty, the lawyers, district attorney at the time. Suddenly Rusty is missing and Rusty's girlfriend is found dead on Rusty's boat. Lewis looks good for this murder right? Someone is keeping secrets. What if you had a gambling debt so high that you couldn't meet "The Vig" anymore? Loan sharks and the mob will loan you the money.. as long as you pay the interest of course- or what's known as " The Vig." So the story goes from there. Is Rusty dead? Dismas is not about to just let the cops do their job. He's retired from the force and retired from being a lawyer or has he really? Its hard not be who you really are. 

This book was first published in 1991 but does not feel like its out of the time element. It feels current and relevant and comfortable. My favorite kind of books. I've read others by John Lescroart and feel this way about all of his work. This is one author I will read everything he's written at some point. I will definitely finish this series. I already have bought nearly all of the books to do just that. This was not my usual review. I usually am doing a read/review for Netgalley or privately for an author. This is an older book as I mentioned as one of my own reads. Every so often I take a break from the review job and just hit my own TBR list. I really recommend John Lescroart, and any of his books- including this series.