The Oath
by John Lescroart
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Book Summary Information
Author: John LescroartEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-01-07
ISBN: 0451207645
Number of pages: 624
Publisher: Signet
Book Reviews of The Oath
Book Review: A Stunning Disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
There are some authors whose work we take glee in disliking -- Tom Clancy comes to mind -- and there are those whose work we have cherished and fully expect to continue to deliver top-shelf results (Elmore Leonard comes to mind). John Lescroart is one such author: his Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitsky novels have been unfailingly enjoyable, providing superb characters, fluid story lines, intellectual challenge and -- most crucial for the mystery genre -- credible surprises. And so "The Oath" comes as a major disappointment. Hardy and Glitsky, whose sparring, affectionate relationship and individual strengths and failings have been the fundamental strength of previous Lescroart novels, are here reduced to almost peripheral characters. Other characters take center stage, then virtually disappear from the novel. The writing is lazy and cliche-ridden. The red herrings (green cars, bumper stickers, motives and opportunity) have a distinct, fishy smell to them. The half-hearted attempt at the end of the novel to suggest that one of our favorite characters has died is not only clumsy but insulting. The resolution of the "mystery" is a heavy-handed "deus ex machina." The fundamental problem with the book is that it's artifice is unconcealed: all novels are works of artifice, of course (that is, after all, what a plot is), but the best novels (including previous Lescroart books) conceal the artifice with a smooth and believable sheen. In "The Oath," the bricks and mortar of the plot are painfully visible: one can see Lescroart laboriously transferring plot outline to narrative, and the seams and cracks are everywhere.
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