THE SECOND CHAIR.
John Lescroart, the master of the legal thriller, delivers a powerhouse novel of deadly secrets, privileged youth, and
uncertain justice.
To the outside world, it looks like Dismas Hardy is finally on top. A managing partner at his thriving, newly reorganized law firm, he's a rainmaker and fix-it guy for clients leery of taking their chances in a courtroom. But what the world sees is a mirage. For beneath the surface bravado and the lucrative dealmaking, Hardy has lost his faith in the law.
Now Hardy's young associate, Amy Wu, suddenly rootless and grieving over the recent death of her father, brings the firm a high-profile and challenging case: Andrew Bartlett, the seventeen-year-old son of a prominent San Francisco family, has been arrested for the double slaying of his girlfriend and his English teacher. The D.A. wants to try him as an adult, but Wu cuts a deal to keep him in juvenile court--a deal that she's forced to break.
Overwhelmed by the mounting evidence against their client, and hoping to salvage his firm's reputation in the face of the D.A.'s righteous wrath, Hardy sits second chair with Wu in Bartlett's defense.