The First Law | John Lescroart | Nature's First Law Trumps Manmade Law

The First Law | John Lescroart | Enjoyable read

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The First Law

	The First Law John Lescroart, 2003 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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They date back to the wilder days of San Francisco's vigilante past, a private police force that keeps watch for paying clients. Unfortunately, Sam Silverman-an elderly pawnshop owner and a friend of Lt. Abe Glitsky's father-could no longer afford Patrol Special protection, and he may have paid with his life. Dismas Hardy, putting together a high-stakes lawsuit against the security firm, suddenly finds himself defending a local bar owner accused in Silverman's death. He's convinced of John Holiday's innocence-until he goes on the lam. Now, blocked at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky may be forced to protect not only themselves, but their nearest and dearest, as they step cautiously into a world where the only law is survival...

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Nature's First Law Trumps Manmade Law

I am a firm believer in human law and in its enforcement. I have served on several juries, including one for a homicide, so I know how our system of law functions and I realize that without laws and their enforcement, humanity would live in a state of anarchy. However, I am also aware of the fact that any legal system, like humanity, itself, is imperfect. John Lescroart's novel THE FIRST LAW is a superb, albeit fictional, example of how nature's First Law (the preservation of self and/or of one's loved one(s)) SHOULD take precedence over humanity's legal systems, when a system cannot protect those whom one loves most deeply. The fact that self-protection is not even close in importance to the fear of the future, inevitable deaths of those whom the protagonists love, if they do not break manmade law at great risk to themselves, makes the novel especially emotionally compelling.

I am an avid reader of Lescroart's Dismas Hardy-Abe Glitsky novels. I find them to be complex and thought-provoking, but none of them are as important and memorable to me as is his THE FIRST LAW. Although I have a beloved collection of signed first and limited editions of various authors, who write in various genres, I normally only collect most authors' first book(s) in signed, first editions or "special" books in signed, limited editions because of space limitations. The exception to my rule is my signed, first edition of Lescroart's THE FIRST LAW. It is that important to me.

The primary point of this novel is that when the legal system cannot protect one's loved one(s), nature takes over and a very loving person, even despite believing wholeheartedly in human law and in its enforcement, will do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of whoever is/are most loved by that person. Breaking the law to the point of killing others is necessary, but deeply regretted, by the main characters in this novel, as it should be, and the resulting feelings of guilt, which would be felt by any moral person, is made clear and even emphasized in Lescroart's later work.

I have read that Lescroart loosely patterned his novel after the notorious gunfight at the OK corral. This is undoubtedly fact since one of the protagonists is named John Holliday (John was Doc Holliday's given name and Doc was present at the shootout). This is my one bone to pick with Lescroart, since I am also an old west history buff and I believe that the shootout was between two rival gangs, rather than between the "good guys" and the "bad guys". However, that is merely my opinion and, as Stephen Crane wrote, "It is only opinion/and opinion be damned".

I especially most highly recommend this novel to any reader who is extremely interested, as I am, in morality and in ethics. It is also very enjoyable to read merely as a legal/police procedural novel that is highly engrossing and entertaining and that involves one's emotions while reading it. As for myself, whenever I run into nature's First Law in other novels or in life, itself, I immediately think of John Lescroart's novel THE FIRST LAW. I read so much that individual novels rarely make such an impression on me, so this is the highest recommendation that I can give.

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Enjoyable read

John Lescroart's books stand out because of their human characters, and The First Law is no exception. Dismis' family life is always interesting, and in this one, we see more of that than in some other books. The San Francisco setting and the interplay among these familiar characters make reading this book like going on vacation with good friends and just having a good time.

some good, some bad...

This is a story that relies on Lescroart's previous novels. What I mean by this is that the character development in First Law is almost nil. What you have here is an attempt at a riviting nail biting suspense thriller. Only it doesn't quite work. Strangely, the story does not put you on the edge of your seat. Nor does it make you feel for any of the characters.

This is an ok series. I think that Lescroart has a little too much invested in his characters. Because of this, he hesitates to mess with them too much and from one book to another they pretty much stay frozen. They don't grow. Take a look at Matt Scudder, Lawrence Block's iconic character to see what I am pointing my finger towards. Also, Lescroart has himself boxed into a corner, Dismas and Abe seemingly have been explored by lescroart to the full extent of whom they are.

I would pass this series by. Its ok reading if you pick up one to two hundred pulp thrillers a year. But if you only read a handful, you can do better than this. Try 'Mystic River' by Lehane, or 'Wind Up Bird Chronicle' by Murakami.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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