Certain Justice

San Francisco: An ideal American city, modern and enlightened. Or is it? When an innocent black man is lynched by a group of whites bent on a kind of twisted justice, Kevin Shea is wrongly identified as the mob's ringleader. Riots erupt all over the city, and he goes into hiding. Hunted, hounded, and nearly destroyed for an act he never committed, Shea becomes a lightning rod for the misplaced passions of a community. He could emerge from his self-imposed exile, but he might not survive long enough to clear his name.

Abe Glitsky, returning from his appearance in Lescroart's earlier novels, is San Francisco's Chief of Homicide. Half-black and half-Jewish, raising three sons on his own, struggling to work and live "by the book, " Glitsky is troubled by the powerful and complex emotions raised by this case, and ultimately haunted by its repercussions. His ex-lover Loretta Wager -- now a Senator and out to excoriate Shea -- has an electrifying effect on his struggle to do the right thing.

With the storytelling ability that has made him a major bestselling author, John Lescroart has written the thinking man's legal thriller --"richly satisfying, "* "heart-stopping, "** and a sophisticated, powerful, resonant read.

* "Kirkus" (starred review)

** "Library Journal" (starred review)