Michael Connelly: The Lincoln Lawyer

Moving away from the thriller series of Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly enters the court room with a defense lawyer whose greatest fear is to not know innocence when he sees it.

Mickey Haller works his defense lawyer practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln town car. This allows him to travel throughout the state of California as well as reach clients that other, probably more normal lawyers are unable to reach. From drug dealers, gang banker, motorcycle gang members to prostitutes Haller has represented them all. For Haller, it is never a question of guilty or not, it is about the manipulation of the law, police procedures and the court room in order for Haller's client list to get off. It is very rarely about justice for Haller, however, he does believe that once he helps someone out of a charge that they may turn to the straight path. However, when a Beverly Hills playboy is charged with attempted rape, assault and attempted murder he calls on Haller to represent him. Haller thinks that he has made it big time, a client that can finally afford to properly pay him. But as the case unfolds, Haller begins to question his client's at first obvious innocence and as more information and evidence begins to appear Haller starts to see that he is playing a dangerous game that brings to front his greatest fear, his ability to see innocence when it is staring him in the face.

Okay, so I may have only picked this book up because it was being made into a movie but in my defense I have been reading Michael Connelly for years, and I had never heard of this book. He does have 25 books written I was bound to miss one or two, and I tended to stick to the Harry Bosch Series (which I really enjoy and would recommend).

So now on to my thought of the Lincoln Lawyer. I really enjoyed this book and the suspense, intensity and desperation you feel that Haller goes through in the book becomes more and more heightened the farther into the book you get. Connelly has created a story that holds up to any courtroom based book that I have read (You can tell that he did his research, Thank You) and he was able to keep me interested as Haller fallows the evidence to prove the innocence of one man, and hopefully regain his own humanity in the process.

Micky Haller is a very realistic character, and I think the struggles he goes through are what some real life defense lawyers would have concerns about as well. Haller's main fear is that he would be unable to recognize innocence within a client, and he puts these skills to test. He is a attempting to live up to his father's standards, a man he only got to know through reading books about. However, Haller is not above manipulation of those around him, mainly his ex-wife Maggie as well as what occurs within the courtroom (though this might be an aspect of a great defense lawyer). His life is truly all about the cases he works and although he wants to do right by his daughter he struggles to find a balance. It is easy to like and hate Haller at the same time as he a defense lawyer, at times his morals are questionable and he does have an ego, but you also see him trying to make things right and protect whatever family that he has. I think this balance is key to the storyline and also fully understanding Haller as a character.

I will say it time and time again, even though I do read the paranormal genre and there are all sort of scary creatures that have been created, I think the thing that scares me the most is the reality that humans/people are the most evil. Roulet is all types of evil, pure sociopath if I have ever read one before. Connelly does a good job of creating an almost silent evil in the Roulet character. You are never really sure as to who Roulet is and how far he is willing to go to ensure his freedom and even if he is the worst individual within the story.

I think my only complaint is I do not think that Connelly took enough risks with the story and plot line. There were some unexpected parts, however, there were also parts that were very predictable, and there was no point within the story where Connelly has a fantastic twist that no one sees coming. And I hate to say it but most of the ending was a little predictable. These facts did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book, but I think that if these factors had been changed the book would have been amazing

Connelly is a great storyteller and whether you are reading his stand alone novels or his harry Bosch series, you can an expect an enjoyable read with all the aspects that are needed in a mystery, suspense and/or thriller novels. Although I found The Lincoln Lawyer a great read and a nice departure from the Bosch series, I still prefer that series to this stand alone book (though if I were to recommend another of his stand alone books it would be Void Moon). I would be interested to see where Connelly were to take Mickey Haller next, or to read another court room book from him, as he does what happens in a courtroom justice. I am looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out and comparing it to the book. I have seen which actors have been chosen for the roles, and they seem like perfect fits to me. If you have seen the movie and read the book, let me know what you thought of either or both

Enjoy!!!

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