Best-selling author Michael Connelly, whose character-driven literary mysteries have earned him a wide following, breaks from the gate in the over-crowded field of legal thrillers and leaves every other contender from Grisham to Turow in the dust with this tightly plotted, brilliantly paced, impossible-to-put-down novel.
Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller's father was a legendary lawyer whose clients included gangster Mickey Cohen (in a nice twist, Cohen's gun, given to Dad then bequeathed to his son, plays a key role in the plot). But Dad also passed on an important piece of advice that's especially relevant when Mickey takes the case of a wealthy Los Angeles realtor accused of attempted murder: "The scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you [screw] up and he goes to prison, it'll scar you for life."
Louis Roulet, Mickey's "franchise client" (so-called becaue he's able and willing to pay whatever his defense costs) seems to be the one his father warned him against, as well as being a few rungs higher on the socio-economic ladder than the drug dealers, homeboys, and motorcycle thugs who comprise Mickey's regular case load. But as the holes in Roulet's story tear Mickey's theory of the case to shreds, his thoughts turn more to Jesus Menendez, a former client convicted of a similar crime who's now languishing in San Quentin. Connelly tellingly delineates the code of legal ethics Mickey lives by: "It didn't matter...whether the defendant 'did it' or not. What mattered was the evidence against him--the proof--and if and how it could be neutralized. My job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt." But by the time his client goes to trial, Mickey's feeling a few very reasonable doubts of his own.
While Mickey's courtroom pyrotechnics dazzle, his behind-the-scenes machinations and manipulations are even more incendiary in this taut, gripping novel, which showcases all of Connelly's literary gifts.
The Lincoln Lawyer is #1 in the Mick Haller series by Michael Connelly. The Brass Verdict is the second, followed by The Reversal. His latest Mick Haller novel, The Fifth Witness, is due out next month on April 5th.
Features: Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe
Storyline: A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
Did you know? Trace Atkins is in the film.
Watch the trailer:
Have you read the book or seen the movie?
When I saw previews for the movie, I didn't realize it was based on a book. The Mick Haller series sounds pretty good. I saw the movie last night and thought it was great. It reminded my of when McConaughey played Jake Brigance in the movie adaptation of Grisham's A Time to Kill.
