The Lincoln Lawyer

big text, extremely poor quality so bad that you want to trash it out and not even read it!! so disappointed

After looking through my large collection of legal thrillers last week for an Instagram post, I began to wonder if there was any ‘must read’ legal thriller I didn’t own. This lead me down a Google rabbit hole of list after list of top legal thriller titles. One book appeared on all of them, and it was the number one book on a list of top legal thrillers as judged by lawyers (which would seem to be the highest accolade a legal thriller can get.) That book was The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.I remember watching the movie starring Matthew McConaughey years ago, but I couldn’t remember the story, and I haven’t read the book, so I decided to rectify that oversight immediately and bought a copy. You can’t have an outstanding collection of legal thrillers without the top one, can you, regardless of whether you have a copy of everything John Grisham has ever written!The Lincoln Lawyer is a fairly meaty tome, with around 450 pages, but the action and pace is frenetic from beginning to end. The protagonist is Michael Haller, twice-divorced defence (sorry, I just can’t bring myself to spell it the American way *shudder*) attorney who works out of the back of his car, hustling for briefs from drug dealers, street walkers and anyone else who can afford to pay his fees. Unexpectedly, a rich client falls into his lap, and one who seems to be innocent of the crime he has been charged with, a case too good to be true. But, as Michael’s father once said, ‘there is no client as scary as an innocent man.’So begins a tale full of twists and unexpected turns, as Micheal fights to get his client acquitted and the victim shown up as the lying chancer she is. But obviously, it’s not that simple and, throughout the 450 pages, Michael plays a game of wits against a devious adversary who will stop at nothing to make sure the truth never comes out. I found the plot completely gripping, and wished I’d had more time to devote to reading it because I didn’t really want to put it down once I’d started. Unfortunately, the arrival of a new puppy prevented that, but I raced through it as fast as I could.Anyway, I can see why lawyers love this book, it gives great descriptions of the trial process and the cut and thrust of adversarial law, without being dry and dull, or at least I thought so. The plot is clever, with enough surprises to keep the reader guessing to the end, and Haller is an appealing character to carry us through, which is no mean feat, considering what a loathed and ridiculed breed lawyers often are. I’m going to watch the movie again this afternoon while I do my ironing, as I have no memory of it really and I’m interested to see how it compares to the book while that is fresh in my mind. (Matthew McConaughey gives good lawyer too, his Jake Brigance in A Time To Kill is one of my favourite of his performances.)This book is a great addition to my collection of legal thrillers, and definitely a must read for anyone who loves the genre. Do you have any other recommendations for me?

By sheer coincidence I picked up this book the day after I finished Clifford Irving's `Trial', written around 20 years earlier. At first I was struck by the similarities... a defence lawyer represents two separate defendants in two separate cases, the cases turn out to be linked, [SPOILERS] we find out that defendant #2 is actually guilty of both crimes, it's no coincidence that said lawyer is involved in both cases, lawyer has to deal with conflicts and ethical dilemmas, lawyer's life is endangered [END OF SPOILERS] and so on to a climactic ending. Even the defendants' names are similar in style - Hector Quintana/Jesus Menendez, Johnnie Faye Boudreau/Louis Ross Roulet.The similarities between the two novels are, however, pretty superficial - the characters, plots and resolutions are quite different. I enjoyed `Trial' but `The Lincoln Lawyer' was on a whole other level. It's a rich, clever, exciting and complex story, very entertaining and beautifully written. Every page was a pleasure to read. I stayed up until past midnight last night to finish this book, and yet at the same time I didn't want it to end. I've found a new hero in Mickey Haller and I can't wait to read more of his exploits.

Michael Connelly has produced another fine novel, this time centring around Mickey Haller, a criminal attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln town car.Haller is hired to defend a playboy accused of a savage assault on a woman but he is soon drawn into an intriguing case where everyone is not quite as they seem. Haller's apparent intent on proving his client's innocence soon leads him into a web of murder and deception and when someone close to him is murdered he must quickly come to terms with his self-conflict if he is to emerge from this case with his life.Connelly has researched and written a great courtroom drama. There is also a connection to his revered character Harry Bosch, as fans of the Bosch series will quickly realise that Mickey Haller is indeed Harry Bosch's half-brother.Hopefully Haller will return in due course as this is possibly Connelly's best efforts at a novel not featuring Harry Bosch.Excellent.

This book is `100% addictive'. A defence lawyer, Mickey Haller, takes on a case he believes he will win easily because so much initial evidence speaks in favour of his client's innocence. Of course, not all is as it seems.The plot is gripping, and pretty plausible, and I got through the book in a day. It was hard to warm to Haller at the outset with his `ambulance-chaser' mentality, but Connelly does a wonderful job in making sure the reader aligns with him.There are twists and turns and rarely a dull moment as Haller balances the need to remain professional in protecting his client with the perceived need to engineer a fair outcome overall.In short, a real page-turner built around a clever and engaging plot. 9/10

Having read ALL the Bosch and Micky Haller books during lockdown and enjoying every single one and having seen all the Amazon adaptations I was interested to see this and Bloodwork.This was great. Really enjoyed it and well worth paying for. I preferred the adaptations if I had to pick but this was solid and I thoroughly enjoyed it