“I mean, most of the people I defend aren’t evil ... They’re guilty, yeah, but they aren’t evil. You know what I mean? There’s a difference. You listen to them and you know why they make the choices they make. People are just trying to get by, just to live with what they’re given, and some of them aren’t given a damn thing in the first place. But evil is something else. It’s different. It’s like… I don’t know. It’s out there and when it shows up… I can’t explain it ... All I know is I should have been afraid of one thing but I was afraid of the complete opposite.”
The Lncoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (2005) is a legal thriller set in Los Angeles California and it's the first book in Connelly's Mickey Haller series. Michael (Mickey) Haller narrates this novel. He's a criminal defense attorney who works out of his Lincoln town car meeting with witnesses, reviewing files, making calls etc. His driver Earl takes him wherever he needs to go.
Haller's been a defense attorney for 15 years. He has two ex-wives who he gets along with and a young daughter. He is smart and successful but he has become jaded about the legal system. Haller still does pro bono work but mainly these days he is on the lookout for wealthy clients who can pay his considerable fees. And then he gets the high profile case he has been waiting for.
His client Louis Ross Roulet is the son of a prominent family. Louis has been charged with attempted rape and battery of Reggie Campo, a young woman he met in a bar. Louis insists he is innocent and that he is being extorted because of his family's wealth. Haller is inclined to believe Louis and is sure he can get the case dismissed without even having to go to trial.
Haller is a bit disappointed at this because if the case were to drag on he could continue to bill the Roulet family for his services. But Haller has ethics and so he proceeds to bring this case to a quick close. Or at least that's the way he expects this case will go. I'll just leave it there..
I really enjoyed the Lincoln Lawyer and a major reason was Mickey Haller. He is smart and a good man despite a few flaws. He's also very funny in the way he explains the legal system. I also liked the storyline of The Lincoln Lawyer where you have a narrator for whom the idealistic reasons he became a defense attorney went out the window years ago. Now it's pretty much a game and a nice paycheck until the Roulet case lands in his lap.
Thanks to Lark & Sam at Larkwrites and Bookchase, two very fine bloggers I follow for alerting me to Michael Connelly. I plan to try his other series featuring Detective Harry Bosch. What's interesting is that Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch are half-brothers who meet later in life and after reading Harry's bio you could not find two more different individuals.
I do love Connelly's Mickey Haller series! I'm glad you liked this book, too. The movie version of it with Matthew McConnaughy is also really good. And his Jack McEvoy series is fun, too, though I've only read the first book. :)
ReplyDeleteI really did like this novel and I decided to watch the movie too and Matthew McConaughey was just as I imagined Mickey Haller would be. I understand that there are two novels in which Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch team up and I definitely want to read those books.
DeleteI enjoyed this novel but came to it only after experiencing the work of Michael Connelly through reading several of his Harry Bosch novels. They were an excellent introduction to his work an led me to expect the same when reading The Lincoln Lawyer. I was not disappointed and I doubt that you will be disappointed by detective Bosch.
ReplyDeleteHi James, I am looking forward to Detective Bosch and I like the fact that he and Mickey Haller are half brothers although they didn't grow up together and lead very different lives. Bosch from the profile I read had a very difficult childhood and he deserves much credit for overcoming the bad breaks he had.
DeleteI'm happy, Kathy, that you enjoyed this one so much. As you mention, he and Harry Bosch are half-brothers, and some of my favorite of the Connelly books are the ones that the two characters work together to solve a crime or otherwise help each other out.
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, thanks for recommending Michael Connelly at Bookchase and I am looking forward to reading about Harry Bosch and particularly when they team up. Based on their different childhoods you would think they might want to avoid each other but it sounds like over time they develop a closer bond.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog
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ReplyDeleteThanks and you have a very lovely blog.
DeleteI have read only two books in the Bosch series by Connelly. I plan to read more of those and would like to read the Mickey Haller series also. There are just too many good books out there to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy, I do want to read a book from the Bosch series. He is Mickey Haller's half brother but they met as adults. From what I have gathered they are very different characters but both good men. There are so many books out there worth reading I totally agree. That's a great thing about blogs. I found out about Michael Connolly through Lark and Sam and your site has clued me on to great books. The world of book blogs is such a great experience.
DeleteI watched season one of the TV series earlier this summer and really liked it. You are right--Mickey Haller is a terrific character, flawed but good in all the right places. Clearly, they didn't start the TV series with book 1 as the plot is nothing like the season 1 storyline, but I have been meaning to give the book series a try.
ReplyDeleteHi Jane. I did see the movie after I read the book and enjoyed it. I have heard good things about the series too. Agree, Mickey Haller is a good person and he's a very cynically funny narrator in the way he describes the law. He also has a half brother Harry Bosch who is a detective and part of a separate series Michael Connelly has created.
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