Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller is back in the heartstopping new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can’t make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge. Mickey elects to defend himself and … vindictive judge.
Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder–as an officer of the court he is an instant target.
Mickey knows he’s been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence.
In his highest stakes case yet, Mickey Haller fights for his life and shows why he is “a worthy colleague of Atticus Finch…in the front of the pack in the legal thriller game” (Los Angeles Times).
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Whether in court, in jail, or on the mean streets, there’s never a false moment in “The Law of Innocence,” the newest novel featuring Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer.
When reading Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels, you’d swear the author is a cop, given the precise and accurate details of detective work. When reading a Mickey Haller novel, you believe that Connelly is a trial lawyer. Both his police procedurals and his legal thrillers resonate with authenticity. The fancy word is verisimilitude, fiction that appears real.
In “The Law of Innocence,” Haller no long practices law from the back seat of his Lincoln. During much of this brilliantly crafted novel, he’s got only one client…himself!
Charged with murder, Haller is forced to prep for trial in the Twin Towers. That’s not a ritzy high-rise condo. It’s the downtown L.A. jail, and once again, Connelly’s prose evokes an unparalleled sense of place. The shouts of the inmates, the clank of the steel doors, the smell of sweat and disinfectant…it’s all here. Did I mention the “prison rash” Haller gets from the industrial detergent used to wash sheets? Yes, it makes you wonder if Connelly did time!
Aided by his ensemble from earlier books, including half-brother Bosch, Haller is up against a vengeful prosecutor and a stacked deck. While motive might seem thin – he’s charged with killing a con-man client in a fee dispute – it doesn’t help the defense that the corpse was found in the trunk of the Lincoln with Haller at the wheel.
As usual, the courtroom scenes are impeccable. Want to learn how to pick a jury? You can take a Continuing Legal Education course or follow Haller’s advice in which he accurately describes voir dire as an “art form.”
As for the title, Haller tells us this: “In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime, there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence, the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.”
Now, Connelly knows very well that a defendant need neither prove innocence nor discover the guilty party. But he’s saying roughly this: If the state’s evidence is overwhelming, you’d better present an alternative theory with an alternative killer. I’ll let you read the book to find out if Haller succeeds. It will be a pure pleasure, far better than a stay in the Twin Towers.
Michael Connelly is my go-to guy for audiobooks and he doesn’t disappoint. He’s the guy who gets me outside for my evening walk because I look forward to listening.
This book started a bit slow but it picked up quickly and I was carried away by Mickey Haller, from The Lincoln Lawyer series, and his troubles. Lots of interesting details about courtrooms and judges and lawyers and the friction and competition between them.
All my favorite characters are back in Connelly latest. I love when he mixes he worlds of the Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller) and Harry Bosch. This one is a page-turner. And I love how it is set at the beginning of the pandemic. Connelly does a great job with this, and knowing what we know now, it heightens the tension and adds a ticking clock to the already dangerous plot.
Unbelievably, I have not read the Lincoln Lawyer books…at least until this one. The most recent, I enjoyed every chapter of The Law of Innocence. It was woven across the beginning of COVID, which as a writer it was interestiing to see how he handled that. But the plot was very interesting. A great audiobook! Really enjoyed the plot and twists.
In my view, this was the best of Connelly’s books in a long time. I like Mickey Haller a lot and took his arrest and imprisonment way too personally. The story kept me reading. I had to know how it all turned out.
Unfortunately Michael Connelly decided to insert politics into this novel at 3/4 of the way in. I read to be entertained and not deal with the author’s political views, which in this case, I happened to disagree strongly. I respect his 1st amendment rights, but keep them out of a novel. The story is excellent and there was no need to insert his political preferences and hatred. This author has always been my preferred reading in the genre, but he’s dropped a few notches for this assault and intrusion into my entertainment. The novel would be a 5 Star otherwise.
Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller is awaiting trial after the body of a former client is found in his Lincoln. Haller knows he is being framed and is representing himself in prison. He hires his half-brother Harry Bosch to investigate and clear him of the murder charges against him. I truly enjoyed reading this crime fiction novel by Michael Connelly.
I enjoy Michael Conneally stories. I enjoy stories that have the courtroom included. From Perry Mason to contemporary courtroom dramas, the banter between judges, juries, and lawyers provides great stories. I liked the slipping in of the current pandemic effects for prisons and courtroom scenarios.
But then there was juror 68.
IMO a juror should not be turned away due to gender, race, beliefs, age, etc. There are plenty of other reasons to dismiss a potential juror, but not these reasons.
Battles i.e. court cases, are always more interesting when the two sides are fairly equal. In this case, Micky’s case would have been far more interesting had the prosecutor not been a bumbling, vindictive attorney.
There were so many times i enjoyed this story. But then there was juror 68. Whether this really happens or not, and I am sure it probably does, the component did not need to be in a story.
Sorry, Michael. Can only give this one a 3.
It should have been a great day in the life of attorney Mickey Haller. He had truly had a television Perry Mason style moment that had destroyed a witness and ultimately won his case. The celebration at the Redwood on Second Street had been a fun time for all in attendance.
It was on to the drive home that things started to go wrong. First it was the traffic stop. Within a few minutes it was the handcuffs. Then it was the fluid dripping from the trunk. Then it was the clearly visible dead body inside the trunk. Halloween 2019 seemingly has come a couple of days early and Mickey Haller is in for quite a terror filled ride as his entire life is on the line.
Arrested for a murder he did not commit; Mickey Haller is incarcerated at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. To get out of a nearly perfect frame job he is going to not only have to stay alive in the facility where he has few friends among inmates or staff, he has to build a credible — somebody else did it — style defense. Figuring out who he knows that could have done this will take time. Something he is in short supply of since he faces a looming trial and multiple threats including COVID-19.
The Law of Innocence: A Lincoln Lawyer Novel by Michael Connelly brings together nearly every character currently and previously present in this series. Haller’s defense that is ultimately presented in court as COVID-19 begins to draw public attention in early 2020 has numerous links to previous cases. This reader occasionally struggled to remember those cases before deciding to just read on and focus on the current story. The resulting read is complicated, intense, and pretty good. Because of the links in this book will invalidate pretty much any reason to read the earlier books, I suggest reading your way forward in the series to get to here. It will be worth it.
The Law of Innocence: A Mickey Haller Novel
Michael Connelly
https://www.michaelconnelly.com/writing/the-law-of-innocence/#:~:text=Defense%20attorney%20Mickey%20Haller%20is,him%20by%20a%20vindictive%20judge.
Little, Brown and Company (Hatchett Book Group)
https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/michael-connelly/the-law-of-innocence/9780316498029/
November 2020
ISBN# 978-0-316-49802-9
eBook (also available in audio, hardback, and large print paperback)
433 Pages
My reading copy came in eBook format via the Dallas Library and the LibbyApp and the technical assistance of my son, Scott, who did some sort of magic to make things work.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2021
Another Michael Connelly winner. Recommended
Michael Connelly is one of my few must-read authors. This legal thriller is Connelly at his best. Mickey Haller, Harry Bosch’s half-brother, is charged with murder when a cop stops him for a missing license plate and finds a dead body in his trunk. This page-turner follows Haller and his team as they unwind the mystery of who framed Haller and why. Loved it, loved it, loved it.
Michael Connelly keeps me busy between Bosch and Haller.
I’m a huge fan of Michael Connelly and while I may have missed a book or two from the Haller series (must catch up), I was quickly immersed in Haller’s fight to clear his name after being charged with murder. It’s not enough just getting and NG (Not Guilty) for him, he wants to prove his innocence.
Much of this book reads like a ‘how to conduct a murder trial’ right down to all the tricks and traps used on both sides of the table.
This is an engaging read with plenty of twists and turns as Haller literally fights for his life. It’s also a more detailed read than your average legal thriller and Connelly also introduces the beginning of the Covid-era, making everything very real-time. 4.5 stars.
This book picks up the thread from The Fifth Witness. In usual Michal Connelly fashion, this book takes many twists and turns and throws in the pandemic and the Trump impeachment. Not all the questions were answered, so we should expect another book that involves Agent Ruth. Maybe she’ll be the next main character for a future series.
Good story
Too predictabe, but still a decent story.
Best book I have read in along time!!!
The Law of Innocence is my favorite recent novel by Michael Connelly, and I’ve read and enjoyed them all. I think I especially liked The Law or Innocence because it features Mickey Haller, and because there’s only one murder plot. (I haven’t really liked it that some of his other recent books have had two separate murder plots, that diffuses the tension for me.) I also liked the high stakes in this novel: will our hero be convicted for a murder he didn’t commit? And even more so than his other novels, I felt like I was getting insights into the inner workings of our criminal justice system.
Reading this novel, I marveled at how few adverbs Connelly uses. Sometimes you can go through a couple pages without finding a single one. He’s very spare in his use of adjectives too. After I finished this book, I went back to my novel in progress newly inspired to get rid of every adverb possible. If the word ends in “ly,” I try to get rid of it!
Always count on Connelly for a good read
True Michael Connelly awesomeness. Great characters combined with lots of emotion and drama!