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Book Review of The Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller, Bk 1)

The Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller, Bk 1)
annapi avatar reviewed on + 334 more book reviews


I wasn't in the mood for a lawyer story when I started this some months ago, so I kept putting it down. I'm still not in the mood for a lawyer story, but I wanted to get this book out of the way. For a book to impress me even when I'm reluctant to read it, it has to be good, and this one is. The opening expositions moved a bit slowly, I thought, or maybe it was just I wasn't inclined to delve into the sleazy Los Angeles world it was set in. But the pacing was great, and the ending unexpected and a knockout. Mickey Haller is a defense attorney who knows the system inside and out, and knows how to play the game to get his guilty clients off. When he is chosen to defend a rich Beverly Hills boy arrested for assault, Mickey believes he has finally found his ticket to success - a long, expensive case with a client rich enough to pay whatever he needs. But suddenly Mickey discovers that he has a live snake on his hands, and one that is ready to strike with all venom - and that if he's not careful, he will be the target.

Connelly deftly takes us through the maze of the legal system, expertly showing both sides of the fence, and his characters are never two-dimensional but rich and real. One is left with the conviction that he has shown us a true face of evil that exists in the world out there. I hope this becomes another hit series for him as it certainly has the potential to equal his popular Harry Bosch.