The Law of Innocence (Lincoln Lawyer)

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Nobody writing today has more range than Michael Connelly, who is in top form here, delivering not only the best legal thriller of the year, but perhaps the best legal thriller to hit bookstores in the last decade. …Connelly treats readers to a deliciously suspenseful, twisting, unputdownable thriller that begs to be read in a single sitting. …Masterfully plotted and impossible to put down, Law of Innocence is everything readers have come to expect from Michael Connelly, a once-in-a-lifetime talent who continues to show why he’s one of the greatest writers the genre has ever known.” I have read all of Connelly's books and stories, but now I think I will skip the next one. The good old West Coast elitist club just can't keep their politics out of their writing, just like the East Coast ones. With Juror 68, Connelly committed his own version of literary seppuku half way through the book. He didn't have to do it. But, he could not resist the temptation. 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.”

Connelly makes many jabs at police corruption. In addition, he doesn’t characterize the prosecuting attorney well. I guess because I’m a Bosch lover, it was difficult to have the police and distract attorneys characterized so poorly. I didn’t expect Connelly to make the reader dislike police. Mostly only corrupt police were characterized in this one. Connelly did bring Bosch in as an ally who helps with the case. Bosch plays a tiny side part in the novel. Working with a co-counsel he knows well, Haller must prove his innocence to a panel of jurors who appear eager to hear what the state has to say. It’s sure to be a cutthroat trial where innocence will come second to the ability to spin tales. Haller has everything to lose as he finds himself in the hot seat, somewhere he’s not used to sitting. In conclusion, “The Law of Innocence” is a gripping legal thriller that explores themes of justice, family, and the lengths one will go to prove their innocence.

But it isn't easy to build a defence from a cell in the Twin Towers Jail in downtown Los Angeles - as an officer of the court he is an instant target. One night after leaving a party celebrating his latest courtroom triumph, Haller (who is completely sober) is pulled over by a traffic cop. He knows he hasn't violated any laws, but when the cop walks him around to the rear of the car, he sees that his rear license plate has mysteriously gone missing--hence the traffic stop. When the cop sees something dripping from the trunk, he opens the trunk and discovers the body of one of Haller's former clients who has been shot to death, apparently in the trunk. Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.

The only criticism is the ending, it’s a little too deus ex machina. I was only quasi-satisfied but that might just be me expecting more from one of my favorite authors.I am amazed at how prolific a writer Michael Connelly is. This is the second novel he has published during 2020, and he had produced at least one book a year for the last twenty years or so. What is more, that productivity is not achieved at the cost of quality; this latest offering is up to his customary high standard.