The Lincoln Lawyer - Softcover

Connelly, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752879553 ISBN 13: 9780752879550

Publisher: Orion, 2006

Synopsis

They're called Lincoln Lawyers: the bottom of the legal food chain, the criminal defence attorneys who operate out of the back of a Lincoln Town Car, taking whatever cases the system throws in their path.

Mickey Haller has been in the business a long time, and he knows just how to work it. When a Beverly Hills rich boy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Haller has his first high-paying client in years. The evidence mounts on the defence's side, and Haller might even be in the rare position of defending a client who is actually innocent.

But when his case starts to fall apart and neither the suspect nor the victim are quite who they seem, Haller quickly discovers that when you swim with the sharks, it's easy to wind up as prey.

About this title

Review:

It's always good to welcome a Michael Connelly novel, and The Lincoln Lawyer is a strong addition to the Connelly bookshelf. This stand-alone legal thriller has all the adroit plotting and no-nonsense prose that are Connelly's trademarks, with a particularly strong protagonist.

In the hierarchy of American lawyers, ‘Lincoln lawyers’ are not held in the highest esteem. These are criminal defence attorneys who run their practices from a travelling Lincoln car, traversing the county of Los Angeles to hoover up whatever work is available, however basic. Connelly's tarnished hero is Mickey Heller, who has fine-tuned this less-than-impressive side of the legal profession to such a degree that few can match him: he knows all the ins and outs of the system, including precisely who to slip a back-hander to when appropriate. But Mickey finds a way to move upmarket when he acquires a well-heeled client. A rich young man from Beverly Hills has been arrested for savagely assaulting a woman, and the case falls in Mickey's lap. And though the lawyer is used to defending clients who are guilty as sin, it actually looks (for once) that his client is innocent. But Lincoln lawyers like Mickey are fully aware of the lottery that is their profession, and he isn't too surprised when the case goes pear-shaped. But (to his dismay) Mickey slowly learns that neither his client nor the victim in the case is quite what they seem to be, and soon there's a lot more than a penny-ante case at stake, with Mickey's life quite as much at risk as any reputation he might have.

Connelly fans (an ever-growing army) will be pleased to hear that all the customary traits are fully on offer here, with one key component even more finely honed than usual: the gritty, idiomatic dialogue, which is richer and more entertaining than usual. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

The first legal thriller from Detective Harry Bosch creator Michael Connelly is a knockout ... Oozing hard-boiled Los Angeles attitude both in the car and in the courtroom, Mickey's a treat (TIME OUT)

There are moments of real tension, before Connelly, the master storyteller, comes up with a solution worthy of John Grisham. A fine start to a welcome new series (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

A legal thriller may be a new departure for Michael Connelly, but it has all the hallmarks that have rightly made his Harry Bosch books so popular: credible characters, skilful scene-setting, a gripping plot and utter authenticity (EVENING STANDARD)

Potent, stand-alone thriller ... Brilliantly plotted and played out, with court scenes which winch up the tension to breaking point. New territory for Connelly, author of the peerless Harry Bosch series, but immediately expert, exciting and absorbing. Connelly writes the kind of book that dares you to put it down. Chances are that you won't. Too much is likely to happen while you leave it unattended (LITERARY REVIEW)

THE LINCOLN LAWYER is a pitch-perfect LA noir legal thriller that proves what I've been thinking for a long time now, that Michael Connelly is one of the very best writers working today in any genre. A modern Raymond Chandler for what he calls 'the world without truth' (Carlos Ruiz Zafon SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

The thriller of the year (THE MIRROR)

It's the final Richard & Judy Book Club selection of the season ... With typical perspicacity, they've chosen The Lincoln Lawyer ... Quite right too.Connelly writes some of the most enjoyable crime fiction (David Sexton EVENING STANDARD)

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0752879553
• ISBN 13: 9780752879550
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432