Mickey Haller, aka the Lincoln Lawyer has earned his
reputation as a sleazy, scumbag lawyer.
He represents the guilty… preferably the guilty that has the cash to pay
him for his legal services. He
represents drug dealers, prostitutes, and murderers and has done it so often he
knows all the legal loopholes and courtroom tricks to placate his culpable, sometimes
unworthy clients. His office is the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car and his
associate, office manager (also his second ex-wife) and private investigator
work from home. They hold staff meetings
in abandon office buildings of foreclosure clients. A recent case gone wrong has cost Haller his
chance to be LA County Prosecutor, his relationship with his first wife and
daughter, and his self-respect. His
deceased father, also a courtroom lawyer, frequently referred to jurors as the ‘Gods
of guilt.’ Mickey has expanded the
concept to mean all the wrath that has befallen him as a result of his poor
judgment in life up until now. His life,
personal and professional, is in a shambles and he is burdened with guilt
because he knows only he is responsible.
Yet he doesn’t know how to fix it.
Then one day, Mickey is asked by Andre La Cosse, a cyber
pimp who manages websites for call girls, to represent him on a murder
charge. The victim, Gloria Dayton is a
former client of Mickey’s and had actually recommended Mickey to Andre sometime
before her death. Years earlier Mickey had
attempted to rescue the now deceased client from her world of prostitution and is
distressed to learn that Gloria had returned to a life of crime… yet another God
of guilt. Haller rationalizes away all thoughts
of conflict of interest when he learns Andre can pay in gold bullion.
As Haller and his legal team prepare to defend the
presumed guilty La Cosse, they discover he may actually be innocent. To prove that innocence Mickey must enlist
help from a cartel thug and a disbarred lawyer both currently in prison. Haller uses all his well-practiced courtroom
antics to get his ‘other-guy-did-it’ theory accepted into the trial. The theory threatens to expose a corrupt DEA
agent and a shady investigator for the District Attorney. As
more is revealed about this law enforcement team’s wrong doing, Mickey’s life hangs in balance.
He hopes his gallant rescue of this innocent man will gain him the
respect of his teenage daughter who currently thinks him a low life villain for
his chosen profession. He hopes too to
gain back his own self-respect… but at what cost? The gold bullion has long ago run out and he
has placed his life and the lives of his employees in danger.
Connelly has mastered the legal thriller genre with the
Mickey Haller character just as he mastered police procedurals with Harry
Bosch. He has a way of taking the damaged
and down trodden in society and revealing their humanity… the reader can’t help
but like them. Connelly has a knack for
making them real. For example, he
incorporates into his story that the movie Lincoln Lawyer was made about Mickey
Haller, his fictional character. As a
result the trend of lawyering from the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car has
caught on. A side street at the LA
County courthouse is filled with Town Cars parked there waiting for the owners
to return from an appearance in court… fact or fiction? Real or unreal? He makes you wonder... very clever way to create the illusion that
Mickey Haller is a real person… nicely done.
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