The LAW OF INNOCENCE, Michael Connelly

The LAW OF INNOCENCE, 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 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.

Synopsis
The Law of Innocence follows defense attorney Mickey Haller, who finds himself on the wrong side of the law when he’s pulled over for a broken taillight. Police discover a corpse in the trunk of his Lincoln—his former client, Sam Scales, a con artist Mickey had successfully defended years earlier. Mickey is arrested and charged with murder.

Operating from jail, Mickey must mount his own defense while navigating the challenges of being an incarcerated attorney. He assembles his trusted team, including investigator Cisco and his ex-wife Maggie McPherson, now a prosecutor, to prove his innocence. The evidence against him is damning: the body was in his car, and Sam had recently threatened to expose Mickey for allegedly helping him evade justice.

As Mickey investigates from behind bars, he uncovers a complex conspiracy. Sam Scales had been involved in a sophisticated financial fraud scheme, and his murder was orchestrated to silence him and frame Mickey simultaneously. The case becomes a race against time as Mickey fights to maintain his law license, his freedom, and his reputation.

The story explores themes of presumed innocence versus the reality of being accused, as Mickey experiences firsthand what his clients face. He must navigate a system he knows intimately but from an entirely new perspective. The novel builds to a tense courtroom climax where Mickey, representing himself, must convince a jury of his innocence while exposing the real killers and their motives.

Richard says
If you like court room drama and court proceedings, then  you will enjoy this book. Connelly delivers a nicely unfolding tale of Micky Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, being framed and charged with murder.

Connelly is excellent at keeping the story engaging and entertaining while working in legalese and legal proceedings which are authentic and based on his experience and research into the court procedures of Los Angeles, California.

Haller, normally is a defense attorney working to defend the accused. In this case, he must defend himself to the charge of murder.

Connelly does a great job of unfolding the court room action in an engaging way. He uses the legal jargon from reality, developing the story so there is suspense and tension. Will Haller win his case? The cards seem stacked up against him. Everytime his team finds a new clue, a new thread that will bring them closer to winning the case, something happens to set things back. A great tool used by Connelly to keep readers attention and curiosity about what is going to happen next.

Even more engaging is how Connelly writes about the judge on the court bench. A black woman who once was a defense attorney herself, one expects she may be biased toward the defense team But Judge Violet Warfield is not what you’d expect. She’s fair but very strong willed. Don’t cross her. Don’t use profanity in her court. Don’t cross swords with her. Any untoward addressing of the court will get you a contempt of court ruling.

Judge Warfield almost steals the show.

Needles to say, as the book reaches its final chapters, Connelly is contrived in how he closes the story. It feels artificial. It feels contrived. It feels made up…Well it is. After all it is a book.

The book is an excellent story right up to the last contrived closing. It is polished writing that will keep you turning pages and if you like court proceedings, you’re sitting in the gallery, front row seats throughout a very good story.

In short, it is an enjoyable read, a well written book that will entertain you and give you satisfaction in reading the story.