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Summary
Summary
The Lincoln lawyer's Mickey Haller and LAPD detective Harry Bosch team up in this stunning new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
Things are finally looking up for defense attorney Mickey Haller. After two years of wrong turns, he is back in the courtroom. When his famed former colleague Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits the biggest case he's ever had: defending Walter Elliot, a prominent Hollywood producer accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Haller has his hands full with Elliot, who seems more concerned about his movies than about a possible life sentence. With a key part of the defense's strategy missing, Mickey scrambles to prepare for trial, and the pressure only intensifies when he learns that Vincent's killer may be coming for him next.
Enter Harry Bosch. Determined to find Vincent's murderer, Bosch will do whatever it takes to crack the case, even if that means using Haller as bait. Flip sides of the same coin, Haller and Bosch rarely see eye to eye on the law. But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize their only choice is to work as a team.
Bringing together two of Michael Connelly's best-loved characters, THE BRASS VERDICT is the most explosive novel yet by the author the Los Angeles Times has called "our laureate, proving again that popular fiction at its best . . . is also literature."
Author Notes
Michael Connelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 21, 1956. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1980 where he majored in journalism and minored in creative writing. After graduation, he worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, specializing in the crime beat. In 1986, he interviewed survivors of a plane crash with two other reporters and the magazine story subsequently written on the crash was on the short list for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. This story led to a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After three years there, he began writing his first novel.
His first novel, The Black Echo, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for best first novel. He is the author of the Harry Bosch series, the Jack McEvoy series, and the Mickey Haller series. He has won numerous awards including the Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), Premio Bancarella Award (Italy), and the Pepe Carvalho Award (Spain).
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Arguably this country's best crime yarn spinner, Connelly has not only concocted an extremely clever plot for the second novel featuring Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller, he has included his longtime series hero Harry Bosch as a supporting player in the who- and whydunit. The one less-than-perfect ingredient on this audio version is its reader, who, unlike former Connelly interpreters Len Carriou or Dick Hill, is not quite able to match the author's noir mood naturally. Peter Giles, an actor who has appeared in enough TV detective episodes to know better, starts off trying much too hard to sound hard-boiled. Haller is a lawyer, not Mike Hammer. But as the tricky tale plays out, with Haller and Bosch on the hunt for a homicidal jury manipulator, Giles tones down the toughness and settles in on a smartly paced and considerably more satisfying delivery. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 18). (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* It hasn't gone well for L.A. lawyer Mickey Haller since the events described in The Lincoln Lawyer (2005). The recovery from being shot was slow, and the addiction to prescription drugs was worse than the recovery. But Haller has kicked the pills and is ready to practice law again when his friend and fellow attorney Jerry Vincent is murdered, and Mickey inherits all Vincent's cases, including a career-maker: the trial of a studio executive accused of killing his wife and her lover. Quickly, Mickey realizes he's caught in the middle: defending the mogul requires concealing facts that could help solve the Vincent murder. OK, Mickey's used to playing fast and loose with the cops, but the investigating officer, Harry Bosch, knows when he's being played. Careful Connelly readers will know that there's a connection between the author's two heroes, Bosch and Haller, even though this is the first time the two costarred together (see The Black Light, 1993). Connelly plays the dueling characters off against one another effectively, especially for those familiar with the previous books, but it isn't all about backstory. Like Lincoln Lawyer, this is a fine legal thriller, full of both electric courtroom scenes and fascinating behind-the-scenes stuff about the business of lawyering. Connelly is justly celebrated for his characters and his ability to create mood from the sights and sounds of L.A., but he's also a terrific plotter, and that skill is in high relief here. Essential for fans; a great read for anybody.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2008 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
When Michael ("You can call me Mickey") Haller cruised onto the scene in Michael Connelly's 2005 novel "The Lincoln Lawyer," the endearingly sleazy Los Angeles criminal defense attorney was conducting his legal practice from the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car. That made sound business sense at the time, considering his riffraff clientele and slippery work ethic. But after a humbling experience that left him close to death and addicted to painkillers, Mickey is ripe for reformation. He gets his shot at redemption in THE BRASS VERDICT (Little, Brown, $26.99) when he inherits the practice of a murdered colleague, Jerry Vincent. The big ticket in Vincent's heavy workload is the celebrity murder case of Walter Elliot, a Hollywood film executive accused of shooting his wife and her lover after surprising them trysting at his Malibu beach house. Mickey tears into the defense with breathtaking energy and professional zeal, loathing his client (who continues to hammer out movie deals in the courtroom) but fully believing in his innocence. With his taste for melodrama, Connelly makes a meal out of Mickey's antics in and out of court. If this were no more than a standard legal thriller, it would still be hard to put down. But for all the glee we might take in watching Mickey in action - psychoanalyzing the jury pool, shredding the credibility of a prosecution witness or faking civility to a powerful judge - "The Brass Verdict" is not just a conventional legal thriller but also a complicated morality play. As Mickey sees it: "Everybody lies. Cops lie. Lawyers lie. Clients lie. Even jurors lie." In his cynical view, "a trial is a contest of lies" in which the players tacitly agree to game the legal system, dispensing whatever justice is necessary to keep that system running. Since whoever killed Jerry Vincent is taking the same murderous interest in his successor, there's some justification for Mickey's dubious legal maneuvers. But that puts him on a collision course with every defense lawyer's natural enemy, the chief investigator for the prosecution - who turns out to be Harry Bosch, the brooding detective in Connelly's police procedurals. Just for the record, he lies, too. Connelly is a master of plot engineering, and he maximizes the tension between Bosch ("the man on a mission") and Mickey ("the Lone Ranger") through a series of scams and subterfuges so dangerous they could cost Mickey his life or, at the very least, his lucrative case. But after some damaging opening skirmishes, even Mickey, a maverick to the core, has to admit that "we're flip sides of the same coin." In American crime fiction, a detective is only as tough as his hometown. Just about every cop, P.I. and amateur sleuth is obligated to operate by the local rules, whether that means driving like a maniac in Los Angeles or looking like a beach bum in Miami. But Chicago is a special case, as demonstrated in Sean Chercover's novels. To be a tough guy in a city with an abiding affection for its suicidal sports teams, shady political heritage and violent criminal past, you have to be a comedian with a keen sense of irony. Ray Dudgeon, who made his debut in "Big City, Bad Blood," is a gumshoe with a high regard for the legendary humor of Chicago's scrappy newsmen, past and present. He frequents their bars, adopts their idiom, relies on their tips and often wishes he hadn't given up the game himself. Ray gets a newspaper reporter killed in TRIGGER CITY (Morrow, $23.95) when he leaks the story of a secret investigation into the sinister operations of a military contractor. For all his diligent efforts on this case, don't be surprised if his reckless behavior gets him banned from the Wise Guys Corner at the Billy Goat taproom. Archer Mayor doesn't do quaint. He might use poetic imagery to describe the austere beauty of New England's rugged mountains and snowbound villages, but as far as their crime content is concerned, his police procedurals are about as authentic as it gets. In THE CATCH (St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95), Mayor reminds us that these picturesque northern states have dangerous borders where a highway cop can be shot to death for catching a couple of drug smugglers in a speed trap. Now that Joe Gunther, the stolid hero of this series, has outgrown his police duties as a Brattleboro cop and been named field commander of Vermont's major crimes unit, we can appreciate the byzantine complexity of the multiple agencies joining forces to work on interstate crimes. Drug smuggling is a complicated business, but nowhere near as complex as mediating the turf disputes of law-enforcement agents. In "First Drop," the British novelist Zoë Sharp shipped her tough-as-boots heroine, Charlie Fox, over to America to baby-sit the bratty teenage son of a software entrepreneur. As viewed through Charlie's wondering eyes, Florida was a carnival of crassness. In "Second Shot," she returned to serve as bodyguard to a lottery millionaire in New England. New Hampshire was a frigid death trap, but very pretty. In THIRD STRIKE (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95), Charlie has relocated to New York, and some of the fun has gone out of the series. For one thing, she's so gaga about the city and so happily in love with her boyfriend that she's lost her perspective on the idiocies of American society. More detrimental, the person under her protection is her own eccentric father, which costs Charlie her critical detachment. Not to mention her sense of humor. 'Everybody lies,' says Michael Connelly's lawyer narrator. 'Cops lie. Lawyers lie. Clients lie. Even jurors lie.'
Guardian Review
Mickey Haller, who runs his legal practice from a car, is ready to get back to work after a year off recovering from a gunshot wound and an addiction to painkillers. But he gets more work than he wants when he inherits the caseload of a colleague, Jerry Vincent, who has been found dead. The cases include the forthcoming murder trial of film producer Walter Elliot, who seems strangely serene about his impending legal date. Mickey has to discover what Elliot is so smug about, and all the while the police are trying to find out who killed Vincent. Could there be a connection? The author is one of the top American crime writers, and whether you pick up one of his celebrated cop novels or a legal thriller such as this, you can be assured of an intriguing plot, decent characterisation, excellent writing and an exciting ending. Caption: article-octthrills.3 Mickey Haller, who runs his legal practice from a car, is ready to get back to work after a year off recovering from a gunshot wound and an addiction to painkillers. But he gets more work than he wants when he inherits the caseload of a colleague, Jerry Vincent, who has been found dead. - Matthew Lewin.
Library Journal Review
Mickey Haller takes the case of a Hollywood lawyer who's been murdered--and discovers that the killer is now after him. With a ten-city tour. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
