There’s a sense of proficiency in
the detective writing of the prolific Michael Connelly.  He is a one-man factory, and several of his
novels have been reviewed on Metapsychology in the past.  Connelly writes well enough to keep you
interested, but you really shouldn’t expect to be challenged by his
novels.  The blurb on the back of the
audiobook, calling him "today’s Dostoyevsky of crime literature" is
laughable.  It would be generous to call
him today’s Agatha Christie of crime literature.  Christie churned out her novels too, and most of them were not
particularly original, but her works had a great deal more charm than
Connelly’s do. 

In the present piece under
consideration, the hero is a tough and devious Los Angeles criminal defense
lawyer, Mickey Haller.  He is a pretty
stock character, unusual only for his liking of rap music, in a well known
setting updated a little to accommodate cell phones and global positioning
systems.  Haller is able to get his
clients off even when the police seem to have watertight cases against
them.  He often knows that he is
defending the guilty, and although everyone has a right to a defense, Haller is
more interested in money than truth. 
Haller narrates the book, and shows himself to be a hard-bitten
detective with a sense of justice buried beneath all his bluster.  He has two ex-wives and a daughter he should
make more effort to spend time with. 
Yet he also lives the high life and spends most of his time consorting
with prostitutes, murderers and other criminals.  He hasn’t had a high-paying case for a few years, and so he is
eager to get a big profile case.

So he does not hesitate when he is
asked to defend a real estate broker Louis Roulet, accused of trying to kill a
prostitute.  The man was found with the
woman’s blood all over his hands.  He
insists he has been set up, and Haller agrees to defend him, especially because
Roulet is from a wealthy family, "Beverly Hills money."  The story builds up to Roulet’s court case,
by which time Haller has found that appearances cover a much darker
reality.  Quelle surprise. 

Despite the lack of originality,
Connelly gets the job done.  The story
moves along quickly; minor characters who make appearances near the start of
the book turn out to be important later on; and there are plenty of details
about court practices and obscure laws that seem pretty convincing.  None of the characters are deeply
characterized, but they are sketched quickly and skillfully.  In the unabridged audiobook, Adam Grupper
brings life to the text, making Haller his own, and doing well with the
different accents and voices.  Good
enough. 

© 2005 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island, and editor
of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Fiction