The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

The Lincoln Lawyer (Lincoln Lawyer, #1) (Mickey Haller, #1)

by Michael Connelly

Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defence attorney who operates out of the back of his car, a Lincoln, taking whatever cases the system throws in his path. He's 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 then the case starts to fall apart, neither the suspect nor the victim are quite who they seem - and Haller quickly discovers that when you swim with the sharks, it's easy to wind up as prey.

Read by Michael Brandon

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

2 of 5 stars

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I’m not too sure if this book should be rated 2 stars or 3; maybe if there was an option for 2 and a half I would be happy. Let’s start with the story; which was very predictable (well up into about 2/3 of the way through anyway). The characters and the story was just an annoying cliché which made it very difficult to enjoy. There is a line in the novel said by one of his ex wives said that proves just how much of a cliché this book is; "You're a sleazy defence lawyer with two ex-wives and an eight-year-old daughter and we all love you."

Getting away from the bad points; let me look at what I did like about this book. Michael Connelly is a decent writer, and he really knows how to control the pace of the story. The characters (even if typical character types) are well written and drive the story along, very well. I am grateful that I did stick with this story to the end; after the first 2/3 of the book I was ready to quit; because it was just too predictable. But I was surprised with some unexpected twists and fast paced writing the finish off the book.

The book would work well as a movie (coming soon), and I don’t mind wasting an hour and half on a predictable story full of cliché characters, but when it comes to a book, I want something fresh and different.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 31 March, 2011: Finished reading
  • 31 March, 2011: Reviewed