Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Fifth Witness/The Reversal by Michael Connelly

Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times.  He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only to see one of his clients accused of killing the banker she blames for trying to take away her home.
Mickey puts his team into high gear to exonerate Lisa Trammel, even though the evidence and his own suspicions tell him his client is guilty.  Soon after he learns that the victim had black market dealings of his own, Haller is assaulted, too--and he's certain he's on the right trail.
Despite the danger and uncertainty, Haller mounts the best defense of his career in a trial where the last surprise comes after the verdict is in.  Connelly proves again why he "may very well be the best novelist working in the United States today".

Longtime defense attorney Mickey Haller is recruited to change stripes and prosecute the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. After 24 years in prison, convicted killer Jason Jessup has been exonerated by new DNA evidence. Haller is convinced Jessup is guilty, and he takes the case on the condition that he gets to choose his investigator, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch.
Together, Bosch and Haller set off on a case fraught with political and personal danger. Opposing them is Jessup, now out on bail, a defense attorney who excels at manipulating the media, and a runaway eyewitness reluctant to testify after so many years.
With the odds and the evidence against them, Bosch and Haller must nail a sadistic killer once and for all. If Bosch is sure of anything, it is that Jason Jessup plans to kill again.

Word to the wise - don't read two books from the same series simultaneously.  Very confusing!  Dave and I read The Reversal during various roadtrips, and I listened to the audio of The Fifth Witness during a trip on my own.  The two only overlapped for a short time, but the storylines got twisted in my head like a kitten and a ball of yarn.
In spite of my confusion, they were both great stories. I'm blowing the whistle and putting the Prolific Author Rule into affect.  Michael Connelly is a fabulous author, both of these series (The Lincoln Lawyer series featuring Michael Haller, and the Harry Bosch series) are strong.  It's top-knotch mystery/thriller reading.  Go do it.

1 comment:

  1. LOL with your word to the wise advice; that could be confusing indeed! They do sound interesting though! Thanks for the review ;)

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