The Law of Innocence - Michael Connelly

THE NEW LINCOLN LAWYER NOVEL OUT 10TH NOVEMBER

Highly enjoyable entry into the Mickey Haller universe with guest appearances by half-brother, Harry Bosch.

Ordinarily with Haller stories, he is facing down the law on the side of the victim, chasing for clues and crooked cops as he seeks justice for the person he is defending and sometimes those he defend are not all they seem.

In this new story from the prolific Connelly, Mickey - the famous Lincoln Lawyer so well adapted in the 2011 thriller directed by Brad Furman and written for the screen by John Romano, and famously portrayed by the smooth-talking Matthew McConnaughey - is himself charged with murder after a routine traffic stop finds a body in his trunk, one that Mickey cannot explain but as the victim is a former client of his who owed him money it gets all a bit convoluted. 

The book descends into more a courtroom tussle, and puts Mickey in a difficult situation. He has to prove that he is not innocent just not guilty which is the law within the courtroom, he is worried that his professional career will suffer if he is not properly acquited and wishes an apology from the court and District Attorney if possible. Constantly the law of innocence is asked as Mickey staves off the first degree murder charges against him.

                                  

The swiftness of plot and effortless character arc and narrative is second to none; the inclusion of Bosch is deliberate but not overbearing, as a secondary character from his own universe may overtake proceedings but Bosch serves as an important part of Mickey's defence team to seek the truth.

I spent the whole time with the voices of Matthew McConnaughey and Titus Weliver in my head; this would be a tale ripe for adaptation - and Connelly makes it very much of the here and now with the tale taking place over November 2019 to March 2020 with the threat and worry over a possible pandemic incoming to the populus of Los Angeles, with little touches such as people wearing masks and general unknowingness of an impending doom.

As a fan of Connelly's work and the Amazon Prime original series Bosch this is thoroughly enjoyable fare of the highest order from a writer working at full speed and the top of his game.

The Law of Innocence is published on November 10th from Orion Books

Fair Warning - Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly returns with a new gripping thriller for the page turner this Summer.

Connelly the writer behind Harry Bosch, returns with another character he has written before - Jack McEvoy; a journalist for a consumer website who is on the hunt for a serial killer of women.

McEvoy himself has his baggage, a broken relationship with his love who was his source and she lost her job for that, to save him jail time.

Connelly as ever is in the Los Angeles setting as his milieu and playground; traversing from Downtown to Hollywood to Pasadena to Cedars Senai. These landmarks are all prevalent in our minds eye so a well read reader will be able to picture most of the action, it is down to Connelly to keep us entertained.

That he does in bundles as McEvoy has to combat two policemen who have it in for him as a suspect when a body pops up not far from McEvoy. That sets in motion the wheels for the narrative of a story that involves genetics and genealogy as the plot revolves around women with broken history looking for a link for their past which they believe to be an answer in their own DNA, using those online DNA profiling.

The twist is that the dark web gets ahold of this private information, and then sell it to women-hating cell groups who then pick off women who are risky propositions and then easy targets for a serial killer.

McEvoy untangles this dark web of intrigue and uncovers a conspiracy involving unsavoury characters whose motives are nothing but welcoming, culminating in a showdown with the character calling himself 'The Shirke' so named after a carnivorous bird, a man who believes himself to be atop of the flighted food chain.

Connelly cleverly writes his narrative to build McEvoy as both an investigator but also the fear of being a suspect, and how closely the police work with the awareness and fear themselves of making mistakes a theme familiar to viewers of the Bosch television series.

As ever, Connelly writes with a swiftness and clarity which is refreshing as ever and will be enjoyed by old and new fans alike. One of the world's best thriller writers has done it again.

Fair Warning is out now on all formats.

We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker

 

New novel by Chris Whitaker released by Zaffre Books in April 2020

For some people, trouble just finds them.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Review
Whitaker does a great job of writing a thriller that reaches for the heights of American novella, the dual narrative structure of each chapter which takes us into the point of view of wither Walk (Chief Walker), the local sheriff who seeks to find answers to another murder in Cape Haven and the other side of the coin is the story of Duchess being displaced in Montana following the murder of her mother, Star.

Walk is one of those great American idealists like Atticus Finch and others, someone who seeks to do the hard work but overshadowed by past errors and the ill health that is befalling him at this vital stage of his investigation.

Duchess is written as a tough cookie of a young girl, who will not take any rubbish from anyone to fight her corner and protect her brother Robin, like her Mum, Star, did for them.

You have this contrast of a coming of age novel, and for Walk a coming to the end which is a unique take on two different paths for two lead protagonists.

This book was a pleasant one to read, the swiftness and nimbleness of the plot pays off dividends once the action is ramped up. The utilisation of Montana and the grandfather, Hal, who portrays the stillness of that landscape in contrast to the mayhem of California.

Whitaker paints a world that is both of now and from a timeless period - the Montana scenes read like something from a Richard Ford novel while the murkiness of California reads like a Michael Connolly story.  All the more staggering considering that Whitaker was born in London, he writes of America as good as any author I can recall.

Recommended for those who require to be whisked away from this mad mad world.

We Begin At The End is published by Zaffre Books on 2nd April.
My thanks to Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to review on the blogtour.