Get a special look inside Michael Connelly’s novel, The Lincoln Lawyer.
This 3:40 video opens with scenes from Robert Altman’s movie adaptation of The Long Goodbye, the Raymond Chandler novel that inspired Michael Connelly to become a writer.
“Michael Connelly is as fully at home in the world of a criminal defense lawyer as he has always been in the realm of investigators and cops. All the qualities that have deservedly brought him a legion of readers are on display again here: brisk pacing, clever twists, artful writing and an atmosphere of complete authority on every page. Another terrific book from a terrific writer.”
— Scott Turow, author
“It’s always good to welcome a Michael Connelly novel, and The Lincoln Lawyer is a strong addition to the Connelly bookshelf. This stand-alone legal thriller has all the adroit plotting and no-nonsense prose that are Connelly’s trademarks, with a particularly strong protagonist. …Connelly fans (an ever-growing army) will be pleased to hear that all the customary traits are fully on offer here, with one key component even more finely honed than usual: the gritty, idiomatic dialogue, which is richer and more entertaining than usual.”
— Barry Forshaw, Amazon.co.uk, Editorial Review
“Fans of Connelly’s previous Harry Bosch novels will find The Lincoln Lawyer even more compelling — since Haller happens to be Bosch’s half brother and, according to sources, there is a sequel in the works that includes the maverick former LAPD detective! Like its luxury-auto namesake, The Lincoln Lawyer is a sumptuous thriller that excels in every measurable category: plot complexity, character development, pacing, intensity, etc. It is, quite possibly, Connelly’s best yet.”
— Paul Goat Allen, Barnes And Noble, Editorial Review
Veteran bestseller Connelly enters the crowded legal thriller field with flash and panache. …After Connelly spends the book’s first half involving the reader in Mickey’s complex world, he thrusts his hero in the middle of two high-stakes duels, against the state and his own client, for heart-stopping twists and topflight storytelling.”
— Publishers Weekly, * Starred Review
“This is the first legal thriller for Connelly, author of the best-selling series featuring Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch and winner of every major prize in crime fiction. It has all the right stuff: a sinuous plot, crisp dialogue and a roster of reprehensible characters…
—Allison Block, Booklist, * Starred Review
“Fresh from returning Harry Bosch to the LAPD with The Closers (2005), veteran crime novelist Connelly offers intrigue and bracing twists in his first legal thriller. …Connelly gets the legal details and maneuvers just right and Haller is a great character — world weary but funny and likable — he’s never met an angle he couldn’t play or a corner he couldn’t cut. Contains everything readers have come to expect from powerhouse Connelly. Bonus: Additional installments hold the intriguing possibility of one day seeing Bosch and Haller together on the streets of L.A.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Best-selling author Michael Connelly, whose character-driven literary mysteries have earned him a wide following, breaks from the gate in the over-crowded field of legal thrillers and leaves every other contender from Grisham to Turow in the dust with this tightly plotted, brilliantly paced, impossible-to-put-down novel. …While Mickey’s courtroom pyrotechnics dazzle, his behind-the-scenes machinations and manipulations are even more incendiary in this taut, gripping novel, which showcases all of Connelly’s literary gifts. There’s not an excess sentence or padded paragraph in it—what there is, happily, is a character who, like Harry Bosch, deserves a franchise series of his own.”
— Jane Adams, Amazon.com Editorial Review
“Harry Bosch is the hard-boiled, world-weary cop at the center of many of Michael Connelly’s crime novels. He is tough, brooding and dogged, an appealing noir character. So Harry has always looked like a hard act to follow. He’ll look that way until Monday, when “The Lincoln Lawyer” introduces the bottom-feeding attorney Mickey Haller to Mr. Connelly’s devotees. …He’s as hot a franchise as any mystery writer could hope for. …The book is haunted by Mickey’s worst nightmare: the thought of having to defend an innocent man. He starts out without the foggiest idea of what to do with someone like that. But by the end of the story an Honest Abe conscience has begun to kick in. That’s when Mickey becomes a Connelly character through and through.”
— Janet Maslin, New York Times
“Michael Connelly has the guts of a burglar, a genuine love for justice, and a wry sense of humor rarely present in his books about LAPD detective Harry Bosch. But his newest – a legal thriller introducing a criminal defense lawyer of the type we all love to hate – is not only brave and intensely gripping but also often very funny. …A smashing conclusion, with echoes of “Presumed Innocent” and “Witness For the Prosecution,” gives “The Lincoln Lawyer” extra stature and suspense. Connelly has stepped up to the plate in the overflowing ballpark of legal thrillers and blasted a grand slam his first time at bat.”
— Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
“Michael Connelly’s new standalone is being touted as a legal thriller, but only the last fifth or so of the novel is set squarely in the courtroom. The Lincoln Lawyer is more accurately described as a psychological thriller and an escalating game of gotcha between the titular attorney and his increasingly menacing client. ….the former reporter brings a convincing wealth of detail to his so-called “legal thriller.” The dialogue pops and Mickey’s spiky exchanges with the private investigators, cops and clients passing through his life sizzle.”
— CrimeSpree Magazine
“It would be easy to compare “The Lincoln Lawyer” to John Grisham’s legal thrillers, but it would also be unfair. Connelly is not content to take one-dimensional characters and set them in motion in a page-turning plot. He reveals Haller’s personal demons as he struggles to deal with a failed marriage and a daughter he rarely sees. In the end, Connelly has created a most unusual character: a lawyer who’s sympathetic.”
— Don O’Briant, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Normally I am not a fan of the legal thriller. The novels tend to have standard, formula plots and lets face it, books about lawyers are usually boring. But it should come as no surprise to fans of Mr. Connelly that The Lincoln Lawyer is outstanding and impossible to put down. …Connelly makes The Lincoln Lawyer a thriller on many levels with great insight into how the legal system works in LA. Michael’s novels are the state of the art and do not miss this one, the start of a new series.”
— Richard Katz, Mystery One Bookstore
“The Lincoln in question is one of a fleet in which Mickey Haller rides while doing business on the sleazier side of L.A. law. What’s amazing about Michael Connelly is how much he continues to learn about the art of narrative from book to book. Each one is better than the last. And this one is — pardon me — a real Cadillac.”
— Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly, Best Books of 2005
“…Connelly presents a fascinating look at how defense lawyers below the Johnnie Cochran level operate—as well as a compelling mystery that has more sudden turns than Mulholland Drive.”
— Entertainment Weekly
“”Lincoln Lawyer” is Connelly’s first try at a legal thriller – a wildly popular genre of mostly trashy, badly written books filled with cardboard characters. It is a genre in which his talent immediately stands out. …it’s a page-turner. …”Lincoln Lawyer” has the look of what could be the first book in a series featuring Mickey Haller. And, since Connelly has chosen to make Haller and Bosch distant relatives, don’t be surprised if lawyer and cop eventually end up in the same book, working opposite sides of the street in what Mickey calls “a world without truth.”
— Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press
“Beware of picking up Michael Connelly’s “The Lincoln Lawyer.” You won’t want to put it down until you’ve navigated its rapids to the end. …Entangled in Haller’s imbroglios, you’ll find yourself reading far into the night. That’s the trouble with this book: It grips and holds.”
— Eugen Weber, Los Angeles Times
“Connelly, author of the best-selling Harry Bosch police procedurals, proves he can handle even the legal thriller genre with this intricate and cynical look into the criminal justice system.”
— Jeff Ayers, Library Journal
“”The Lincoln Lawyer” smokes with intrigue as Connelly makes himself at home – and welcome – in another genre.”
—Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News
“Is there nothing Michael Connelly can’t do? After taking ownership of police procedurals with his Harry Bosch series, Connelly tries his hand at a Scott Turow-style legal thriller. And he nails it. …Connelly’s work has it all — sharply drawn, engaging characters, snappy dialogue and a plot that moves like a shot of Red Bull. As with Turow, he also understands that a good legal thriller is primarily about the law, not lawyers acting like crime-fighters. It’s amazing how many authors seem to forget that.”
—David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle
“The Lincoln Lawyer is Connelly’s first legal thriller and is one of the best novels he has written, if not the best.”
— Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
“Mr. Connelly instead delivers a murder mystery that’s easy to digest in a single sitting. Just like a last meal!”
— Gregg Braverman, Maxim
“It’s Connelly at the top of his game, with a plot as solid as cast iron and a crew of lively characters headed by a compelling narrator.”
— Adam Woog, The Seattle Times
“Fans of Michael Connelly’s police mysteries will find his switch to legal thrillers just as satisfying in The Lincoln Lawyer.”
— Parade Magazine, Parade Pick
“What happens in those final pages, as well as all the pages leading up to them, has the ring of truth. It’s not a pretty story, but the world in which Mickey Haller works isn’t a pretty place. Michael Connelly knows it all too well and writes about it with chilling authority. He’s not a “genre” novelist but the real thing, taking us into parts of the real America that most of our novelists never visit because they don’t even know where, or what, they are.”
— Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
“Many a series sleuth has been sidelined by a gut shot so an author can wander off and explore a new genre. Sometimes all that results is a cookbook, but every so often that literary leap produces something remarkable, like Michael Connelly’s first legal thriller, THE LINCOLN LAWYER. Mastering the form on his first try, Connelly delivers a powerhouse drama fueled by cynicism and driven by a criminal defense lawyer named Michael Haller (“People call me Mickey”) who works for the scum of the earth and makes no apologies.”
— Marilyn Stasio, New York Times
The Lincoln Lawyer made the following Best Of Lists:
USA Today, Best Whodunit of 2005
Toronto Globe & Mail, Margaret Cannon, Top Dozen Titles Of 2005
Amazon.com, Best Books of 2005, Top 10 Editors’ Picks: Mystery & Thrillers
Christian Science Monitor, Best Books of 2005
People Magazine, 10 Great Reads, 2005
Entertainment Weekly. Stephen King’s Favorites of 2005
Chicago Tribune, “Best of 2005” Mysteries & Thrillers
Kansas City Star, Top Mysteries & Thrillers, 2005
Kansas City Star, “Cream of the Crop” Top 10, 2005
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Oline Cogdill, Best Mysteries of 2005
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Best of 2005”
Seattle Times, Top 10 Thrillers of 2005
New York Sun, Otto Penzler, “Best of 2005”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Best of 2005
London Mirror, Thriller of the Year
Bookspan’s Best Of 2005, Best Suspense
The Lincoln Lawyer was nominated for the following awards:
The Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award, Nominee for Best Novel of 2005
2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist (Mystery/Thriller Category)
The Richard & Judy Show Best Read of the Year Nominee, the British Book Awards
Mystery Ink’s Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of 2005, Nominee
The Crime Writers’ Association’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, Nominee
The Lincoln Lawyer won the following awards:
The Mystery Readers International’s Macavity Award for Best Novel
The Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel
The Jack Reacher Award from CrimeSpree Magazine, given out to the book they recommended to more people than anything else — a book that everyone would enjoy.
Michael Connelly “Interviews” Harry Bosch (2005)
The following interview between Michael Connelly and Harry Bosch took place on March 25, 2005 in a Hollywood Boulevard cyber café called the Frontal Lobe. As is Bosch’s usual practice, he insisted that the interview be taped, transcribed and presented without editing.
3/25/05 1:21 p.m.
Connelly: Okay, we’re recording.
Bosch: This is the same place you interviewed me in last time, isn’t it?
Connelly: Yeah, I think so. About three years ago. Why? You don’t like it?
Bosch: I don’t know. All these computers . . . sort of makes me feel like General Custer at the last stand or something.
Connelly: Surrounded by the enemy, huh?
Bosch: It’s just not my style, I guess.
Connelly: Well, we don’t have to do it here. You want to go to Musso’s? We could walk over there.
Bosch: No, you don’t go to Musso’s for coffee. And it’s too early for a martini.
Connelly: Especially now that you are back on the force. You have that responsibility that comes with carrying a badge again.
Bosch: Something like that.
Connelly: That’s what I wanted to get into. You left the department three years ago — in fact, that’s what we talked about last time. But now you are back. How and why?
Bosch: The how is the easy part. The department has a policy of hiring detectives back if it is within three years of retirement. I was sort of reminded of it at the right moment and I applied for reinstatement. Here I am.
Connelly: And the why?
Bosch: That’s a little complicated and hard to put into words.
Connelly: I heard that you told your partner that you started limping and you realized you were out of balance because you weren’t used to walking without a gun on your hip.
Bosch: I did say that but that was probably because I couldn’t put the answer in to the right words.
Connelly: What about now?
Bosch: Well, if you start with the belief that I have a certain talent and purpose in this life, then you see that by going back to the department I put myself in a position to make the best of both. What I am saying is that I made a mistake when I retired. I left Hollywood Division after a particularly difficult and frustrating case. I walked out with a box of files from open cases and I thought I would spend the rest of my days working on them and I would be satisfied.
Connelly: I think I understand. Did you—
Bosch: Actually, satisfied is the wrong word. Did you ever see that move Ride the High Country? It’s one of Peckinpah’s first flicks — I mean I think it was — and anyway at one point the main character says that all he wanted out of life was to be able to come home justified. That’s not the direct quote. I can’t remember the direct quote. But that’s what he was saying. At the end of the day, he wanted to walk through the front door justified.
Connelly: So what you are saying is that you want to be justified . . .
Bosch: Yeah, every man and woman wants to be justified in how they live and what they do and in what they believe. And I wasn’t feeling that anymore. I solved a few of those cases I took home with me when I walked out but I didn’t feel justified in what I was doing. You see, I told you, it’s hard to explain.
Connelly: Justified . . .
Bosch: Yeah . . .
Connelly: When did you see this movie?
Bosch: Oh, way back. That was the Sanctuary.
Connelly: Sanctuary? What is that?
Bosch: It was a military hospital boat. I was on it in the South China Sea. This is like thirty-five years ago. I got wounded in a tunnel in Cu Chi and I was on the Sanctuary for about three weeks recovering. They showed movies almost every night out on the deck. They’d put up a screen and turn on the projector. It was mostly stuff that was a few years old, at least. And that’s when I saw Ride the High Country. That line about being justified, a lot of us on that boat took it to heart.
Connelly: So your life is about being justified and that’s what brought you back to the force.
Bosch: My life is about a lot of things, just like with anybody else. But I found that when I quit the force and was working cases on my own that I was still missing something.
Connelly: Well, you said that you solved a few cases while you were retired. Didn’t you feel justified in that?
Bosch: I did but it wasn’t the same. I felt like I was doing it for myself, like I was putting myself ahead of the mission.
Connelly: I don’t understand.
Bosch: That’s what I am telling you. It is hard to understand. I’m not sure I understand it myself. All I know is that I was working cases without a badge and it somehow seemed selfish. I was being self-indulgent. I felt like the boy who takes his football home with him because he’s not getting enough passes. He takes the ball home with him and it ruins the game for everybody. Working cases from home wasn’t the best use of my…
Connelly: Skills?
Bosch: Sort of, but I’m not sure what the word is.
Connelly: Talent?
Bosch: No, not that.
Connelly: Your purpose?
Bosch: Yeah, that comes closest. My purpose. I know I have a purpose or a mission — and I know that sounds weird to say out loud. In fact, I don’t think I ever have before. But I have thought about it. Thought about it a lot. I have a mission in this life. A purpose. And I realized that I wasn’t serving that purpose by chucking the badge and going home with my box of files. If I was going to honor the purpose and continue the mission, I had to get back inside. And just as I was thinking about all of this a perfect opportunity came up.
Connelly: Which was the Open-Unsolved Unit?
Bosch: Exactly. There was a slot in OU and once I got there I knew I was in the right place at the right time.
Connelly: Tell me about the unit.
Bosch: We’re the closers. We close the cases nobody has been able to. The police chief and the guy who runs the unit think it’s the most important place to be in the department. Because it’s the place where we don’t forget. A city that forgets its victims isn’t a city anymore. It’s a place that’s lost. That’s what they say.
Connelly: And you believe it?
Bosch: I do.
Connelly: Well, what makes the people on this squad so special?
Bosch: Nothing other than that we all recognize the mission. But the secret to our success is not that. It’s usually science. We use forensic techniques not available back in the day that these crimes were committed and investigated.
Connelly: So it’s that techniques and technology have improved. It’s not that you are making up for incompetence in previous investigations.
Bosch: I am not going to get into criticizing former or fellow detectives. Besides, coming back as a retread I am on one year’s probation. The Chief can fire me without cause during probation. I don’t want to say something in an interview that might make him exercise that option.
Connelly: Did you just say ‘retread’?”
Bosch: That’s what they call the detectives that come back after retirement.
Connelly: That’s really endearing, isn’t it. They must love you guys.
Bosch: I never thought of it that way.
Connelly: Okay. Let’s talk about the investigations. They must be different than conducting the investigation of a contemporary murder. You know, something that is brand new.
Bosch: We call them fresh kills. And in Open-Unsolved we work old kills. Cold cases, as they used to be called, before the Chief said he didn’t like that term because cases should never go cold in the LAPD.
Connelly: Sounds like a good public relations stunt. You don’t like something, just rename it so it doesn’t offend you anymore.
Bosch: No comment.
Connelly: Right, you’re on probation.
Bosch: You got it.
Connelly: So how are the cases different?
Bosch: Well, two things really. One is you are dealing with cold trails — places and people who have changed over time. People move on. Crimes scenes get paved over. So you really have to dig harder. And the people involved are different, too. With a fresh kill you are taking and breaking the news to the family. With an old case you are seeing the long term effects that an untimely and usually violent death has on individuals and families. I’m still new at it but I think that aspect will be the single toughest burden to carry. I can tell that I get attached to these cases much more that anything before.
Connelly: So do you think you are going to stick around this time?
Bosch: As long as they’ll let me.
Connelly: And how do you feel at the end of the day when you come in through your front door?
Bosch: Like I’m riding the high country.
Connelly: Are you justified?
Bosch: Yes, I am justified.
Connelly: Good. I’m glad. And I think that’s it for now. I’ll turn the tape off. See you next ti—
End of tape.
Print these questions and use them to lead a discussion about The Closers. Spoiler Warning! This guide does address the entire book.
1. Welcome Back Roy
In Michael Connelly’s novel, The Closers, Harry Bosch rejoins the ranks of the LAPD after three years in retirement. Harry has a hard time suppressing his excitement at being back. At one point, he says to his partner, Kizmin Rider, “The point is I need the gun. I need the badge. Otherwise I’m out of balance. I need all of this.” Why do you think Harry needs to be a cop?
2. The Oldest Living Boot
The new chief of police welcomes Harry back but at the same time he warns him that he is on probation. Harry can’t screw up or he’ll be out. Later, Harry has a run in with an old adversary, Deputy Chief Irvin Irving, who also welcomes him back with a warning, calling him “a retread.” So Harry has to prove himself all over again while watching his back. What do you think Harry’s reputation is within the LAPD? What does Irving think of Harry?
3. Forget Closure
Harry’s new boss, Abel Pratt, warns him that closing cases is not the same thing as closure. He warns that there is no such thing as closure—that all the police can do is provide answers. Do you agree with that? Can there ever be closure for the victims of crime? Is justice the same thing as closure? How about revenge?
4. The Ripples
The Closers focuses on the toll of violence over time. What effect did Becky Verloren’s murder have on her mother and father? Can you think of other examples from the book that show the ripples of crime?
5. High Jingo
Throughout the book, Kizmin Rider fears that Harry’s actions will somehow backfire and hurt the chief. Do you think Kiz was dedicated to solving the case or more concerned about helping the chief? In the end, Harry thinks he was set up by the chief to bring Irving down. Is Kiz implicated in that?
6. The City Of Angels
“It was a city full of haves and have nots, movie stars and extras, drivers and the driven, predators and prey.” Michael Connelly’s novels are, in a way, a love letter to Los Angeles. They describe the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, of this “destination city.” How does he reflect that in Harry Bosch’s take on the city?
7. A Black Hole
Think about Robert Verloren’s actions at the end of the book. Do the terms justice, satisfaction, or closure apply in any way? Why do you think Harry felt guilty about Robert Verloren?
8. One Coming, One Going
Do you think Irving will just walk away? How can he get back at Harry and the chief?
9. Red Herrings
A red herring is defined as something that draws attention away from the central issue. In crime fiction, a red herring is often put there to fool or distract you. Were you fooled by anything in The Closers? Were you surprised by the killer’s identity?
The Closers audiobook by Hachette Audio is read by narrator Len Cariou. It is available in CD and in downloadable formats, in both unabridged and abridged editions, in the USA and Canada.
Listen to an excerpt:
Get a special look inside Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novel, The Closers. This 5:36 video clip opens at the LAPD’s police academy graduation ceremony. Michael then takes you on a short tour of a few of the places in Los Angeles that appear in this book and he reads an excerpt from The Closers.