The Lincoln Lawyer Reviews
“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.
