The Gods of Guilt, by Michael Connelly

The Book  

    Mickey Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer. In this book he is grappling with the fame his movie let loose. He now has copycats. Mickey doesn't mind, he just doesn't want to jump into the wrong Town Car, again. 

    His driver, Earl, is working off his mother's foreclosure, and it's the best pairing in Mickey's opinion. When he gets his current trial dismissed unexpectedly, he gets a chance to represent a murder, Andre La Cosse, who insists that he is actually innocent of the murder is accused of committing. Mickey askes Andre how he found him, and Mickey is surprised to find out that before the victim's death, he was recommended to the accused by the victim herself. Mickey wonders why a long term sex worker would recommend him to her digital pimp. When he figures out that the victims is one of his favorite former clients, one he hasn't seen in 7 or 8 years, her street name at the time was Glory Days, he is motivated to find out who killed her. 

But his work as a defense attorney has already cost him his first marriage and the respect of his only child, Hayley. This accused is distasteful, and he worries Hayley will never forgive him. As the case winds around, Mickey finds out that his previous work with Glory was a manipulation on her part. Even though it sent a very dangerous drug cartel leader to jail for life, they did it the wrong way. Mickey now must right the wrongs he committed, even though proving Andre didn't kill Glory will let one of the most vile cartel leaders go free. His actions--and inactions have deadly consequences, and at the end of the day, the jury, the gods of guilt, of his victims weighs heavily on his mind. 

My Thoughts

    So, I like Mickey more than I like Bosch. Despite the fact that everyone keeps calling him an asshole. Despite the fact that Mickey is unafraid to do what there is to be done to get his way. It is his service to his client, his ability to make a deal to help someone out. I, probably wrongly, find Mickey to be more compassionate and less cynical. This book wrestles with Mickey's conscious more than other titles in this series. And the end of the book, unbelievably is more violent than other legal thrillers, (here I am referencing John Grisham's oeuvre), but Connelly manages to string us along. I wish I could spend more time in this book, and perhaps that's why I will read the rest of The Lincoln Lawyer books after I finish my summer project because this pace is blistering. And while it works to get me through the Bosch books, it doesn't leave me enough time in the other titles. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

    My bad, I read this book out of order. I had not planned on picking up this book until I was out of this project, but the title stuck in my head and I picked it up anyway. The book is a first edition, which entered my library December 10, 2013. It has been well read, and is easy to hold. It has no dog ears, penciled in corrections (I kinda miss those, btw), or smudges, so it was a bit of surprise to find that one of the pages has been deeply damaged. I will report it to the circulation desk when I return the book. Since the damage doesn't affect the ability to read the book, I am hoping that the tear can be stopped so we can keep the book in our collection a bit longer. The list price of the book is $28.00

This Book                                $28.00

This Summer                         $630.84

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