Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly

The Book

Bosch is working for his half brother Mickey Haller, using his investigative eye to review cases inmates want Haller to take. Haller is famous because he cracked open a case and set an innocent man free. Bosch is doing it for the health care, Mickey got him into a clinical trail to see if his cancer can be put in remission. Haller is doing it because he loves seeing inmates take the "Resurrection Walk", a term where a person, not likely to see the outside of a prison, gets set free to return to the "Land of the Living" aka being out here with all of us. 

Bosch filters through Mickey's requests to see which cases seem most likely to get overturned on appeal. He comes across the seemingly impossible case of Lucinda "Cindy" Sanchez, who pled nolo contendere (no contest) to the charge of murdering her sheriff's deputy ex-husband. There is something in the official account that just doesn't seem to add up. No wonder she has never confessed to killing a man she clearly hated. 

Once Bosch and Mickey dig in, they find out that if Cindy was telling the truth, then there is no way she could have done it. Bosch, looking at the angle of the shots, doesn't believe Cindy did it, but how to account for the GSR (gun shot residue) test coming back positive? 

The case twists and turns, with the Bosch's cancer treatment getting in the way of his mental clarity and ability to do the job. 

Mickey, meanwhile, is picking fights with Cindy's previous lawyer, trying to be a good brother to Bosch, and just trying to figure out his life. During the hearing phase, Mickey is blindsided when the US Attorney brings in his ex-wife to cross examine Bosch. He accuses her of a low blow when she attempts to use Bosch's medical treatments against him, something she knew because they had discussed his worry about Bosch over it. Mickey tries to reassure the team, the other side is only playing dirty because they know they are losing, but he's worried. He knows and has proven his client is innocent, but the judge keeps excluding the evidence. Will the team be able to help an actually innocent client? And can they put a corrupt sheriff's deputy away? 

My Thoughts

The twists and turns of this book kept me engaged. But, I caught a series long continuity error. On a scale of 1-10 it's like a 2. And honestly, NOBODY should pay me to a continuity editor, I would totally suck at it. I'd drop the ball on tiny details, etc. 

But, Bosch was asked how he knew about Mickey, and here, Bosch gives Mickey's answer not his own. Bosch had known about Mickey since he went to see his dying father when he was a young man, 19 or 20, I think. This is covered in Bosch's memories in the book, The Last Coyote. Whereas Mickey figures out Bosch is his half brother in The Brass Verdict. I guess this is the advantage I have of having being so close to having read all of Connelly's oeuvre, is that I just know some stuff. 

In my own writing, I do try to keep these things straight, be we are all human, and I get it there are, depending on how you count them, 25 or 26 Bosch novels and 12 ish Mickey Haller novels. So the details, how they are given, get blurred. Even for an author who, at least in my case, eat, drinks, and breathes the characters and their world every single day. Some things are bound to get lost. I just happened to remember this one. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This 514 page. large print hardcover edition is off of my library's shelves. YAY! It has been gently read, with no marks or dog ears. It entered my library on November 22, 2023 and as I was caught up in my Connelly reading at that time, I spent last year on a bit of a break. But we're finishing up Connelly's novels and should be completely through all of them by the end of this year. YAY! 

Large print editions tend to be a bit difficult to find "in the wild" as those of us who are writers call books in bookstores. They can be found, and if you have a favorite indie book seller in your town, make sure to order your large print editions through them, if you can. Shop local. 

This inside jacket says this book cost $32.00. That's the number we will use. 

This Book                                                        $32.00

Items Reviewed This Year                             $484.82

Private Books

This Book                                                        $0.00

Total of Private Books                                    $44.89

Total of All Items Reviewed This Year         $549.59

Still Here? 

 I am now a published author. You can pick up a *FREE COPY* of my novella The Big Intersection here.