Michael Connelly has accomplished a rather remarkable feat in this his 38th Harry Bosch/Mickey Haller book.  He’s kept it fresh, exciting, and surprising.  He’s done that over the years with a combination of creative stories and plots, vivid characters, lively settings, and just plain damn good writing.  By having his characters age in real time (Bosch began as a young detective and is now an aging, retired investigator), and by introducing new primary characters to accompany Bosch (e.g. Mickey Haller, Renee Ballard, his daughter, Maddie now an LA cop), he’s kept this reader’s interest over more than 2 decades.

This novel is one of the Lincoln Lawyer books, so called because Mickey Haller works out of his Lincoln Town Car, and features Haller in the starring role.  Having exonerated a man who had been accused of murder and had been serving a life sentence without parole, Haller becomes focused on his own version of the Innocence Project and assigns Bosch to review requests from inmates for his help.  Bosch finds a promising case, Lucinda Sanz who has pleaded nolo to the murder of her husband, a sheriff’s deputy.  The novel follows Haller and Bosch as they build a case for habeas corpus and the release of Sanz, and it’s a twisting, complex path. In an unusual authorial twist, Connelly switches from first person narrative by Haller to third person in the chapters about Bosch.  Worked for me after I finally figured out who was the “I” in the Haller chapters.

One of the bonuses in the Bosch books is his love of jazz, and every book provides me with at least one new jazz artist (e.g. Frank Morgan) or new album (e.g. Miles Davis) to run down and listen to.  Fortunately, Bosch is not a big reader, so there are no book recommendations.

This book was one of those that I couldn’t put down and when I occasionally did during the 48 hours it took me to consume the 405 pages, I couldn’t wait to get back to it.  The book ends with Haller thinking about how the eponymous resurrection walk, the moment when the innocent accused can walk from confinement to freedom is what he wants to experience again in the future.  Look for more Lincoln Lawyer novels with this theme.

Tense and addictive, Connelly has written another winner. Don’t miss it.