The Law of Innocence
Synopsis of The Law of Innocence
“The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.”
The most importan case of his life. Only this time the defendant is himself.
Heading home after winning his latest case, defense attorney Mickey Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.
Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.
Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.
With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.
But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence…
Synopsis taken from Amazon
Review of The Law of Innocence, by Michael Connelly
As always, and with the Mickey Haller novels, hats off to Michael Connelly.
They’re the best legal thrillers I’ve ever read. Since I read the first of the series, The Lincoln Lawyer, I was hooked and it was worth it.
This first novel was adapted into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey and it’s a very, very good adaptation. One of the best I’ve seen in terms of book adaptations for the screen.
All the novels starring Haller are good, but The Law of Innocence is the one I liked the most since The Lincoln Lawyer.
As everything by Michael Connelly is translated sooner or later, I hope that The Law of Innocence won’t take too long.
Meanwhile, I highly recommend it, so that you’re prepared to read it as soon as it’s translated.
In The Law of Innocence, the defendant is Haller himself. And of course he defends himself, with the help of his regulars and his half-brother, Harry Bosch.
Bosch is the protagonist of Michael Connelly’s main series, but I don’t like his novels as much as Haller’s. It’s just that I’m a huge fan of legal thrillers.
As I have already reviewed on occasion, the other great author of this type of novel, from my point of view, is Steve Cavanagh with his protagonist Eddie Flynn. But they’ve only translated one novel by Cavanagh, as far as I know.
The legal procedures are impeccable, but what’s most striking in all the novels is Haller’s mind. You see how he thinks, how he anticipates the prosecutor or the defendants he defends, who, on some occasion, deserve to go to prison, but always fighting to get the verdict of not guilty. After that, he’ll take care of whatever is necessary.
Innocence vs. Not guilty
In this case, he doesn’t doubt the innocence of the accused, of course. And he’ll fight, not to get the verdict of not guilty, but to be exonerated as innocent.
This, it seems, is a figure that doesn’t exist in the American courts of the United States. He will try to find the real culprit, as it’s the only way to be exonerated without any doubt.
He’s facing a prosecutor who is, from my point of view, a bit hysterical and with a fixation on his guilt that isn’t normal. But when he needs it, his ex-wife, who’s also a prosecutor, takes a leave of absence to help him.
Something that caught my attention is that it’s the first novel I read in which the coronavirus pandemic is mentioned. Although, on some occasions, it seems that it was added afterwards or just before finishing the novel.
I’m not going to say anything else about The Law of Innocence, only that the suspense is maintained until the very end, without the future of the lawyer being clear.
I hope Connelly doesn’t take too long to write the next novel with Haller as the lead.