Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 11 hours and 35 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Audible.com Release Date: October 5, 2010
Whispersync for Voice: Ready
Language: English
ASIN: B0045XYP0O
Best Sellers Rank: #5 in Books > Audible Audiobooks > Mysteries & Thrillers > Legal Thrillers #95 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Legal #1340 in Books > Audible Audiobooks > Fiction & Literature
Michael Connelly brings together criminal defense attorney Michael (Mickey) Haller and his half-brother, the cynical and battle-scarred LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, in "The Reversal." Mickey calls himself "the defender of the damned," a job he has had for over twenty years. "During that time," he states, "I'd grown a suspicion and distrust of prosecutors and police...." Still, the L. A. District Attorney convinces Mickey to go over to the dark side as an independent special prosecutor in the second trial of Jason Jessup. The defendant has already spent twenty-four years in San Quentin for abducting and strangling twelve-year-old Melissa Landy. Over the last two decades, Jessup filed numerous motions and appeals while steadfastly proclaiming his innocence. Much to his delight, the California Supreme Court reversed his conviction and sent the case back to Los Angeles County "for either retrial or dismissal of the charges." Against his better judgment, Mickey agrees to take the case, partly because it will give him an opportunity to work with his ex-wife, deputy district attorney Maggie McPherson, and Harry Bosch, who will be their investigator.Jessup has a groundswell of support from the liberal media and an organization of lawyers known as the Genetic Justice Project. Although the physical evidence against Jessup may be a bit shaky, Melissa's sister, Sarah, who was thirteen when the murder occurred, vehemently stands by her eyewitness identification of Jessup as Melissa's abductor. However, Sarah has a history of drug abuse and run-ins with the law which the defense will undoubtedly exploit in an attempt to discredit her.This is one of Connelly's most suspenseful and involving legal thrillers in years.
I like Michael Connolly's writing. Detective Harry Bosch is among the leading characters of the genre, having been developed over the course of many novels; however, in Reversal, Bosch becomes part of an ensemble cast, his becomes a supporting role. Reversal's protagonist is Mickey Haller, a veteran of two prior books--a character not yet nearly as completely drawn and therefore lacking the complexity of Detective Bosch. The story of the re-trial of a child murderer, the reversal of whose conviction gives its name to the tale, Reversal has as much to say about the importance of good police work as the nature of justice as served by our legal system.This is a legal fantasy novel. Sure, the author has researched his stuff and he is (largely) correct on the procedure but it comes together in a way that only happens in fiction. No explanations here because that would spoil the read, however, I note that Connolly anticipates incredulity by offering it up through other characters in the story. Law lends itself to fiction because it allows for a life and death drama to be played out in a systematic fashion--most of us have been jurors, after all. Being a lawyer, albeit a civil lawyer, perhaps I am only noticing that which has been apparent to police detectives throughout the Bosch series--real life is never so neatly resolved. Reversal represents a confluence of a number of rare events, a combination of events not often encountered in the singular much less the plurality evident in this story.
The Reversal: Harry Bosch, Book 16 (Mickey Haller, Book 3) The Fifth Witness (Mickey Haller) The Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller) Mickey Mouse and His Spaceship (Disney: Mickey Mouse) (Little Golden Book) Welcome to the Show: A Mickey Tussler Novel, Book 3 (The Mickey Tussler Series) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Whose Birthday Is It? (Disney's Mickey Mouse Club) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey's Halloween The Legend of Mickey Tussler: A Novel (Mickey Tussler Novel) The Reversal (A Lincoln Lawyer Novel) The Reversal The Last Coyote: Harry Bosch Series, Book 4 The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1 The Concrete Blonde: Harry Bosch Series, Book 3 The Black Ice: Harry Bosch Series, Book 2 The Wrong Side of Goodbye: A Harry Bosch Novel, Book 19 The Drop: Harry Bosch, Book 17 Angels Flight: A Harry Bosch Novel The Wrong Side of Goodbye (A Harry Bosch Novel) Michael Connelly CD Collection 1: The Black Echo, The Black Ice (Harry Bosch Series) Michael Connelly CD Collection 2: The Concrete Blonde, The Last Coyote, Trunk Music (Harry Bosch Series)