BOOK REVIEW: THE REVERSAL BY MICHAEL CONNELLY

Genre: Crime and Mystery

Published by: Orion Books (October 2010)

Pages: 400 (Hardback)

My Rating: 8.5/10

THE REVERSAL BY MICHAEL CONNELLY

About the Book:

When Mickey Haller is invited by the Los Angeles County District Attorney to prosecute a case for him, he knows something strange is going on. Mickey's a defense lawyer, one of the best in the business, and to switch sides like this would be akin to asking a fox to guard the hen-house.

But the high-profile case of Jason Jessup, a convicted child-killer who spent almost 25 years on death row before DNA evidence freed him, is an intriguing one - particularly since the DA's determination to re-charge and re-try him for the same crime seems doomed to failure.

Eager for the publicity and drawn to the challenge, Mickey takes the case, with Detective Harry Bosch on board as his lead investigator. But as a new trial date is set, it starts to look like he's been set up, with the renewed prosecution merely a tactic to prevent Jessup from successfully suing the state and county for millions of dollars.

To avoid humiliation, Mickey and Harry are going to have to dig deep into the past and find the truth about Melissa Landy and what really happened to her all those years ago.

My Thoughts:

The characters of Mickey Haller (criminal defence attorney) and Harry Bosch (Detective) are both well known to readers of Michael Connelly's other books.

But I was a little worried as I hadn't ready any of his books before and wondered if I wouldn't really know the characters by not reading them before. But I needn't have been concerned as Connelly managed to give just the right amount of back story for each so that, by the end of the book, I felt I knew them both pretty well.

The first part of the novel deals with the build up to the trial, the story of Jessup's conviction and the reasons for the re-trial, the talking to the witnesses, choosing the jurors, all of which made an interesting and steady build up to the trial.

The last part then deals with the trial itself which I thought was the most compelling and fascinating, I love court room dramas and this did not disappoint.

I also really enjoyed the way the story alternated chapters between the lst person of Mickey Haller and the 3rd person of Harry Bosch. I really got a feel of how each character was thinking and of how the characters thought of each other. It really brought a new dimension to the story.

This is a wonderful description of a judge presiding over another trial:-

Presiding over this anthill was Judge Malcolm Firestone, who sat with his head down and his sharp shoulders jutting up and closer to his ears with each passing year. His black robe gave them the appearance of folded wings and give him the overall image of a vulture waiting impatiently to dine on the bloody detritus of the justice system

This was a storyline that kept me intrigued throughout with intelligent characterisations, simply told explanations of the justice system, a couple of twists and turns scattered about, and is one of the best court room dramas I have read for a long time. Thoroughly enjoyable!

For more on Michael Connelly his website is here

Also, many thanks to Waterstones.com for sending me this book to review.

I must just add that the book I received was an uncorrected bound manuscript proof and the quoted text above may not appear exactly as quoted in the actual book.