★ 10/05/2020
L.A. defense attorney Mickey Haller takes on the hardest case of his career in bestseller Connelly’s superlative seventh Lincoln Lawyer novel (following 2015’s The Crossing). After the body of a career con artist is found in the trunk of Haller’s Lincoln Towncar, he faces a first-degree murder rap. Opting to defend himself, Haller enlists his own legal defense team to assist. Half-brother Harry Bosch steps in to help investigate, and the unusual case leads to the port of Los Angeles and a biofuel company run by a recidivist criminal with mob ties whom Haller put away years earlier. Bosch suspects that the company is running a complex scam and double dipping on government subsidies payouts. Meanwhile, 2020 is off to a strange start with reports of a deadly virus in China that threatens to spread worldwide. The tension builds as Haller prepares for trial, and it becomes clear that he was framed by a much larger entity than he originally thought. This is a supremely intelligent, well-paced courtroom thriller by a modern master. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary. (Nov.)
" The Night Fire offers more than a few incendiary surprises."— Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times
"Connelly is the
Raymond Chandler of this generation, and readers will be studying his writing methods decades from now. He has created another novel that feels authentic on every level, and the underlying theme of mortality running through the narrative makes everything in the story more urgent."— Jeff Ayers, Associated Press
"There's something for everyone in this jam-packed plot: murder, arson, professional rivalry, salty cop talk and noisy domestic disputes that turn very ugly very quickly. Me, I go for the procedural details:
who does what and how things get done from the minute the cops on shift at the
Hollywood Division are sent to investigate a murder. Connelly is pretty much the current dean of procedural writers."— Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
"Breathless action...deep character studies... The Night Fire is Connelly's twenty first outing with Bosch, but the author has so much more to show us about him. Only three books in, Ballard has even more fodder for Connelly to uncover. In The Night Fire, Connelly again shows his mission: strong plots and sturdy characters."— Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel
"A virtuoso performance... The
Night Fire glows with the instincts and intelligence Bosch and Ballard bring to their pursuit of the truth."— Collette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
"One of the greatest crime writers of all time...Connelly continues to deliver winner after winner, year in and year out...reading one of his books is an experience unlike anything else the genre has to offer."— Ryan Steck, Crimereads
"Connelly is without peer when it comes to police procedurals, and once again proves that he's the modern master of the form."— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Remarkable narrative legerdemain...Not only has
Connelly created another fully formed series lead in Renée, who has her own fascinating backstory, but he has also forged a fascinating yin-and-yang relationship between the old school Harry and the unconventional loner
Renèe...Master chef Connelly has once again combined familiar ingredients into a new and completely satisfying dish. Connelly is on a roll, with three consecutive number-one New York Times bestsellers. Don't bet against number four."— Bill Ott, Booklist (starred review)
"Connelly manages to top himself with his latest intensely gripping thriller...He tells a superb tale with an economy of words using a no-nonsense,
fly-on-the-wall style of writing...Fans of this prolific author of crime dramas and either series will find this best-seller-list-bound novel hard to put down."— Library Journal (starred review)
★ 11/01/2020
The stakes have never been higher for "Lincoln Lawyer" Mickey Haller when he is accused of murdering a former client. Smelling a setup, he and his law team, who may be the only people in the LA area who believe he's innocent, try to find the real killer. The prosecutor of his case makes sure bail is denied, which keeps him behind bars and the defense at a huge disadvantage. With his iconic detailed, no-nonsense, and meticulous narrative, Connelly brilliantly instructs the audience step by step how to build a defense while showing a very vulnerable side of Mickey. At the same time, he gives readers a gritty, realistic look at life behind bars, some very memorable quotes, and a cleverly injected take on current events. VERDICT A tour de force in both crime and court fiction, Connelly (The Night Fire) delivers what may be his best piece of legal fiction yet with this latest "Lincoln Lawyer" title (after 2013's The Gods of Guilt) and a star-studded cast of incredible supporting characters, including two ex-wives, his half-brother Harry Bosch, and a prosecutor that fans will not cozy up to. Fans and those living under a rock who have not experienced this master storyteller will find this edge-of-your-seat read absolutely impossible to put down.—Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City-Cty. Lib. Dist., St. Peters, MO
★ 2021-02-10
Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer who’s mostly played second fiddle to his half brother, Harry Bosch, in recent years, gets a most unwelcome star turn when he’s arrested for murder.
The evidence is neck-deep that Haller’s ex-client, chronic con man Sam Scales, was dumped into the trunk of the attorney’s trademark car and then shot to death inside his garage as Haller slept above—or, as prosecutor Dana Berg, a true believer in Haller’s guilt, maintains, watched it all from a lot closer. The noose fits so tightly around Haller’s neck that it’s got to be a frame-up, but why, and by whom? Identifying the most likely perp as Louis Opparizio, a Vegas mobster Haller made look guilty on the stand nine long years ago, doesn’t clear things up. It just leads his law partner, Jennifer Aronson, and his investigator, Cisco Wojciechowski, to the FBI investigation of BioGreen Industries, a firm in which Opparizio owned a major stake, and up against FBI agents Rick Aiello and Dawn Ruth, who make it clear that they have no intention of complying with the subpoena issued by Violet Warfield, the meticulous and fair-minded judge trying the case. As Haller plots his own defense, sometimes from within a jail cell, sometimes when he’s out on bail, he’s haunted by the old adage about how any lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. Of course Connelly’s not going to convict his franchise hero of murder; of course Opparizio and the FBI are mixed up in the case; of course there’ll be loose ends left hanging. None of that matters. For sheer courtroom inventiveness and suspense, Haller has never shone brighter.
A virtuoso performance even by Connelly’s high standards.
