The Gods of Guilt

Mickey Haller, Book #5

By Michael Connelly

ISBN# 9780316069519

Author’s Website:  http://www.michaelconnelly.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

*Beware of possible Spoilers*

Michael Haller & Associates has gone through many ups and downs through the years, as has Mickey himself!  Currently both have suffered from the effects of recent events.  One of Mickey’s former clients, whom he got out of a DUI charge on a technicality, was back to his old tricks and killed an innocent woman and her daughter in a fatal crash, effectively killing Mickey’s bid for Prosecuting Attorney and turning his ex-wife and daughter against him as well.  Nobody wants a disgraced lawyer defending them and now the only money coming into the firm is from their foreclosure cases and a few small crap cases here and there.

So Mickey jumps when given the chance to defend Andre La Cosse when he is accused of murder.  A pimp of the new digital age is an easy target when one of his girls is murdered, and his pleas of being set up fall on deaf ears.  That is until Mickeyl starts putting it all together and realizes that his client is innocent.  Now it’s up to him to uncover a couple of dirty cops and prove it all in a court of law and get Andre the acquittal he deserves.

This was another enjoyable book in the Mickey Haller/Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly.  It started out kind of slow for me, but once this story hits trial time, you just can’t beat it.  Nobody can write courtroom drama quite like Connelly and he always manages to keep me entertained!

Mickey is pretty depressed in this book after his rotten luck and losing the election and his family.  I had a little catch-up to do myself on finding out what happened with the election drama.  It must have been revealed in the connected Harry Bosch series that I haven’t read.  It’s pretty sad that all the progress Mickey had made in rebuilding his family was wrecked so easily.  It’s one of the prime reasons that I’m happy to see him show interest in somebody else; someone that’s not nearly as judgmental as Maggie!

One thing I just really love about this series and Connelly’s writing is that it can be so serious and then Mickey will think or say something that just completely cracks me up!  I love him; absolutely love him!

 “I spread my arms wide like a minister in front of his flock.

“My pulpit is the well of the courtroom. I preach to the twelve apostles, the gods of guilt.”

Valenzula casually looked at me.

“Yeah, well, whatever. It’s still pretty low and you should be ashamed of your ass. Almost as low as you racing out here ahead of me and hiding in there, telling her not to answer the door.”

I nodded. He had it all figured out. I signaled him off the hood of the car.

“Well, Val, Ms. Roberts is now my client and I am authorized to accept the subpoena from Fulgoni on her behalf.”

He slid off the car, dragging the wallet chain looped from his belt to his back pocket along the paint.

“Oh, geez, my fucking bad. I hope I didn’t scratch it, Reverend.”

There are a lot of elements to this case, and it takes awhile for them to all be laid out, but don’t lose hope!  Stick with it!  It’s worth the wait!

Another thing that I really enjoyed in this book was the explanation of the title, The Gods of Guilt, was so thorough.  It made complete sense once it was explained and it was touched upon periodically throughout the book.  I also loved how the book ended with Mickey telling us about his own gods of guilt.

“Everybody has a jury, the voices they carry inside. Earl Briggs sits on my jury, Gloria Dayton, too. They are there with Katie and Sandy, my mother, my father, and soon Legal Siegel as well. Those I have loved and those I have hurt. Those who bless me and those who haunt me. My gods of guilt. Every day I carry on and I carry them close. Every day I step into the well before them and I argue my case.”

It was kind of sad, but touching at the same time.  It definitely made my heart hurt for him, and I can’t wait to see things turn around for him so he can be happy.  Of course … I’m not sure there will be much series left by the time that happens and I’m not ready to let go of my love for Michael Haller any time soon!

This book has seriously made me crave a re-watch of the movie, Lincoln Lawyer, which was actually referenced several times in the book, which was also neat!

Bottom line: if you love courtroom drama, with a smart witty lawyer with questionable ethics, then this is the series for you!

Check out the book trailer below, which also touches a bit on Michael’s explanation of the gods of guilt!