Books of 2026, #1 - "The Proving Ground" (Michael Connelly)

The Proving Ground is the 40th book by Michael Connelly that I've read.  The first, The Black Ice, was released in 1993.  To put that in perspective, I've been reading books by Connelly for about half of my 65 years.  My 35 year old son was 2, and my 31 year old son wasn't even born.  That's a lot of time, and a lot of Connelly books.  I'm not even sure Stephen King has been that prolific over the same period of time - but no, I'm not going to check.

This is the 8th Connelly book featuring Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer (9, if you count his co-starring turn in The Crossing, which was billed as a Harry Bosch novel).  It's a return to top form for Connelly after The Waiting, which wasn't the best Bosch/Renee Ballard book; and Nightshade, which introduced a new character stationed on Catalina Island (Detective Stillwell) - which was fine, but lacked the punch of the best Connelly.

The plot of The Proving Ground is, as they say, ripped straight from the headlines.  Mickey Haller, who is now focusing solely on civil cases (and has semi-retired his beloved Lincoln), takes the case of a mother whose teenage daughter was murdered by an ex-boyfriend, on the advice of an AI chat companion.  The company being sued, "Tidalwaiv," is headed for a lucrative merger and looking to settle the case by any means necessary.  Complications ensue when the parents of the boy who pulled the trigger join the case.  Are they on the same page as the grieving mother, or are they more worried about protecting their own son and their reputation as parents?  Key witnesses are reluctant to testify.  Can Haller turn them to his side?

Mickey's ex-wife Maggie McPherson plays an important role in the book, and his chums Lorna (another ex-wife) and Cisco are also on board.  Bosch (who for the uninitiated, is Haller's half brother, revealed many books ago) is mentioned, but only a couple of times, and in a way that makes it possible if not likely that his next appearance may be his last.  The courtroom dialogue is crisp, the opposing lawyers are appropriately oily, and yes, it's a hard book to put down.

All in all well done, and recommended.

Next in the queue: Cameron Crowe's memoir, The Uncool.

New Year

In California, the first Monday in January marks the first day of the legislative session, after a break in the fall that begins on September 1 in even-numbered years and in mid-September in odd-numbered years.  It takes a while for the Legislature to get into gear, introduce bills and start committee hearings, but January is truly a "hit the ground running" month, because the governor is required to release his proposed budget for the next fiscal year on or before January 10.  As I sometimes joked, the timing was designed in a way to fully eradicate all the good will built up over the holiday season as quickly as possible.

Because I retired in October, today was the first such Monday in a very long time where none of that really mattered.  I'm not sure I've quite gotten the hang of "the retirement thing," but I'm getting there.  Today I braved the elements (not super cold, but quite windy) for a walk, and caught this little tree in a nearby park with a few lonely Christmas ornaments still hanging.  We'll see how long it takes for the holiday-minded person who put them up to retrieve them.