Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly

 

The "resurrection walk" referred to in the title of Michael Connelly's 38th (!) novel is a reference to the moment at which someone who has been unjustly imprisoned one again tastes freedom.  The book begins with Mickey Haller, "the Lincoln Lawyer," having successfully achieved such a walk for one of his clients.  Flush with that success and always on the lookout for a potentially lucrative addition to his practice, Haller decides to try and find another "needle in the haystack," as he puts it, among the many letters he's received from prisoners claiming that they've been imprisoned unjustly. 

Though billed as "A Lincoln Lawyer Novel," Harry Bosch makes an appearance in the book's very first chapter, having agreed to assist his half-brother in finding that needle, and then helping Haller thread it through the legal process towards the elusive walk to freedom.  Bosch finds a case that might fill the bill - Lucinda Sanz, in prison for the past five years for killing her ex-husband, a sheriff's deputy.  Something about the case and its investigation doesn't add up for Bosch, and before too long Haller and Bosch are working with Sanz to secure her freedom.

Of course, if proving her innocence were easy there wouldn't be much of a story, and before long numerous roadblocks present themselves. First, the case has to be tried in federal court, where in the words of Haller, "defense cases went to die."  This does provide Connelly with the opportunity to introduce a new character, Judge Ellen Coelho, who brooks no nonsense from any of the attorneys trying the case.  There are mysterious suspected break-ins at the residences of both Haller and Bosch.  And before long, we find out that what happened involved rogue cops, sheriff's gangs, and even the FBI.  The game is on.

Connelly has been on quite a roll lately.  I haven't watched either of the television productions of his two main characters, but I've read every one of his books.  What I've enjoyed in his recent work is that he's allowed his characters to age, and to change over time.  Unlike some other series that I've enjoyed over the years (Crais' Elvis and Joe books, Coben's Win and Myron series) you get the sense that Bosch won't last forever.  He's never been a superman, but his mortality has now become a character of its own.  Where will it all lead?  It will be really sad when he is gone, but it seems inevitable.  

In the meantime, Connelly's work over the past three decades is a landmark in detective fiction.  Enjoy it while you can.