Random Review of the Week: The Brass Verdict

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the first book in the Mickey Haller series, entitled The Lincoln Lawyer.  The series revolves around Mickey Haller, a defense attorney who acts very shady in order to protect his clients and get them the judgement that they want.  In the first book, his client was Louis Roulet, a Santa Monica playboy on trial for attempted murder only for Mickey to find out that true evil resides inside him.  For the next two weeks, I will be reviewing the next two books in this series, The Brass Verdict and The Reversal.

In The Brass Verdict, his main case is Walter Elliot.  The man is the CEO of a major Hollywood production studio, one who accused of double homicide of his wife and her lover.  Mickey inherits this case and many others from a friend of his, Jerry Vincent, who is murdered at the start of the book.  The cases are assigned to him by the Chief Judge of the California bar.

The pace of the book is much different compared to The Lincoln Lawyer, going through a much slower pace than the previous novel.  With the dual plotlines dove-tailing with each other, part of the story perceives itself as a mystery, with Mickey trying to use Cisco to investigate the murder of Jerry Vincent, while trying to prove his client as innocent when he once again has to figure out his lies.  The two plots complement each other quite nicely, leaving the reader on the edge of his seat the whole time.

The characters are written very well, including the newest additions to the cast.  The most prominent new character is Cisco, Mickey's new investigator on his cases.  The other major addition is a character from Connelly's other series, an LAPD Detective named Harry Bosch.  Harry takes on the case of Jerry Vincent's murder, trying to solve it while seemingly not caring about Mickey's safety.

Mickey once again is written magnificently, with his character developing rapidly throughout the book.  Continuing from the harrowing conclusion of The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey was recently addicted to prescription painkillers, and doing a stint in rehab after nearly harming his daughter.  His ex-wife, Maggie McPhearson, was with him at the time, but left him again as he almost endangered their daughter with his drug use.

There is a small problem with the novel.  That problem comes in a plot-twist through the middle of the story in The Water Grill.  I won't spoil the scene, but it seems to be somewhat of a rehash of scenes he has previously used.  The writing was on par, but at the same time, it was predictable.

All in all however, the book is a magnificient sequel, setting up events for Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch series' to continuously intertwine from here on out.  Allowing both characters interaction in each other's novels, it leads into the future of Connelly's stories, with 9 Dragons and The Reversal.

My Review:
4/5 Stars.