Review: The Reversal by Michael Connelly
Orion, €23.20, Hardback
Mickey Haller is one of LA's most successful defence attorneys. When the District Attorney, normally his adversary, approaches him to prosecute a case he smells a rat.
When he's told the case concerns high-profile convicted child killer Jason Jessup, recently released from 25 years on death row when DNA evidence persuaded the Court of Appeal to set him free, the rat smells even stronger. He figures he's being set up, but pride makes him take the case, even though he thinks the trial is doomed to failure.
He recruits ex-wife Maggie McPherson, a seasoned state prosecutor, as his co-counsel, and drafts in LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, his stepbrother, as his investigator.
As the hastily assembled team learns more about the death of 12-year-old Melissa Landy, the more they become convinced Jessup is guilty. But, given the time elapsed and the skill of Jessup's defence lawyer, can the chippy Mickey Haller and his enigmatic half-brother win the day and prevent Jessup killing again?
Once more Michael Connelly proves that he is as adept as John Grisham or Richard North Patterson at delivering edge-of-the-seat courtroom thrills, with the added bonus of a detailed parallel criminal investigation run by well drawn and largely sympathetic characters. This is superior entertainment from a master of the genre.
Irish Independent
