The Bottom Line: A literary feast that brings together fans of Connolly’s Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer book series.
The great tragedy of Michael Connelly’s otherwise high-quality Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer streaming series is that they exist in a television universe where Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller are not related (presumably due to the two series being on competing networks). Thankfully, Connolly has given us Resurrection Walk in the two characters’ shared book universe, which once again finds Harry Bosch coming to the aid of his half-brother Mickey Haller, a.k.a. the Lincoln Lawyer.
In the 7th Lincoln Lawyer book (and the fourth to feature Harry Bosch, in addition to four Bosch series books that feature Haller) has the embattled attorney coming to the aid of a woman accused of murdering her husband. After a high-profile case, Haller finds himself inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence. Bosch agrees to take up the task of sifting through the slush pile to find someone worthy of Haller’s services.
Unlike earlier books in the timeline like The Crossing, Bosch is long past the era where he’s concerned about what people think of him working with a defense attorney. In fact, he’s now a 73-year-old cancer patient undergoing experimental nuclear treatment. Bosch’s vulnerability makes him – and the book as a whole – especially endearing.
The woman in question may be innocent of murdering her Sheriff’s department husband, but as Haller and Bosch soon discover, there’s far more behind the case than is apparent (bonus points for ripped-from-the-headlines themes about law enforcement corruption in Southern California). Connelly uses third-person subjective narration when the action focuses on Bosch, and first-person POV when the action is primarily on Haller. The style balance works surprisingly well, and in the audiobook version, the narration is simply superb.
TV series fans should brace for the fact that Maddie isn’t a cop in the book universe – another side effect of the unfortunate split of streaming networks. With that bit of confusion aside, it’s another winning series entry from Connolly that manages to keep both the Haller and Bosch fires burning.
