“The Gods of Guilt” by Michael Connelly – No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Mickey Haller has already had a relatively long and tumultuous career at his early age, and with The Gods of Guilt Michael Connelly has extended it even further.

Being another entry in the Lincoln Lawyer series, it once again follows Mickey Haller as he takes on a peculiar case. This time though, the involvement is rather personal as the whole thing revolves a former client of his: a prostitute Mickey help put on the straight and narrow.

More precisely, this former client is at the center of the case, being a victim of murder. As Haller tries to make sense of the case and retrace the latest months in his client’s life, he comes closer and closer to the realization that in the end, he may very well have been the one to have caused her downfall in the first place.

Though some may have thought that the series may start to get stale after so many outings, Connelly has shown us once again why is considered to be one of the best in his trade. Once again, we are treated to a relatively complex and engaging plot, one shrouded in mystery where the rays of light shine in one at a time.

Also, the way I saw it, the main plotline was divided into two sub-categories. On one hand, there is the mystery surrounding the murder and whether or not the right person is being accused for it.

On the other hand we get to witness Haller struggle with some of his inner demons, especially as he learns about how the prostitute lived her life after he exited it. All of the storylines are interesting in their own right, though I do think that some people may find the latter parts a bit tedious at times.

All things considered, the aptly-named The Gods of Guilt is a solid Lincoln Lawyer novel, providing us with a somewhat straightforward case that still manages to overflow with questions.

The cast of characters who help to carry the plot forward are, for the most part, well-designed and multidimensional, always keeping the reader guessing as to whether or not anyone has a secret agenda in the ordeal.

That colorful cast includes a corrupt DEA agent, a rather suspicious investigator, a thug working for the Cartel, and a disbarred lawyer. For the first time in the series, at least for me, the atmosphere of danger was palpably present, making the whole thing a bit more thrilling and exciting, at least on the first time through.

Though this may not be on the same level as the previous novels in the series, it still a very solid effort worth reading for fans of the author, the Lincoln Lawyer, or legal thrillers.

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Michael Connelly Personal site Michael Connelly is perhaps one of the most popular modern writers, starting has career when he discovered Raymond Chandler’s writings at his university. To support himself, he worked at the local newspaper while specializing in crime, which shows in virtually all of his works touching on criminal subjects, such as The Black Box and The Lincoln Lawyer.