The Reversal by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly, The Reversal, (New York: Little, Brown and Company; 2010), 389 pages.

In The Reversal, Michael Connelly gives us another Los Angeles-based fictional crime story, this time its one that brings together two of Connelly’s most intriguing characters, veteran Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch and “Lincoln Lawyer” Mickey Haller. The two are (naturally) brought together by the intersection of a murder investigation and the court room. In this book, a convicted serial killer is granted a re-trial more than twenty years after his conviction. Defense attorney Haller is convinced by the district attorney to switch sides and re-prosecute the case. Bosch is chosen as the lead homicide investigator. Connelly employs a shifting narrative to tell the story; he writes one chapter from the perspective of prosecutor Haller, does the next chapter from the perspective of detective Bosch, alternating back and forth through the entire book.  The story shows what the characters must do to get a conviction in a case where the evidence is old, where the witnesses are either dead or missing, where the suspect is out on bail potentially looking to commit new crimes.

The Reversal again demonstrates Connelly’s skill as a natural storyteller of crime thrillers and police procedure. He engages his readers by bringing together two entertaining and believable characters in Bosch and Haller. He takes nothing for granted and provides sufficient back-story for both new readers of his fiction, as well as his regular readers of his past works. Connelly knows Los Angeles, and knows how it courts and police department operate. In typical Connelly fashion, the story is fast-paced, engaging, and peppered with numerous twists and turns, and surprise detours. Even though this book is engaging, it is somewhat bleak in that it’s regularly punctuated with death, crime, corruption, violence, cynicism, and the hard-nosed characters that seem comfortable with the grime of crime. The book is somewhat notable for its absence of joy, humor, fun or delight. Such are the lives of Connelly’s stern committed, driven principle driven characters. But this should be expected in any crime novel; anything other than this would be unusual at least, if not inauthentic. Nonetheless, The Reversal is very well written, and is a fine example of crime writing and legal/court room storytelling, that is further proof of the assertion that Connelly is one of America’s finest crime fiction writers.