Resurrection Walk is a book that was written by a skilled professional, but lacks a certain spice. It is, all in all, readable, and covers a trial in compact density with ability and panache, but there is too much Mickey Haller and not enough Harry Bosch.

Michael Connelly, the author, made his mark with the early Bosch novels in the 1990s. These were gritty standalones which could be read separately, out of order, or as part of a series. Bosch was a man who suppressed his emotions, who vented his feelings through jazz albums played at home (there are countless references to music in Connelly’s oeuvre), but who ultimately had a tender heart where justice was concerned. He is called an “Avenging Angel” type in one of the earlier Connelly novels (I think about 3 novels back from Resurrection Walk) and this is accurate. Bosch will go to the ends of the earth for justice. He feels shame when he is considered to be a perpetrator of injustice.

His half-brother, the Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller, is devoted to giving the defense the best representation possible — “reasonable doubt for a reasonable fee” goes the catchy slogan that Connelly invented for his character. Mickey is a super-lawyer, a man who notices things that others would let slip them by — in Resurrection Walk, the crucial bit of evidence occurs to Mickey as a woman is talking about the case in general.

Resurrection Walk‘s title refers to the new life, the new walk, an incarcerated individual feels when he or she walks out of prison early in their sentence. Naturally, the Lincoln Lawyer likes these kinds of cases. Although he’ll defend the guilty and get them off the hook, it feels so much better to be a champion of the unjustly accused, those who were ramrodded into prison by a system that has so much going for it in the courtroom compared to the lone defender standing against the tidal wave of law administration.

At the end of Resurrection Walk, to skip ahead a bit, the Lincoln Lawyer is sitting in jail on contempt-of-court charges and thinking about his future. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to be wasting his talents on helping out the guilty anymore. Like doctors in the U.S., they want to get HIGH SALARIES and be able to treat everyone, regardless of ability to pay. Mickey and the doctors want to thread the needle, something only possible if the taxpayer picks up the tab. It is the taxpayer who is on the hook for millions in indemnity for wrongly imprisoning the first character in the book, who doesn’t show up again. His cameo is to demonstrate that the Lincoln Lawyer is on the case. The taxpayer will be sued for the years of his life lost, and the taxpayer — who had nothing to do with this travesty — will absorb the costs for “justice.” The doctors get to feel good about themselves, at everyone else’s expense.

The book is pretty good, especially as it gets going. Lucinda Sanz, who has accepted a plea bargain but wants to get out of jail before her young son is seduced by the hispanic gangs, makes a bland enough character. Like most white authors, Connelly is more comfortable sketching out a white character than an ethnic minority (with the exception of the Lincoln Lawyer, who is half-hispanic, but I don’t get the impression that Connelly really thinks of him as a hispanic). I’m not being judgmental against Connelly here — he’s writing the best he can, he’s just out of his league with nonwhites, is all.

In conclusion, I would recommend you buy Resurrection Walk. It’s not a hugely long read, it’s short on Bosch’s brand of gritty realism, but it’s got enough to keep you going. Seven stars out of ten.