June Freebies
June Sleuths and Sweethearts
Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Freebies
Two Weeks to AuthorFest
In two weeks, it will be the 3rd Annual Grayslake AuthorFest in downtown Grayslake, IL. And I am one of the co-organizers. It seems every year we just grow and grow. I never expected to be this successful when we started. My good friends Zee Lacson and Alexa Zoellner work really hard to put on a great event each year. It so exciting to see all of the people who are interested in local authors. It’s humbling to see how responsive these people are to this idea my friends and I had.
In celebration of this year’s event, I will be releasing a new Charlie Snow. Fireworks follows Charlie as she solves the case of missing fireworks.
When I moved north from Charlotte, NC, I saw the way the small villages (they aren’t called towns here) turn out every year for holidays. Yes, holidays are a thing in Charlotte, and there are some great traditions. But no matter how big a tradition is in a city, it’s not the same kind of big it is in a small town. A big city just can’t turn out all of it’s population, but the small towns seemingly do. The parades, ceremonies, and town picnics bond us together in ways that the hustle and bustle of a big city can’t.
Charlie is beginning to understand this for herself. Will she be the town hero and save it’s show? Find out on June 20th.
The God of Guilt, Michael Connelly
The Book
Mickey Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer. In this book he is grappling with the fame his movie let loose. He now has copycats. Mickey doesn't mind, he just doesn't want to jump into the wrong Town Car, again.
His driver, Earl, is working off his mother's foreclosure, and it's the best pairing in Mickey's opinion. When he gets his current trial dismissed unexpectedly, he gets a chance to represent a murder, Andre La Cosse, who insists that he is actually innocent of the murder is accused of committing. Mickey askes Andre how he found him, and Mickey is surprised to find out that before the victim's death, he was recommended to the accused by the victim herself. Mickey wonders why a long term sex worker would recommend him to her digital pimp. When he figures out that the victims is one of his favorite former clients, one he hasn't seen in 7 or 8 years, her street name at the time was Glory Days, he is motivated to find out who killed her.
But his work as a defense attorney has already cost him his first marriage and the respect of his only child, Hayley. This accused is distasteful, and he worries Hayley will never forgive him. As the case winds around, Mickey finds out that his previous work with Glory was a manipulation on her part. Even though it sent a very dangerous drug cartel leader to jail for life, they did it the wrong way. Mickey now must right the wrongs he committed, even though proving Andre didn't kill Glory will let one of the most vile cartel leaders go free. His actions--and inactions have deadly consequences, and at the end of the day, the jury, the gods of guilt, of his victims weighs heavily on his mind.
My Thoughts
So, I like Mickey more than I like Bosch. Despite the fact that everyone keeps calling him an asshole. Despite the fact that Mickey is unafraid to do what there is to be done to get his way. It is his service to his client, his ability to make a deal to help someone out. I, probably wrongly, find Mickey to be more compassionate and less cynical. This book wrestles with Mickey's conscious more than other titles in this series. And the end of the book, unbelievably is more violent than other legal thrillers, (here I am referencing John Grisham's oeuvre), but Connelly manages to string us along. I wish I could spend more time in this book, and perhaps that's why I will read the rest of The Lincoln Lawyer books after I finish my summer project because this pace is blistering. And while it works to get me through the Bosch books, it doesn't leave me enough time in the other titles.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
My bad, I read this book out of order. I had not planned on picking up this book until I was out of this project, but the title stuck in my head and I picked it up anyway. The book is a first edition, which entered my library December 10, 2013. It has been well read, and is easy to hold. It has no dog ears, penciled in corrections (I kinda miss those, btw), or smudges, so it was a bit of surprise to find that one of the pages has been deeply damaged. I will report it to the circulation desk when I return the book. Since the damage doesn't affect the ability to read the book, I am hoping that the tear can be stopped so we can keep the book in our collection a bit longer. The list price of the book is $28.00
This Book $28.00
If you would like to read my book reviews in real time, please see my side blog The Write Hobby wwww.writehobby.blogspot.com.
I’ll be back again in next week with more trivia. Until then, keep on reading!
Love,
Ansley
Huh, I've seen the Lincoln lawyer on Netflix but didn't realize it was a book series first