The Countdown Continues....
Eeep! I can't wait!
Wake UP!
It’s nearly here! Just a few days more until you can get your own copy!
https://writingjourney.org/awakening/
The Monster in Me Awakens
***The following is an excerpt of my story. Just a few choice paragraphs to wet your whistle. Audra first met Humph in high school. To finish it you’ll have to buy the book!***
Call me Audra and call my partner Humphrey. And I’ll start this story where things get interesting. I got fired in the middle of a business trip. Frustrating. But at least the hotel room was prepaid…
I wandered downstairs and into the hotel bar. I nearly stopped short when I saw Humphrey sitting at the bar nursing what looked to be a whisky on the rocks. I was about to retreat, when he turned and saw me. He waved me over.
I didn’t want him to see me when I already felt so hurt and angry. And yet, my feet walked over there as if they weren’t attached to my brain. Betraying little devils…
His eyes still smoldered of old. And his appreciative glance at my…outfit, emboldened me.
When I got there, he held out his and helped me onto the bar stool. If I had known all those years ago how addictive the fluttering of my stomach would be when he touched me, I might have thrown away all of those rules and just pursued him. I was drowning under his stare. I could hardly breath. I felt…
New.
Different.
Awake.
Ironic isn’t it, that one person, one remark can change your perspective on everything? Until then, I thought my situation was unique, my shame to bear alone. Now I could see, it wasn’t just me.
As I sat next to him, I still felt, as I had then, one wrong move on my part and I would destroy him. It’s wrong to hurt people. But oh, how I wanted to--sometimes.
***Now you know how my Bonnie (Audra) met my Clyde (Humph), see what horrible things they do to the world!***
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The Law of Innocence, Michael Connelly
The Book
Mickey Haller spends a night out celebrating a win. On his way home, he gets pulled over by the cops, supposedly because he is missing his rear license plate. The cop searches his trunk when fluid is spotted leaking out of it, the dead body of Sam Scales, a former client, is found. Mickey is promptly arrested and thrown into the county jail to await trial. Mickey, doesn’t want to wait, so he digs into his bag of lawyer tricks to push his case forward towards the trial. He knows he didn’t kill Sam, and his team rallies around him, including his ex-wives Lorna Taylor and Maggie McPherson. Bosch goes so far as to provide Mickey bail money with the help of another former client, Andre La Cosse, the pimp from Gods of Guilt. Turns out Andre has made a killing in crypto currency off of the wrongful detainment suit Mickey filed. He’s super rich now, and offers to help out Mickey any way he can. Mickey reluctantly takes both of their help.
Just as Mickey begins to get a grasp on who may of framed him for Sam’s murder, his key witness turns up dead--executed by the mob. The FBI is willing to let Mickey go down for it, but they hadn’t counted on his ability to work the judge, jury and court of public opinion. They know Mickey is innocent, but they don’t know how to let him go without blowing their case. What they don’t know, is there’s an even bigger killer out there, and it’s just a matter of time until they all have to confront it. Because March 2020 is headed their way. As we all know, COVID-19 won’t spare anyone.
My Thoughts
This book released in November of 2020. By dating it carefully so that the trial happens at the last possible moment before COVID hits the fan, Connelly is able to add an element of urgency to the story. It’s the best use of the pandemic in fiction that I’ve seen to date. I even used it in a novella I wrote at the same time Connelly was doing edits on this book. I have the distinct feeling that he had to add in the COVID elements at the last minute. But it doesn’t show in the story.
I liked the way Mickey and team advance in their jobs. Mickey’s character is growing by leaps and bounds. I can’t wait for Hayley to be old enough to be a baby lawyer in this universe. She’s beginning to be interesting. And for everything else, Maggie is a compelling character.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This book is a first edition that entered my library on Nov 18, 2020. It was easy to hold this book open and doesn’t have that new book crackle. The pages are smudge free, with no ink, pencil or other markings on them. It would seem everyone who read the book as done as I have, and used a bookmarker. The story is 421 pages long. I don’t know if the additions for the COVID made the book longer than usual, but something did. This is one of the longest, if not the longest Connelly book I have read to date. The book cost $29.00
This Book $29.00
PS: Since writing this review in 2023, Netflix follows this book in this season of The Lincoln Lawyer . And I could not have been happier to stream this book so close to my birthday! I love Mickey and clearly I loved the book. Connelly writes his books in a certain place and at a certain time. Covid added to the urgency in the orginial plot, it was erased from the current plot as this season (4) is set in the post pandemic era. It’s always interesting to see how they get around Bosch’s appearances in the show. And honestly, the writers have come up with some pretty good ways to make it feel seamless. Love them for it, but of course, I miss the Mickey/Bosch brotherly dynamic. I can’t wait for the next season. And on a side note, for those of you wondering if you should watch it, the actor they cast as Sam Scales is top notch.
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
So excited!