2024.07.22 Meeting Notes

Those of us who were at the meeting this week will understand when I say it was a “subdued” discussion. Not because we hated the book, or even strongly disliked it. It was because we LIKED it. We met to discuss Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly.
Michael Connelly is one of those writers that many of us continue to read because the books are well written, interesting, and easy reads. They don’t shock us, they don’t piss us off, they just entertain us. Sometimes some good old fashioned entertainment is just what the doctor ordered. I watch Murder She Wrote to be entertained (I always use Jessie Fletcher as my example – you all know that I aspire to BE her when I grow up). When I finish watching I’m not blown away, I’m not stunned at the twist from no where, but I am satisfied because I spent 40 minutes enjoying myself.
For me, Connelly is one of those authors that I can read and I may not end up loving the installment, but I know I will like it and I won’t wish I had the time back I spent reading/listening. And I also want to point out that Connelly and Coben are our most read authors. There's got to be a reason we keep voting for them.
What we did learn was that you might not get that same warm fuzzy if you jump into #7 of The Lincoln Lawyer series. Those of us who have read them all are happy that Connelly doesn’t spend a lot of time reiterating the backstory of all the series characters. However, we saw that those who were reading their first Mickey Haller were a bit uninvested and unimpressed with the lack of backstory. They didn’t know anything about Cisco, for example. Whereas those of us who have read more (hopefully not just me) LOVE Cisco. It’s an unenviable position that an author is in to please returning readers and, at the same time, inspire new ones.
Since the Lincoln Lawyer is a shorter series, it seems that more Crime & Beyonders who are just starting out with Connelly would be willing to go back and start at the beginning. Bosch has a LOT more books to go through, so most seemed unwilling to start from the beginning of that series. I will point out to everyone, though, that it seems that when we voted for who was team Haller and who was team Bosch......Bosch won. I thought it was Haller (but that was only because I voted for him). Jeff corrected me and I trust his memory more than my own. I don’t think Bosch won by a landslide or anything, but he definitely had more fans. Maybe it was because of the series. Who doesn’t love some Titus Welliver?
The scores for the book were: seven 9s, eight 8s, three 7s, one 6, one 5, one 4.
Note that one of the 7s, and the 6, 5, and 4 scores were all new Connelly readers – see above for obvious comments on that.
We had a few other negative comments, other than not being able to get into it because none of the characters were familiar. Some thought it wasn’t suspenseful and there wasn’t a big twist. Both valid, I do like a good twist and I think that’s more a Coben thing than a Connelly thing. This is more a ride you’re on where you know your destination and you’re there to enjoy the scenery, rather than "hey, get in the car, it’s a surprise where we’re going."
Joel was our lowest score and I loved one of his criticisms, “It was one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. No one was even tied up in the basement.” He does make a good point, and I can’t fault him for wanting that. It sparked a reaction from Jeff, who is STILL waiting for the promised dismemberment from Karin Slaughter.
The positive comments about the book were that it was an easy read, we liked the legal battle and strategy, we like Connelly’s writing, it was a quick read, it was fun, the topic of wrongful imprisonment is fascinating, it was straight forward, we liked it being written from the male perspective, we liked wondering what Mickey would do next and whether or not it would be ethical, and we liked the change in Mickey that we saw (of course, this only applies to those of us who have met him before). He is clearly moving from representing any old criminal for the money and toward wanting to actually work to help the innocent.
Christina even got deep and talked about morality versus the law and how it mirrored Bosch and Haller’s characters and motivations. And Melissa gave us a great quote that I didn’t write down in its entirety so I googled it.
“It was the kind of defense ploy that would have made Bosch’s blood boil when he carried a badge. Now he almost admired Haller for the moves he was making. He saw the Lincoln Lawyer as a master at staying just inside the ethical boundary lines when it came to dealings with those sitting across the aisle. Haller called it dancing between the raindrops.”
When I was googling that, I also saw an article that said "Mickey Haller is the kind of man who dances in the rain and never gets wet. That's how Matthew McConaughey once described the character to its original creator, author Michael Connelly, when he portrayed the titular character in The Lincoln Lawyer feature film that first brought Mickey to the screen in 2011."
I wonder if that's what put raindrops into the author's head. Ok, now I'm singing "raindrops keep falling on my head...."
In case you were wondering, the quote above was just ONE out of TWENTY-ONE times the author wrote “Lincoln Lawyer.” Amy looked it up because it stood out to her.
I also liked a quote from the deplorable character, Silver where he said something like “I like Bosch but I don’t like that big guy you sent.” (Cisco) and Mickey replies, “you’re not supposed to.”
Melissa also pointed out the mention of Vasquez Rocks (not to be confused with the phrase linked to “hey, do you know Jose Vasquez?” “Hell yeah I do, Vasquez Rocks!”)
Here is what the rock formation looks like. Reminds me of ship rock at Red Rocks.
What we’re reading (we had recommendations for):
* The Unquiet Bones by Loreth Anne White
* All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby
* Look Closer by David Ellis
We will meet on August 26 to discuss End of Story by AJ Finn. Gail will bring snacks and I will lead.
Thank you for your snacks this month Kim!! And thanks for having a GF option too.
Kerry