Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer is narrated by an antiheroic, twice-divorced criminal lawyer who excels at playing the game. He stops at nothing this side of sleazy to defend his clients. Some of his behavior made me twitch and sneer. It's the stuff of which lawyer jokes are drawn.

Connelly's mystery is good with some really funny moments. His narrator, Mick Haller, has an ethical dilemma that winds through the novel and pits him against two of his clients. This story twists and turns between ghosts of stories past and sins of the present.

By the end of the novel, my opinion of the lawyer mellowed. I look forward to reading more of this series (and seeing the movie with Matthew McConaughey).