The Fifth Witness - an excerpt

THE FIFTH WITNESS 
by Michael Connelly.

NZ RRP$39.99,

Published by Allen &Unwin.

It had been a rough year for Michael Haller and Associates, Attorneys-at-Law. Criminal defense had virtually dried up in the down economy. Of course crime wasn't down. In Los Angeles, crime marched on through any economy. But the paying customers were few and far between. It seemed as though nobody had money to pay a lawyer. Consequently, the public defender's office was busting at the seams with cases and clients while guys like me were left starving.

I had expenses and a fourteen-year-old kid in private school who talked about USC whenever the subject of colleges came up. I had to do something and so I did what I had once held as unthinkable. I went civil. The only growth industry in the law business was foreclosure defense. I attended a few bar seminars, got up to speed on it and started running new ads in two languages. I built a few websites and started buying the lists of foreclosure filings from the county clerk's office. That's how I got Mrs. Pena as a client. Direct mail. Her name was on the list and I had sent her a letter - in Spanish - offering my services. She told me that my letter happened to be the first indication she had ever received that she was in foreclosure .

The saying goes that if you build it, they will come. It was true. I was getting more work than I could handle - six more appointments after Mrs. Pena today - and had even hired an actual associate to Michael Haller and Associates for the first time ever. The national epidemic of real estate foreclosure was slowing but by no means abating. In Los Angeles County I could be feeding at the trough for years to come.

The cases only went for four or five grand a pop but this was a quantity-over-quality period in my professional life. I currently had more than ninety foreclosure clients on my docket. No doubt my kid could start planning on USC. Hell, she could start thinking about staying for a master's degree.

There were those who believed I was part of the problem, that I was merely helping the deadbeats game the system while delaying the economic recovery of the whole. That description fit some of my clients for sure. But I viewed most of them as repeat victims. Initially scammed with the American dream of home ownership when lured into mortgages they had no business even qualifying for. And then victimized again when the bubble burst and unscrupulous lenders ran roughshod over them in the subsequent foreclosure frenzy. Most of these once-proud home owners didn't stand a chance under California's streamlined foreclosure regulations. A bank didn't even need a judge's approval to take away someone's house. The great financial minds thought this was the way to go. Just keep it moving. The sooner the crisis hit bottom the sooner the recovery would begin. I say, Tell that to Mrs. Pena.

There was a theory out there that this was all part of a conspiracy among the top banks in the country to undermine property laws, sabotage the judicial system and create a perpetually cycling foreclosure industry that had them profiting from both ends of the spectrum. Me, I wasn't exactly buying into that. But during my short time in this area of the law, I had seen enough predatory and unethical acts by so-called legitimate businessmen to make me miss good old-fashioned criminal law.


(The above extract has been taken with permission from THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly. RRP$39.99, Published by Allen & Unwin. Available now where all good books are sold.)

Michael Connelly will be speaking at an exclusive event in Auckland on 24 May, before a screening of THE LINCOLN LAWYER.
For tickets, please visit: http://www.the-edge.co.nz/Event-Pages/A/AWRF-2011/09-Michael-Connelly.aspx

In the above extract you hear the voice of Michael "Mickey" Haller, criminal defense attorney who also happens to be Harry Bosch's half-brother. Harry Bosch is Michael Connelly's main character who appears as the protagonist in some 17 titles compared to Haller who so far has appeared as the main man in four titles. The following shows the titles in which they appear.

Harry Bosch series
1.The Black Echo (1992)
2.The Black Ice (1993)
3.The Concrete Blonde (1994)
4.The Last Coyote (1995)
5.Trunk Music (1997)
6.Angels Flight (1999)
7.A Darkness More Than Night (2001) – also featuring Terry McCaleb and Jack McEvoy
8.City of Bones (2002)
9.Lost Light (2003)
10.The Narrows (2004) – also featuring Rachel Walling and references of Terry McCaleb
11.The Closers (2005)
12.Echo Park (2006) – also featuring Rachel Walling
13.The Overlook (2007) – also featuring Rachel Walling
14.The Brass Verdict (2008) - also featuring Mickey Haller
15.9 Dragons (2009) - also featuring Mickey Haller
16.The Reversal (2010) – also featuring Mickey Haller and Rachel Walling
17.The Drop (2011)

Mickey Haller series
1.The Lincoln Lawyer (2005)
2.The Brass Verdict (2008) – featuring Harry Bosch and Jack McEvoy
3.The Reversal (2010) – also featuring Harry Bosch and Rachel Walling
4.The Fifth Witness (2011)

And from his US publishers:
The Fifth Witness - #1 New York Times Best Seller!

We are incredibly grateful to Michael's readers for their constant support and loyalty. We just learned today that The Fifth Witness will be in the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Sellers lists in both hardcover and e-book. That is amazing! Thank you! And thank you to everyone who came out and saw Michael on his book tour. He really appreciates your efforts to make his events and your encouragement and enthusiasm for his work.
His USA book tour is almost over. If you would like to get a signed copy, just contact one of the stores from the tour. They will have signed stock available for purchase.
Michael's tour of Australia and New Zealand will begin in May. He will be in Brazil in September, and in the UK in October/November.