Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
Mickey Haller has moved from criminal to civil court, but murder remains in his sights—in particular, the case of a chatbot encouraging the killing of a teenage girl.
Mickey files a civil lawsuit against the artificial intelligence company responsible for the chatbot and instantly finds himself on the wild frontier of the billion-dollar AI industry. Grappling with a terrifying lack of regulation and data overload, Haller partners with journalist Jack McEvoy. But they are up against mega-forces, and even the bravest whistleblower faces grave danger.
In 1997, IBM's Deep Blue defeated chess master Garry Kasparov with an unexpected gambit. In a Herculean new match of man vs machine, can Haller pull off a winning play for humanity?
Long-time fans of Michael Connelly’s work have already had plenty to enjoy this year, with the crescendo of the excellent Bosch screen adaptation starring Titus Welliver, the launch of the Renee Ballard series on Amazon Prime, continuation of the hit Lincoln Lawyer adaptation on Netflix, and a new series character – LA County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell, exiled to rustic Catalina Island – introduced in Connelly’s previous 2025 novel Nightshade. But wait, there’s more…
Now Mickey Haller is back on the page too, joined by another Connelly main character, in The Proving Ground. For nearly 35 years Connelly has been entertaining readers (and viewers) with top-notch storytelling that manages to be both timeless, and timely. He’s unafraid to delve into societal and other changes, show the impact of cases on his characters, and offer modern takes on the detective fiction tropes that have served for more than a century, while still honouring readers and what we love or expect about the mystery genre. And with Michael Conelly’s tales themselves, long-time readers have built up an expectation of consistent excellence.
He delivers once more in The Proving Ground, blending familiar foundations with splashes of the new.
In search of a new direction, Mickey Haller, aka ‘the Lincoln Lawyer’, is taking on civil rather than criminal cases, and now he has an artificial intelligence (AI) company in his sights. The creators of a chatbot that may have played a key role in a sixteen-year-old boy killing his ex-girlfriend.
Delving into unfamiliar ground, Haller joins forces with relentless journalist Jack McEvoy (The Poet, The Scarecrow, etc) as they take on a pioneering case that explores the dangerous sides of the booming AI industry where technological innovation and the race to cash in threatens to overwhelm outdated regulations or any guardrails. With billions at stake, and powerful forces in the tech industry not keen to have progress or profits slowed in any way, it’s an extremely dangerous case.
It's almost redundant nowadays to say Connelly is a master storyteller; it goes without saying. In The Proving Ground he draws readers into a hugely compelling tale that delves into cutting-edge technology while also delivering timeless intrigue and thrills. It’s great to be riding with the Lincoln Lawyer again on the page, and teaming McEvoy and Haller brings another fresh twist to the expansive ‘Bosch universe’ that Connelly has built over more than three decades.
AI and technology – not to mention the legal system itself – is a hugely complex subject matter, but Connelly deftly draws readers in and provides enough information and background while still maintaining narrative drive and excitement. He’s a master of the ‘telling detail’ that delivers a sense of something without requiring lengthy description. I tore through this book in a day. Another very enjoyable read in Connelly’s ever-expanding canon. As he gets set to celebrate his 70th birthday next year, Connelly is a beacon among the mystery and thriller genre of maintaining the highest standards throughout a long-running series, and threading the needle of fresh and familiar.
[This review was first published in the Fall 2025 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine in the USA]
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.
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