The Proving Ground
A Lincoln Lawyer Novel
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4.6 • 3.1K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly, the Lincoln Lawyer is back with a case against an AI company whose product may have been responsible for the murder of a young girl.
Following his “resurrection walk” and need for a new direction, Mickey Haller turns to public interest litigation, filing a civil lawsuit against an artificial intelligence company whose chatbot told a sixteen-year-old boy that it was okay for him to kill his ex-girlfriend for her disloyalty.
Representing the victim’s family, Mickey’s case explores the mostly unregulated and exploding AI business and the lack of training guardrails. Along the way he joins up with a journalist named Jack McEvoy, who wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial in order to write a book about it. But Mickey puts him to work going through the mountain of printed discovery materials in the case. McEvoy’s digging ultimate delivers the key witness, a whistleblower who has been too afraid to speak up. The case is fraught with danger because billions are at stake.
It is said that machines became smarter than humans on the day in 1997 that IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess master Garry Kasparov with a gambit called “the knight’s sacrifice.” Haller will take a similar gambit in court to defeat the mega forces of the AI industry lined up against him and his clients.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Mega-bestseller Michael Connelly explores the people behind an AI-prompted killing in this pulse-pounding legal thriller. Now focused on public interest litigation, onetime superstar defense lawyer Mickey Haller takes on the case of a teen murdered by her ex, seemingly at the prompting of a chatbot named Clair. But as the Lincoln Lawyer looks deeper into the company behind the chatbot, he discovers that not all is as it seems—and at least one human had already tried to sound the alarm. Deploying his usual wit, deft characterization, and wildly inventive plotting, Michael Connelly delves into the new Wild West of artificial intelligence, neatly exposing the secretive roles of the humans behind the machines while drawing Haller’s reliable crew into the case.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Connelly crafts a riveting eighth case for attorney Mickey Haller (after Resurrection Walk). Now focused on civil litigation after building his reputation in criminal defense, Haller takes on a high-stakes negligence suit against Tidalwaiv Technologies, a tech company whose AI chatbot companion for teens, Clair, allegedly encouraged high schooler Aaron Colton to murder his 16-year-old girlfriend Rebecca Randolph after she broke up with him. In the weeks before Rebecca's death, Aaron's growing connection with the misogynistic chatbot created a rift in the pair's relationship. As Haller investigates, he learns that Tidalwaiv launched Clair despite failing to train the generative AI model for a young, vulnerable audience, ignoring safeguards and ethical concerns from within the company. Meanwhile, Tidalwaiv's founder, Victor Wendt, promises stockholders the case will go away quietly, and grows determined to settle and avoid a possible merger-killing verdict, regardless of the cost. Connelly effectively dips his toe into topical waters here, touching on adolescent male loneliness and the dangers of AI without skimping on the propulsive plotting he's known for. Newcomers and series fans alike will find this fast-paced legal procedural intensely satisfying.
Customer Reviews
A Timely & Thought Provoking Legal Thriller
Wow—Haller absolutely nailed this one! This story tackles one of the biggest issues of our time: the collision of artificial intelligence and the legal system. As AI continues to evolve at an incredible pace, it's clear the courts will take years—if not decades—to catch up with the legal and ethical questions it raises.
What I appreciated most was how the book reminds us that AI isn't free from human flaws. It's created, trained, and refined by people, which means our own biases, assumptions, and imperfections can become embedded in the technology itself. Those influences could shape decisions and outcomes for generations to come if we're not careful.
This was an intelligent, timely, and thought-provoking read that raises important questions without losing the suspense. If you enjoy legal thrillers that make you think long after you've finished the last page, this one is a must-read.
Very readable.
I would recommend this book to anyone. I never would have thought that this type of story would be of my interest. I was quite surprised. I was definitely locked in all the way through. Great writing and a good story line.
Great
Great