The Proving Ground - Michael Connelly

The Proving Ground

ByMichael Connelly

  • Release Date: 2025-10-21
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 2,985 Ratings

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.

Reviews

  • The proving ground

    5
    By Bibi Cakes1
    Wow. What an incredible book. So well written and interesting.
  • Underwhelming

    3
    By Super fun and entertaining
    While the book was entertaining to an extent, I feel like this was the worst of the Lincoln Lawyer novels. The ending felt very anticlimactic and I was left wanting there to be more to the story.
  • Haller at His Best

    5
    By Eyerish21
    As I read the Lincoln Lawyer series Matthew McConaughey voice is the one in my head as Mickey, not Manuel Garcia Rulfo. It drives me crazy while watching the show that he is called Holler, not Haller.
  • Deeply engaging

    5
    By SheWhoIs
    From page one, this book grabbed my attention and interest. It is as contemporary as it can be concerning AI and the current political angst many of us feel deeply. Thoroughly enjoyable!
  • Fabulous

    5
    By LQ Shopper
    Another spellbinding, fascinating story from my favorite author.
  • The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly

    5
    By bogie14086
    Another fine work by Michael Connelly. It gave me some insight into the world of AI that I previously was lacking. We should all be cautious about this new technology before diving in head first! I’m sure AI can be a very useful technology but it also should be monitored closely by those in the know.
  • The Proving Ground

    5
    By JBLakers
    One of his best. Love Haller moving to civil trials that opens up all kinds of possibilities.
  • Very Timely

    5
    By MinRay
    This is typical Michael Connelly with well-drawn characters and fun plot twists. The focus on the upside and downside of AI couldn’t be more timely.
  • The Proving Ground

    2
    By Say-Say Jane
    It was ok, but he would much better suited going back to writing Bosch novels. More interesting and deeper than Haller, and lawyer stories are not my cup of tea. Prequels, maybe.
  • Excellent

    5
    By Uncle folger
    Excellent book. Well written, as always, and compelling story. 5 stars

About "The Proving Ground"

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