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Tuesday, October 21, 2025

The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly

 
First Line: To some it's a stage.

Needing a new direction, Mickey Haller has turned to public interest litigation. He's filed 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.

As Mickey explores the mostly unregulated and exploding AI business and its lack of training guardrails, he joins up with investigative journalist Jack McEvoy. McEvoy wants to be a fly on the wall during the trial so he can write a book about it. Haller puts McEvoy to work wading through the mountains of printed discovery materials in the case, and McEvoy's digging delivers the reluctant key witness. The witness has every reason to be reluctant. This is a very dangerous case because billions of dollars are at stake, and Mickey Haller will have to come up with a brilliant strategy to defeat the forces of the AI industry lined up against him and his clients.

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Michael Connelly has done it again-- and with a subject that concerns me more with each passing day. While readers get an update on Harry Bosch as well as being able to see what happened in the Los Angeles area during Covid and the wildfires, Mickey Haller's battle against the artificial intelligence industry takes front and center stage in The Proving Ground.

While Mickey hoped that his switch from criminal law to civil law would be less fraught, this lawsuit soon shows him that civil law is every bit as grimy and dangerous. McEvoy's expertise in digging through endless reams of facts is invaluable, and I enjoyed his inclusion as well as watching the rest of the team do everything they could to bring a heartless business to justice. 

The plot of The Proving Ground is filled with twists and turns, even bringing in a case that Mickey lost years ago. The Lincoln Lawyer anticipates some of those twists and turns, but he gets blindsided by others, and this really keeps readers on their toes. 

As much as I enjoyed the plot and the characters, I think what I learned about artificial intelligence meant even more to me. When I think of AI, I'm often reminded of Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park when he says, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." Michael Connelly's The Proving Ground is not only excellent entertainment, but it also warns us of a clear and present danger.

The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly
eISBN: 9780316563840
Little, Brown & Company © 2025
eBook, 400 pages

Legal Thriller, #9 Mickey Haller
Rating: A+
Source: Net Galley

3 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to reading this one. I love his Mickey Haller books.

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  2. Another Connelly thriller - what great news! I'm looking forward to it!

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  3. Everything I've seen about AI justifies the storyline you described (which is no surprise, given that it's Connelly's work). And I'm delighted by the inclusion of McEvoy as well; I just have to be patient waiting my turn to come from the library.

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