The Proving Ground

A Lincoln Lawyer Novel

By: Michael Connelly

Narrated by: Peter Giles

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.

Best Lincoln Lawyer yet!

I seldom write reviews but this book is exceptional. Not only is it thoroughly entertaining, it is just as educational and informative. If members of Congress read this, AI regulation would be a priority.

beware

I liked all of it. the court parts was great. Great voices makes me feel like I understand.

Best read in a long time.

Probably the best Lincoln Lawyer story ever. Very entertaining and emotional. The reader is fantastic.

The Lincoln Lawyer Without A Lincoln

I enjoyed the book, but I liked the Lincoln Lawyer better when he was working criminal cases and riding in his Lincoln. The topic of AI was interesting to me, and I thought the civil case had merit. The ending, though, was anti-climactic. I expected more at the end of the trial.

I like that McEvoy was a part of this story. I hope he shows up in future books or gets a fourth book in his series. Too much time was spent on the fires, but I'm sure the author was trying to convey the tragedy and impact that they had on so many people. I didn't understand Maggie's anger at Mickey because of the bribe. He did the right thing, and he couldn't help it that someone tried to take advantage of her situation.

Overall, if you like this series the book is worth reading. It was not fast paced but it still was entertaining.

AI is a Red Tide

This is one scary novel that Michael Connelly has written. It will make you think twice about the future of AI.