Netflix’sThe Lincoln Lawyeradapts the titular book series by Michael Connelly, but the reading order is different depending on an individual’s goals. The legal drama is one of themost compelling legal dramasin a long time, fully sucking viewers into the story. Fans of the show cannot wait until The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 comes out, but that could still be a few months away.
Some are so eager that they’re turning to the original books to fill the time. Luckily,the bestselling book series is available in paperback, hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats,making it extremely accessible. The order with which fans should read the books changes, though, depending on whether they’re looking to go through all of them in release order or read along with the TV show.
The Lincoln Lawyer Books In Release Order
This Is The Order The Lincoln Lawyer Books Came Out
The best way to read Michael Connelly’sThe Lincoln Lawyerbooks is in the order in which they were released. Since the series only includes 7 books (soon to be 8), it’s more digestible compared to the 25 books in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series. For those who don’t want to read all eight, they can be read separately from each other while making sense, like the author’sHarry Bosch books.
1
2005
2
2008
3
2010
4
2011
5
2013
6
2020
7
2023
8
The Proving Ground
2025
However, there are throughlines that make the stories more enjoyable for readers who are familiar with the backstory. Familiar faces pop up throughout the book series. For instance, Lisa Trammell fromThe Fifth Witnessreturns in a later book to get revenge on Mickey.
On top of that, Mickey continues to grow and change over time throughout theLincoln Lawyerbooks, and it’s moving to see how he becomes more vulnerable with his loved ones. Harry Bosch’s relationship with Mickey Haller especially grows over the course of the books in an organic way. Plus, there’s a fun back-and-forth withMickey and Maggie’s relationship.
The Lincoln Lawyer Books In Show Order
Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer Doesn’t Follow The Release Order
As of the time of writing, three seasons ofThe Lincoln Lawyerare available, with a fourth on the way. However, viewers who want to read along with the show shouldn’t follow the release order. Even though it adapts one book per season,The Lincoln Lawyerskips books 1 and 3. As such, this would be the correct order to read them in:
The Law of Innocence
With the exception of the first season, The Lincoln Lawyer stays pretty faithful to the books. Like the source material, the show combines an episodic and serialized format, focusing more on the overarching, high-profile case that’s packed with mystery. The stories frequently feature unexpected twists and bigger conspiracies.
That being said, The Lincoln Lawyer does make some notable changes that viewers should be aware of before starting the book. Theychanged Mickey Haller to be emotionally expressiveand a bit more lighthearted in the TV show. Hayley Haller is significantly older in the books, studying at university.
Lorna from the show is a combination of the characters Lorna and Jennifer Arnson from the books. Andrea Freeman and Izzy Letts were created for the TV show. In The Gods of Guilt, he was in a relationship with Kendall Roberts instead of Andy, which was something the showrunners cut from Kendall’s role in the show.
Mickey Haller Also Appears In These Bosch Books
The Lincoln Lawyer’s big Bosch issueis discussed frequently. Not only are fans dying to see them work together (Bosch is a former LAPD officer turned PI), but they also have a really interesting relationship. They didn’t grow up together. Mickey didn’t even know Bosch existed until The Brass Verdict. However, their relationship becomes warmer and more consistent as they learn to trust each other.
It’s quite satisfying to see the way they develop as brothers over time. This can be seen in The Lincoln Lawyer books with Harry, but also in the Bosch books with Mickey. These are the books to pick up:
14
2009
18
2015
19
2016
20
2017
22
2019
24
Desert Star(briefly)
2022
TheBoschbooks will be particularly appealing to people who enjoy Michael Connelly’s writing style inThe Lincoln Lawyer, as well as those who enjoy something a little grittier. They have a similar writing style with a distinctly different tone, plus an action-driven protagonist.
Mickey Haller’s pensiveness as a narrator is replaced with Harry Bosch’s action-driven hot-headedness. This will make theBoschbooks with Mickey a fun new experience for fans ofThe Lincoln Lawyer.
Why Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer Skips Books
The Lincoln Lawyer Has A Good Reason For Skipping Books 1 & 3
The reason why the Netflix show skips these books is simple. In 2011, Matthew McConaughey starred in a highly successful movie adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, based on the first book in the series. Given how popular that movie was, it made more sense to start the show withThe Brass Verdict.
Because of this change, the first season required more changes than the subsequent ones, as it needed to introduce the characters, rather than assuming the audience would already know who Mickey Haller, his friends, and his family are.
The third book,The Reversal, was a sensible book to skip because it heavily features Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller’s half-brother. Unfortunately, barring a miracle, Netflix will never be able to use that character, as Prime Video owns the rights to him. They adapted the Bosch books into the seriesBoschand the two spinoffs,Bosch: LegacyandBallard. Hopefully,The Lincoln Lawyerwill find a permanent solution to his absence.
