Mickey Haller
Mickey Haller is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the story. He is a successful Los Angeles defense attorney who was introduced in the author’s 2005 bestseller The Lincoln Lawyer. The story begins two years after the events covered in that novel which left Haller recovering from being shot. That traumatic event has directly led to an addiction to painkillers and the longest hiatus from a courtroom in Haller’s professional career. In fact, only something as fundamentally enticing as an OJ-level case seems capable of making Haller the lawyer he used to be. Fortunately, Walter Elliot has just been accused of murdering his wife and her lover.
Walter Elliot
As studio head of Archway Pictures and a longtime producer, Elliot officially qualifies as a Hollywood star. For Haller, the serendipitous timing of this tragedy has all the hallmarks of being a “franchise case” on which he can rest his laurels and coast for the rest of his career. There is just one troubling aspect about Eliot. His confidence that he will be completely acquitted of all charges against him seem to reach a level that exceeds mere Hollywood narcissistic solipsism. It is almost as if he has prior knowledge of the verdict even before the trial commences.
Jerry Vincent
The Eliot case actually falls into Haller’s hands as a result of his taking over the caseload of a friend and fellow attorney named Jerry Vincent. The series of events which leads to Haller being handed his “franchise case” starts with the shocking news that Vincent has been murdered. The novel begins with an extensive flashback fifteen years previous when Haller successfully defeated Vincent as opposing counsels in a 1993 trial before leaping ahead to the present day setting of the main story.
Harry Bosch
Harry Bosch was introduced to readers in the author’s 1992 novel The Black Echo and proceeded to become the main character in a robust series of novels. It just so happens that the name of Harry Bosch’s father is Mickey Haller, Sr. Or, in other words, Mickey Haller the attorney is Bosch’s half-brother, though Haller will not realize this connection until the end of the story. Bosch is a detective with the LAPD and he is currently conducting the investigation into the murder of Jerry Vincent. It is through Bosch’s investigation into Vincent's background and the potential reason why anyone would murder him that Haller ultimately learns the secret behind Walter Eliot’s unusually anxiety-free self-confidence that he will be acquitted
