The proving ground

Bestseller Connelly crafts a riveting eighth case for attorney Mickey Haller (after Resurrection Walk). Now focused on civil litigation after building his reputation in criminal defense, Haller takes on a high-stakes negligence suit against Tidalwaiv Technologies, a tech company whose AI chatbot companion for teens, Clair, allegedly encouraged high schooler Aaron Colton to murder his 16-year-old girlfriend Rebecca Randolph after she broke up with him. In the weeks before Rebecca's death, Aaron's growing connection with the misogynistic chatbot created a rift in the pair's relationship. As Haller investigates, he learns that Tidalwaiv launched Clair despite failing to train the generative AI model for a young, vulnerable audience, ignoring safeguards and ethical concerns from within the company. Meanwhile, Tidalwaiv's founder, Victor Wendt, promises stockholders the case will go away quietly, and grows determined to settle and avoid a possible merger-killing verdict, regardless of the cost. Connelly effectively dips his toe into topical waters here, touching on adolescent male loneliness and the dangers of AI without skimping on the propulsive plotting he's known for. Newcomers and series fans alike will find this fast-paced legal procedural intensely satisfying. Agent: Heather Rizzo, Rizzo Literary. (Oct.)