The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Scarecrow
Book Review: Classic Connelly
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best Michael Connelly book in years. This novel pairs up LA Times writer Jack McEvoy and FBI agent Rachel Walling. These characters are from the Connelly classic, "The Poet". They have reappeared im several of his other works.
"The Scarecrow" works well on several levels. Connelly's writing is in top form. He is at is best when he takes his time to set the scene (and Connelly, at his best, is without peer in the genre), and he does this here. We are drawn into the decaying world of the big city newspaper. The LA Times is cutting back and Jack McEvoy is one of the latest heads to roll. McEvoy is looking for a final big story on his way out the door.
He introduces to "The Scarecrow" character early on. He is a computer expert working in data storage facility that also likes to murder young women. The "cat and mouse" game that follows is classic Connelly - believable, exciting and very well written. There is no Harry Bosch but this is a "couldn't put it down" thriller of the highest order!!
Book Review: Internet Magic
Summary: 5 Stars
It's been a long time since Michael Connelly was a crime reporter, but the experience has certainly given him plenty to write about. In "The Scarecrow," he chronicles the dying newspaper industry with the emergence of electronic journalism, while writing a first-rate murder mystery. It brings back FBI agent Rachel Walling, who saved Jack McEvoy's life in "The Poet," providing hope for the future after he is RIF'd [i.e., 'reduction in force'] from the LA Times.
But in his last two weeks at the paper, McEvoy undertakes to investigate whether a 16-year-old Watts boy is really guilty of murder and starts developing evidence that there is another serial killer out there. Once again, the author turns to new technology. In "The Poet," a fax machine was crucial; in this novel, the internet and computers play central roles.
As is usual, Connelly's prose and plot are sharp, and the background deep and authentic. Enough said. Highly recommended.
Book Review: A Loving Obituary for American Newspapers
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of Connelly's best mysteries. It is also an obituary for all newspapers, although focused on the Los Angeles TIMES. Not everyone will grieve with Connelly as I do. I was in email contact with an editor at the LA TIMES on a day when 140 people were let go. I have spent months, all told, in the old NYPL Annex and many other libraries reading nineteenth-century newspapers, my head in a microfilm reader or standing in pain over low flat tables turning big pages or, very rarely, working at a high slanted stand kind to the back. I have a special love of American papers when 10 or 12 papers were in tough competition and another 20 or 25 catered to special audiences. Many, many other readers of Connelly will bring their own newspaper history to THE SCARECROW, and grieve in their way. This is a fine mystery, but it is more. This early tribute to the vanishing newspaper may remain one of the most heartbreaking anyone ever writes.Book Review: Who is watching the watch bird
Summary: 5 Stars
The novel has a subplot about the decline in the newspaper publishing business. The hero is Jack McAvoy, who is being terminated from his position at the Los Angeles Times as part of a cutback by the newest corporate owners. The villain is a high tech serial killer. There is another subplot of sorts about identity theft.
The novel alternates back and forth from events viewed by Jack, to events viewed by the killer. Jack wants one last big story to go out of his job with a major headline. The killer is looking for his next victim.
The novel will give you pause for thought about your safety, and the things another person can do to your personal life. In the age of Facebook, email, and twitter, most people have given up a lot of their pricacy - maybe too much. Think about your exposure.
Book Review: The Scarecrow
Summary: 5 Stars
Once again Michael Connelly tells a compelling story through a character who is real and to whom we can relate. In fact, I suspect that Jack McEvoy and Mr. Connelly are related, if not the same person. That's not a bad thing because Mr. Connelly has been writing about what he knows well his entire career. That's why it is real and that is precisley why we love his work. Michael lives vicariously through Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller, but he is Jack McEvoy and what he is telling us through his fiction is real, only he has the creative license to tell it with color and zeal. Yes, we love his work and we want more of it regardless of whether he speaks through Harry, Mickey or Jack. So Michael, keep it up, because we love your work and we love Los Angeles and its grit described as only you can put in on paper.