The Scarecrow
by Michael Connelly
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Book Reviews of The Scarecrow
Book Review: "Like the paper and ink newspaper...my time was over."
Summary: 4 Stars
Jack McEvoy is a soon to be ex-journalist in "The Scarecrow," by Michael Connelly. His bosses have given the crime reporter two weeks to clean out his desk and leave his job at the Los Angeles Times. He is not alone. Quite a few others are being cut in a move to reduce costs and keep the newspaper from going under. However, this is cold comfort to a man who loves his job and is very good at it. Even more galling, he is being asked to train his replacement, Angela Cook, an ambitious rookie who is still wet behind the ears "and willing to work for next to nothing." While he considers his options, Jack decides to go out in a blaze of glory. He intends to prove that a sixteen-year-old black youth is innocent of killing a white woman who was found with a bag over her head in the trunk of her car.
Connelly shines when he explores the ins and outs of the traditional newspaper business. As a former crime reporter, he seems to empathize with investigative journalists who do not merely report the news, but give it "b & d," breadth and depth, connecting events with larger societal issues such as racial profiling, police brutality, the war on drugs, and the scourge of street gangs. Connelly falters, however, in his depiction of a serial killer who is brilliant, psychotic, sadistic, sexually repressed, and shrewdly manipulative. Sound familiar? It should, since we have seen this type of criminal countless times before. Because the author reveals the perpetrator's identity early on, the only suspense stems from how long it will take Jack and FBI agent Rachel Walling to connect the dots.
To his credit, Connelly nicely captures the political and cultural ambience of LA. He also explains some of the finer points of computer hacking and identity theft, both timely topics that relate to the criminal's modus operandi. Jack is a likeable protagonist, a "go-with-the-flow" type who still manages to maintain a modicum of integrity and journalistic ethics. Although "The Scarecrow" lacks the sharp edge of Connelly at his best, it is still eminently readable and entertaining. In addition, fans of this talented author can look forward to the forthcoming release of a new Harry Bosch novel, "Nine Dragons," coming out later this year.
Book Review: Doing Everything Right
Summary: 5 Stars
THE SETUP
Jack McEvoy, a newspaper crime writer has just been fired, but has two weeks to train his replacement. He decides on a parting "screw-you" in the form of an article that the newspaper will be compelled to submit for a Pulitzer Prize. The story will be about a black teenager accused of murder. Jack does not believe the young man to be innocent--rather the story will be about how he got into the situation. Of course, the young man is innocent, and Jack is forced into a serious effort to clear him---or at least to find the real serial killer for the sake of authoring a sensational story. That's the setup.
COMMENTS
If I were teaching a course in popular fiction writing, "The Scarecrow" would be a case study in how to do it right. Almost as important as getting everything right, "The Scarecrow"t is free of the sloppy writing and gaffs that plague most popular novels in the general action/intrigue/suspense genre.
There is NO annoying teaser. The purpose of this loathsome device (which has become "standard" in most popular novels) is to snag potential purchasers, who are skimming first chapters in bookstores, with up-front action. Often such teasers have virtually nothing to do with the story. More typically, they only become comprehensible to the reader near the end of the novel, by which time the details have been forgotten. THANK YOU Michael Connelly
There is no filler to pad the page count. The main characters are few and easily identifiable. Although the plot has turns and twists, it is easy to follow. The two principal "good guy" characters are appropriately developed for the genre and easy to relate to and root for. The sex scenes are few and tasteful.
I disagree with some other reviewers. I found nothing gruesome whatsoever in the novel.
True, "The Scarecrow" has a fairly sedate pace--it is NOT one of those novels which grabs you by the throat and won't let go until you've read the last page. However, I appreciate a novel I can enjoy without risking a cardiac event.
THE VERDICT
"The Scarecrow" is superbly written, captivating and entertaining.
Book Review: (4.5 stars) "I had one last deadline and one last murder story to write."
Summary: 5 Stars
The face of crime has changed. Mind-numbing murders still occur, random violence, serial killers, perverted thrill seekers. But with advanced technology, law enforcement faces a more sophisticated field of criminal enterprise, these days tracking suspects "through the labyrinthine portals of the digital world". Author Michael Connelly has kept up with the pace of technological investigation and in this novel he delivers an action-packed, up-to-date thriller that runs the gamut from serial perversions to a digital landscape where a twisted mind preys on the innocent postings of a naïve public. Meanwhile, print journalism continues its slow dance with irrelevance, as crime reporter Jack McEvoy gets pink-slipped by the latest rash of downsizing at the LA Times.
To add insult to injury, Jack is expected to train his replacement, an eager, tech-savvy, young reporter, Angela Cook. As Jack Tackles his last story, the trunk murder of an exotic dancer by a sixteen-year-old gang-banger, Angela searches the internet for related crimes. Random events escalate as McEvoy begins to suspect the murder might not be as simple as first appears and he is suddenly vulnerable to a growing threat. Leaving Angela in the dust, Jack heads for Las Vegas, in a nail-biting cat and mouse chase where the reporter's every move is followed by a killer always a few steps ahead of law enforcement and Jack's inventive approach to reporting.
Connelly is an innovative writer who uses technology to crank up the excitement in a novel riddled with surprises and the outrageous mayhem of a serial killer adept at covering his digital tracks while mining pertinent information on his prey, especially Jack. The story is infused with the harsh reality of today's newspapers, these bastions of the truth, including the LA Times, gradually dismantled to reflect the demands of a changing world. McEvoy may be a dinosaur, but he's not through. The one clear voice in a mixed field of corporate cutbacks, the bureaucratic roadblocks of the FBI and the evil machinations of a monster, Jack stubbornly rides the wave of his last big story at the LA Times. Luan Gaines/2009.
Book Review: Much good fun!
Summary: 4 Stars
I just can't help it. I love Michael Connelly's books. He's one of the few people writing in this genre that consistently delivers a good read. He manages to do this when writing books about his main series character, Hieronymous Bosch, or about other series characters, or when writing stand alone novels. His writing is crisp, his plotting is excellent & I'm always entertained.
This book finds us back again with Jack McEvoy, the erstwhile hero of an earlier book, The Poet. In that book, Jack, a newspaper reporter has helped catch a serial killer & has risen up the newspaper food chain - even writing a best-seller based on the crime. Now, things are much different. The newspaper business is dying, & money for print journalism is drying up - this means layoffs & Jack just got one. His pursuit of his last big story leads him in an unexpected direction & reunites him with Rachel, his love from the first book.
Connelly makes the world of the newspaper believable - he should since he was a reporter once himself. He also handily creates the atmosphere of a company with an ongoing Reduction in Force - I've lived through those, I know what I'm talking about. He's got the dread, the depression, the bravado, the anxiety. All of these elements swirled together with the chase for a new killer make for a fun mix.
I've said before that I appreciate the way Connelly writes L.A. It reminds me a bit of the way the original CSI shows us Las Vegas. Sure, it's the Strip & Fremont Street & tourists & gamblers, but it's also hustlers & the homeless & folks living out the American Suburban Dream. In many ways the Las Vegas of CSI is more real than the actual place, if only because my access is broader.
Connelly's L.A. has Hollywood & Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive, but it's also got Santa Monica & downtown L.A. around the Parker Center. It's got lawyers & cops & reporters & gang bangers & laundry entrepreneurs & he gets that L.A. is all about the hustle. I like a writer who can capture a place & Connelly's one of those.
All in all another satisfying read from a highly dependable writer.
Book Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the things I've always liked about Connelly's books is that his characters seem so realistic, reacting to real-life situations the way we'd expect real-life people to act. "Scarecrow" has that same, real-life feel.
Jack McEvoy is a former ace-reporter, whose recent career has not lived up to his earlier achievements; and he works for the L.A. Times, a newspaper whose former glory is fading too, just like Jack's. Connelly, a former newsman himself, gives a vivid description of the devastating impact that competition from internet and cable news providers has had on print media. The impact on the L.A. Times was so great that they imposed a reduction-in-force, and Jack is the 99th person to be laid off. Even worse, Jack has to train his own replacement. Connelly does an outstanding job describing Jack's inner turmoil as he tries to deal with his humiliating circumstances.
Jack has two weeks to train his replacement, and he resolves to use that time to write one last story, a story that will make such a splash that the paper will have no choice but to keep him on. Jack's last-chance story involves a black teenager accused of brutally raping and killing a young white stripper. Jack thinks he can weasel his way into the boy's confidence and get enough material for a Pulitzer-level, "mind of a young black killer" story, but there are three small problems.
First, Jack's ambitious, young replacement may try to steal the story from him.
Second, Jack's editor may have the hots for the replacement, who happens to be an extremely attractive young woman.
Third, the young black boy sitting in jail may not actually have killed that stripper after all.
And that's when the story really gets interesting.
Jack faces numerous challenges in his search for the truth, his quest for a Pulitzer Prize, and his fight for his job; and the little details that Connelly throws in make each page seem so true-to-life that you feel like you're actually watching it happen yourself.
This is a really good story told by a real master.