After making a brief appearance in Michael Connelly’s previous novel, The Brass Verdict, Los Angeles Times reporter Jack McEvoy returns with a novel of his own in The Scarecrow. It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years since Connelly — and presumably McEvoy — published The Poet, a case McEvoy solved while looking into the death of his brother. Similar to The Poet, where homicides of law enforcement officers were made to look like suicides, The Scarecrow features a trunk murder where the killer frames an unwitting suspect. Again, McEvoy makes the connection and once again, FBI agent Rachel Walling risks her job as she helps McEvoy investigate and falls in love with him. In true Connelly fashion, the Times newsroom scenes are totally realistic as Connelly worked as a crime reporter for the paper in the late 1980s before leaving the profession to become a novelist. As someone who left the newspaper industry in 2001, Connelly’s portrayal of the dying print business strikes a chord, as does the book’s polar opposite setting, a high-tech data center in Arizona. As Connelly and McEvoy turn the page on print journalism, I look forward to a future novel where we can see Connelly’s take on — and McEvoy’s work in — Web journalism.
Destinations
- Travel
- Book Reviews (By Author)
- Dennis Lehane
- Ace Atkins
- Alex Berenson
- Mark Billingham
- Lawrence Block
- Anthony Bourdain
- Ken Bruen
- Stephen J. Cannell
- Lee Child
- Michael Connelly
- Robert Crais
- Sean Doolittle
- Paul Eddy
- Joseph Finder
- Jim Fusilli
- Sue Grafton
- Carl Hiaasen
- J.A. Jance
- David Kent
- Stieg Larsson
- Elmore Leonard
- Charles McCarry
- Kyle Mills
- Sara Paretsky
- Robert Parker
- T. Jefferson Parker
- George Pelecanos
- Richard Price
- Ian Rankin
- John Shannon
- Daniel Silva
- Tom Rob Smith
- Boris Starling
- Olen Steinhauer
- Book Reviews (By Genre)
- Food Reviews
- Hawaii Trip
- Traditional Trips
- Train Trips
- Classic Wrestling
Pages
- Hawaii Trip
- Virginia Tech Football Depth Chart
- Priceline Bidding Tips
- Favorite 50 Reading List
- Robert Andrews
- Ace Atkins
- Ted Bell
- Alex Berenson
- Mark Billingham
- J. Carson Black
- Lawrence Block
- Larry Bond
- James O. Born
- Ken Bruen
- Stephen J. Cannell
- Lee Child
- Michael Connelly
- Robert Crais
- Martin Cruz Smith
- Sean Doolittle
- Paul Eddy
- Janet Evanovich
- Joseph Finder
- Frederick Forsyth
- Brian Freeman
- Jim Fusilli
- Tom Gabbay
- James Grady
- Sue Grafton
- David Hagberg
- Carl Hiaasen
- J.A. Jance
- David Kent
- John le Carre'
- Dennis Lehane
- Elmore Leonard
- Charles McCarry
- Michael McGarrity
- Andy McNab
- Kyle Mills
- Sara Paretsky
- Robert Parker
- T. Jefferson Parker
- George Pelecanos
- Richard Price
- Ian Rankin
- John Sandford
- Chris Ryan
- John Shannon
- Daniel Silva
- Tom Rob Smith
- Boris Starling
- Olen Steinhauer
- Brad Thor
- Randy Wayne White
Locations
Afghanistan Amsterdam Arizona Boston Brant California Chicago Cornwall D.C. Dubai Edinburgh Elvis Cole England Evan Tanner Florida Gabriel Allon Galway Geneva Ireland J.P. Beaumont Jack McEvoy Jack Taylor Kentucky Key West London Los Angeles Loudoun County Maine Michigan Montreal Moscow New Orleans New York Nick Travers Paris Russia Scotland Seattle Stockholm Sweden Switzerland U.S. 50 Virginia Washington ZurichArchives