The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly, a Book Review

A reporter by the name of Jack McEvoy takes the lead in this Connelly thrill ride. Jack is most famous for his starring role in the 2002 novel called The Poet, which is my favorite Michael Connelly book (I highly recommend it). As we catch up with Jack many years after the events surrounding The Poet, he is now a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, but the recession and the popularity of internet news sites has put his job on the chopping block. As he rides out his last few weeks of being an employed reporter Jack comes across a story that will help him go out with a bang. And that’s how he meets the deeply disturbed, Scarecrow.

So apart from the plot, one reason why I really loved this book was because Mr. Connelly takes the reader into the mind of the killer. Murder mysteries are exciting to read, but unless we are intrigued by the characters, a book can become pretty dry. So what sets this book apart is that not only do we get to follow the hero throughout the novel, we also get to see inside the mind of the killer. And boy is the Scarecrow an intriguing character.

The Scarecrow, the novel, is structured much like The Poet, and Jack McEvoy reflects many times on how The Poet was the pinnacle of his professional and personal life. There is a lot of symbolic irony as we watch one psychotic killer take away what another psychotic killer created.

Overall, The Scarecrow is a thrilling crime masterpiece of murder and sexual perversion. I was capitvated from start to finish. There is no debate that Michael Connelly is a masterful author that continues to create vivid characters that struggle with their own personal battles. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of The Scarecrow on May 26, 2009.

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Rating: 10 out of 10