Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Review: The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

I am a HUGE Michael Connelly fan and was very excited to see two books coming out this year! Scarecrow came out over the summer and I read it last week.

Summary: Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paper to write the definitive murder story of his career.

He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent.

Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar--and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack's.


It had been awhile since I had read about these characters so had to search my brain a bit for the details I remembered. Given my swiss-cheese brain, it was not the easiest thing to do! But I digress.

I enjoyed Jack! He was so believable I wanted to slap him a few times. LOL The other characters are quite fun and pull the book together well. The plot was fun, suspenseful and interesing.

But.

There was something about the book that is keeping me from saying this is one of my top reads of the year. It took me about a week to get through this book. I know that may not sound like a long time, but it is for me for a favorite author in my favorite genre. However, I can't put my finger on it. It was still a good book though and I do recommend reading it, especially if you like Michael Connelly.

Rating: 4/5 stars

2 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

The Scarecrow, sounds great. Connelly writes a great suspense novel. I'm also looking forward to 9 Dragons.

bermudaonion said...

I just read my first Michael Connelly book and I'm definitely hooked. I want to go back and start the series from the beginning.