THE SCARECROW
by Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company/
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
www.hachettebookgroup.com
ISBN: 9780316166300

Jack McEvoy became a national bestselling author when he wrote a book about his experience with a serial killer named the Poet, and since then, he’s worked as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. The Times, facing financial woes, decides to lay off 100 employees and Jack’s number 99. Jack decides to make a grand exit by writing a book about a 16-year-old drug dealer who claims he did not confess to strangling a young woman and stuffing her in the trunk of her car, although the police investigators state otherwise. Jack’s research connects this murder to one of a similar nature in Las Vegas, at which time, he notifies FBI agent Rachel Walling, whose arrival saves Jack’s life from a serial murderer enraged that Jack has “outed” him and means to stop Jack from further investigating.

Fans of The Poet will enjoy Jack McEvoy’s reappearance in this book. Connelly takes his reader into the world of print newspapers, emphasizing their continuing decline due to the internet and cable news programs. McEvoy is a character with flaws, which makes him all the more interesting. He teams up with Rachel Walling, who played a part in The Poet, and the two are a strong team as they track the killer, a computer whiz who has stayed below the radar for years while killing and isn’t too happy someone is trying to stop him.