Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Very good book that will keep you reading until the end... interesting story with a LA Times reporter on a typical day when his career changes for the worse. He decides to go out on a limb and investigate a phone call... little did he know the full implications!
Good book. I think I accidentally reread it though so there weren't too many surprises.
The main reason why I am not giving this five stars is that it's a bit much that Jack keeps facing off against killers. It's okay that he's a reporter and that's it. Also the story gets a little lost at times I thought. It picks up when Jack meets Rachel again, but I wish that Connelly actually spent more time in going into Jack's life up until this book. We just get a really quick series of things dropped on us as readers. Jack is now divorced (to who?) is working for the paper (what happened to his book thing? We get that addressed eventually) what happened to his sister in law? What happened with his parents? There's a lot of things I still don't think got addressed int his one. I am glad I finished though since I plan to read the next book in this series soon.
"The Scarecrow" picks up 12 years after the events in the first book in the Jack McEvoy series. Jack is working for the Los Angeles Times and is number 99 on the list of journalists who are getting RIFed (I work for the government, we have a fear of that acronym). Jack is told to train his replacement (which ouch people) and decides on the last two weeks of the job to look into a case where a grandmother says her grandson did not murder a woman and leave her body in a trunk. Jack quickly runs down leads and realizes that it appears a serial killer is on the loose. He calls up ex-lover Rachel Walling who is still with the FBI. Rachel initially dismisses Jack, but soon enough realizes he may be telling the truth. The two of them go head to head with a serial killer who seems to know their every move.
So first off, I ended up liking Jack more in this one. The petulance of the character seems to be way down in this installment. He still tries to get indignant about things, but it didn't bug me as much as it did in the first book. We know that Jack has been keeping tabs on Rachel, and Rachel rightfully so has wanted nothing to do with him since the events in the first book. I liked the two of them together in this one and I definitely enjoyed it when Rachel explains about the whole "one bullet" theory. We get more characters in this one, but I have to say that I didn't really have interest in the "Scarecrow." Per usual we get some hints about the serial killer in this one, but nothing is ever definitely found in the end. I think I like Bosch novels more because at least with Harry, he's chasing down leads so you can see the full picture of the bad guy(s) that he is after.
The writing was good in this one, it's a bit different since Connelly rails at times about how the world of journalism has changed because of the internet. I wonder how Connelly would change up this book in the year of 2020 with so many newspapers and sites going under?
The flow was off a bit, since Connelly switches between Jack's POV and then the "Scarecrow.". Those sections were so short that you won't miss anything by skipping them. They started to read very repetitive after a while.
The ending leaves things on a new note with Jack and am interested to see how things work out in book #3. I do have to say that the book kind of loses steam at the last 10 percent. I just think Connelly wanted to throw in a twist without seeing if it worked and then we are left going wait did I miss something? This also I think is a bit shorter than his usual novels. I got to the 87 percent mark on my Kindle and that was it. The book just does sneak peeks and an interview with Connelly.
"The Scarecrow" picks up 12 years after the events in the first book in the Jack McEvoy series. Jack is working for the Los Angeles Times and is number 99 on the list of journalists who are getting RIFed (I work for the government, we have a fear of that acronym). Jack is told to train his replacement (which ouch people) and decides on the last two weeks of the job to look into a case where a grandmother says her grandson did not murder a woman and leave her body in a trunk. Jack quickly runs down leads and realizes that it appears a serial killer is on the loose. He calls up ex-lover Rachel Walling who is still with the FBI. Rachel initially dismisses Jack, but soon enough realizes he may be telling the truth. The two of them go head to head with a serial killer who seems to know their every move.
So first off, I ended up liking Jack more in this one. The petulance of the character seems to be way down in this installment. He still tries to get indignant about things, but it didn't bug me as much as it did in the first book. We know that Jack has been keeping tabs on Rachel, and Rachel rightfully so has wanted nothing to do with him since the events in the first book. I liked the two of them together in this one and I definitely enjoyed it when Rachel explains about the whole "one bullet" theory. We get more characters in this one, but I have to say that I didn't really have interest in the "Scarecrow." Per usual we get some hints about the serial killer in this one, but nothing is ever definitely found in the end. I think I like Bosch novels more because at least with Harry, he's chasing down leads so you can see the full picture of the bad guy(s) that he is after.
The writing was good in this one, it's a bit different since Connelly rails at times about how the world of journalism has changed because of the internet. I wonder how Connelly would change up this book in the year of 2020 with so many newspapers and sites going under?
The flow was off a bit, since Connelly switches between Jack's POV and then the "Scarecrow.". Those sections were so short that you won't miss anything by skipping them. They started to read very repetitive after a while.
The ending leaves things on a new note with Jack and am interested to see how things work out in book #3. I do have to say that the book kind of loses steam at the last 10 percent. I just think Connelly wanted to throw in a twist without seeing if it worked and then we are left going wait did I miss something? This also I think is a bit shorter than his usual novels. I got to the 87 percent mark on my Kindle and that was it. The book just does sneak peeks and an interview with Connelly.
The Scarecrow combines the depraved sexuality of serial killer novels with the paranoia inducing cyber-stalking theme of movies such as The Net or Eagle Eye.
The story begins with a brief insight into the killers world, and the seemingly unrelated plotline of a recently sacked journalist investigating a case of false murder accusation. The pace starts slow, which isn't too bad, we get to know our hero well and as the plot develops we really get the sense of panic as the killer closes in on our journalist. Aside from some questionable racial apologetics "Call be biased" The beginning of the novel builds the character and sets up the conspiriacy well.
Right about mid-way through the novel the tension is turned up into overdrive and I thought - awesome, here we go - then everything meanders. What should have been a high-tension thrill ride for the rest of the novel became a dull slog through procedural crap that was failing to interest and a fairly boring progression to catching the bad-guy.
And this is a complaint I have about this theme in thrillers. Many authors put a huge amount of effort into establishing a fierce adversary who has an iron fisted control of technology who can ruin the protaganist's life on a whim. But then, perhaps in a fit of writers block or mal-inspiration have the hero simply find the bad-guy and kick his ass. Now I have nothing wrong with a deserved ass kicking, but when the baddie is some kind of controlling genius, I really expect the hero to out-wit them or find a novel solution that defeats the seemingly unstoppable villian and perhaps win the day in a poetic way. Am I asking to much?
In the end scarecrow is a decent thriller, with just a couple of faults, namely being formulatic and occasionally suffering clusmy prose, recommended to genre fans.
The story begins with a brief insight into the killers world, and the seemingly unrelated plotline of a recently sacked journalist investigating a case of false murder accusation. The pace starts slow, which isn't too bad, we get to know our hero well and as the plot develops we really get the sense of panic as the killer closes in on our journalist. Aside from some questionable racial apologetics "Call be biased" The beginning of the novel builds the character and sets up the conspiriacy well.
Right about mid-way through the novel the tension is turned up into overdrive and I thought - awesome, here we go - then everything meanders. What should have been a high-tension thrill ride for the rest of the novel became a dull slog through procedural crap that was failing to interest and a fairly boring progression to catching the bad-guy.
And this is a complaint I have about this theme in thrillers. Many authors put a huge amount of effort into establishing a fierce adversary who has an iron fisted control of technology who can ruin the protaganist's life on a whim. But then, perhaps in a fit of writers block or mal-inspiration have the hero simply find the bad-guy and kick his ass. Now I have nothing wrong with a deserved ass kicking, but when the baddie is some kind of controlling genius, I really expect the hero to out-wit them or find a novel solution that defeats the seemingly unstoppable villian and perhaps win the day in a poetic way. Am I asking to much?
In the end scarecrow is a decent thriller, with just a couple of faults, namely being formulatic and occasionally suffering clusmy prose, recommended to genre fans.
Reporter Jack McEvoy, who got the dreaded Poet, is back again against another monster. With him is FBI agent Rachel Walling - but no sign of Harry Bosch.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Best Michael Connelly in awhile. Great tense thriller recalling the characters from The Poet.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No