Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lesserjoke 's review for:
The Scarecrow
by Michael Connelly
Reporter Jack McEvoy has been bouncing around on the periphery of the wider 'Boschiverse' for a while, although he hasn't taken center stage as a viewpoint protagonist since 14 books / 13 years back in The Poet. But he's here again, once more stumbling across a serial killer that law enforcement has missed when he notices a homicide written up in his LA newspaper bears a striking resemblance to one from Vegas the year before: two physically similar victims, each brutally raped, killed, and left in the trunk of her car with evidence pointing to a known associate. Unfortunately for our hero, the true culprit is an expert computer hacker as well, and has set up a digital tripwire to alert him if anyone starts looking online for cases that fit his pattern.
It's the tech stuff that is the least convincing in this story, I think, partly because it's aged poorly since 2009 and partly because it's just so over-the-top in the first place. The villain is canceling credit cards and cell phone plans, draining bank accounts, deleting and forging new emails, and studying documents on the journalist's work network, all while holding down his own high-responsibility job running IT security for a data storage firm (which for some reason involves openly planting child pornography on intruding users' systems and then calling the police on them) and continuing to abduct and murder people. Where ever does he find the time?
This is also one of those rare Michael Connelly titles that doesn't really hold any surprise twists to it, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it can be clunky when such reveals are given either too little or too much support in advance, a tricky balance that the writer doesn't always manage to strike. But on the other hand, knowing the antagonist's identity all along makes this wholly a thriller and not a mystery, and Connelly tends to do his best work at the intersection of those genres. It's possible this novel could have been improved if readers were kept limited to the same information Jack has, rather than periodically getting chapters from the perspective of his named opponent.
But at this point in the extended Harry Bosch series, the author can reliably spin a good crime yarn and his audience knows generally what to expect. Returning fans won't be disappointed by this one, though it probably won't appear on many favorites lists.
[Content warning for gun violence and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
It's the tech stuff that is the least convincing in this story, I think, partly because it's aged poorly since 2009 and partly because it's just so over-the-top in the first place. The villain is canceling credit cards and cell phone plans, draining bank accounts, deleting and forging new emails, and studying documents on the journalist's work network, all while holding down his own high-responsibility job running IT security for a data storage firm (which for some reason involves openly planting child pornography on intruding users' systems and then calling the police on them) and continuing to abduct and murder people. Where ever does he find the time?
This is also one of those rare Michael Connelly titles that doesn't really hold any surprise twists to it, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it can be clunky when such reveals are given either too little or too much support in advance, a tricky balance that the writer doesn't always manage to strike. But on the other hand, knowing the antagonist's identity all along makes this wholly a thriller and not a mystery, and Connelly tends to do his best work at the intersection of those genres. It's possible this novel could have been improved if readers were kept limited to the same information Jack has, rather than periodically getting chapters from the perspective of his named opponent.
But at this point in the extended Harry Bosch series, the author can reliably spin a good crime yarn and his audience knows generally what to expect. Returning fans won't be disappointed by this one, though it probably won't appear on many favorites lists.
[Content warning for gun violence and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6288479-joe-kessler
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog