The Scarecrow

Publisher's 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 Poetmade 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.

©2009 Michael Connelly (P)2009 Hachette

Great newsman fiction from Connelly

As a big fan of Audible's collection of Harry Bosch and Lucas Davenport novels (by Michael Connelly and John Sandford, respectively) I found this novel to be a very good continuation of Connelly's Bosch series. What really struck me as most impressive is the way Connelly has built a whole group of characters around the LA cop beat and newspaper scene. Bosch, of course, is at the center and gets an unnamed nod in the Scarecrow. There's another mention of Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, and Bosch's half-brother. But front and center in this book are LA Times reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI agent Rachael Walling. Both know Bosch, but it's their relationship and teamwork that really add the spark to this book. There's a creepy villain, as usual, and a couple of plot elements that the reader is privy to that the main characters have to discover the hard way. This book is classic Connelly in every way.

The reader is very good and voices the characters very well. I found his voice very easy to listen to. The reason I only gave this four stars, though, is that there are some serious flaws in the direction of this product. The reader flubs several pronunciations, voices, and phrasings throughout the text. This is to be expected, after all the guy is doing 10+ hours of reading, but the director should catch these and suggest "we take that last paragraph again." The production is good, with excellent audio quality throughout and engaging snippets of suspenseful music at key points.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. Classic Connelly.

25 of 25 people found this review helpful

Depth & Breadth

What a great read/listen! High tension, techo-gadgetry made understandable, sick serial killers, death and near-death, careers on the line, a love affair, and steadily building tension.. just when you thought it should end... it takes off again. Narration was superb. The writing was tight and perfectly pitched. The ending explained all the questions formed over the course of the read.

92 of 95 people found this review helpful

Superior Audiobook

"The Scarecrow" was a superior crime novel and very enjoyable. Here are some of the things I liked about it: 1. It got off to a fast start and grabbed my attention during the first few minutes; 2. It has relatively few characters and I could easily keep track of them; 3. The story moved forward and the plot advanced chapter-by-chapter; 4. It was believable; 5. The technology angle was fascinating; and 6. The reader was excellent. This book lies someplace between good literature and pulp fiction. Its entertainment value is high without insulting or degrading the reader. I liked it a lot.

26 of 27 people found this review helpful

Gripping Story

loved this book! I am picky, I am in law enforcement so sometimes this type of fiction is hokey and unreadable for me, but this story keeps you on the edge of your seat til the very end. Great listen!

21 of 22 people found this review helpful

Entertaining

This book kept me entertained throughout and I was sad when it was over. I really liked Jack's character and thought the narrator was excellent. I did think some of the "discoveries" were a bit contrived (especially the scarecrow link at the end) and the ending could have been more compelling; but overall an enjoyable read.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Very Good Novel

I have been listening to a lot of David Baldacci recently and he's okay, but Michael Connelly is so much better. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in a good, serious crime novel.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Top Notch Thriller

Michael Connelly does it again with another terrific plot, interesting characters, and a satisfying read. LA Times reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling track down data collection services where "scarecrows' guard server farms of personal data. Excellent narration by Peter Giles. Highly recommend.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Good Book but....

I enjoyed this latest novel by Connelly, and rate it about 3.5. Good story with some decent twists and turns; bringing some old characters back from his previous novels. It is however a notch or so below some of his previous works, i.e. the Lincoln Lawyer, some of the Bosch novels, and even the Poet. I thought the narrator did an above average job and I did get through the book quite quickly. Connelly apparently has a fascination with technology as evidenced by both this book and one of his previous efforts "Chasing the Dime" which I find only interesting to a point. Luckily, the Scarecrow used the technology angle more sparingly than Chasing the Dime as that book was by far my least favorite of Connelly's efforts. Worth a listen but as I have stated before, check out some of the books listed above if you like this book as I felt they were superior in both plot line and character development...

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

This is a great mystery.

I still hate missing Connely's great detectives Bosch or McCaleb, but this is a really good mystery, great narrative and incredibly realistic.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

THRILLER TO THE END

I have read many "thriller / suspense" stories and have been let down by many near the end of the story. Not so with this book. It is a good read and a good ride to the end and I was very impressed with the narrators telling of the story. Highly reccomended!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful