THE SCARECROW

TITLE: THE SCARECROW
AUTHOR: MICHAEL CONNELLY
Pages: 419
Date: 07/06/2009
Grade: 5
Details: no. 2 Jack McEvoy Thriller
Library

Michael Connelly does write a good thriller, and I wish he could write them faster. This is another of the very good ones and reunites Jack McEvoy, journalist and Rachel Walling, FBI agent, who first worked together in THE POET.
Jack has been given his walking papers from The Times and is working out his last two weeks when he is contacted by the (grand)mother of a 16 year old black gang-member who has allegedly confessed to murdering a white woman. She claims the boy is innocent, and although Jack doesn't believe that, he does smell a good final story and starts digging.
Little does he know that his digging has alerted the real killer, who is now after jack and those connected to his search. A killer, very good at staying under the radar and always one step ahead of his opposition.
Once again reunited with Rachel Waller, his is up against it. And while both of them have job problems, there are far more essential things at stake.
The only reason this book scored a 5 without any "pluses" is that the killer was known from the first page. It didn't lessen the quality of the story, but I do prefer it when the identity of the killer is a mystery and/or the story ends in a major twist.
On the other hand, I did enjoy the references to earlier Connelly books like ECHO PARK and THE LINCOLN LAWYER.
This was my second and final book in the twelve hour Mystery Read-A-Thon, and I have to say I loved to have a day filled with little else but reading.