When veteran cop-beat reporter Jack McEvoy gets pink-
slipped, he decides to write his final piece with an eye on
a Pulitzer. And why not? Jack already has one bestseller
under his belt and more than a decade's worth of
experience.
Jack has two weeks to train his replacement and turn in his
story, which revolves around an impoverished young gang-
banger-turned-killer. The farther Jack gets into the story,
the more convinced he becomes that the kid is actually
innocent. As Jack and his young trainee get closer to the
truth, the murderer turns a cold eye on the two of them.
It's not long before Jack does prove the kid's innocence
but with devastating consequences to the team.
Jack turns to the FBI and his old friend Rachel Walling for
help. It's a race against time with a killer who is an
expert at navigating the information highway we call the
Internet. Jack and Rachel can't make a move that the killer
doesn't track. He manages to stay two steps ahead of them
as he seamlessly covers his tracks and plans his
disappearance. He plans for Jack and Rachel to disappear as
well, permanently.
THE SCARECROW works on so many levels. It's an excellent
thriller, fast-paced and hard to put down. The idea that
there are people who can mess with your life with a few
keystrokes gives most of us nightmares. Emptying bank
accounts, canceling credit cards; this is the stuff of real
nightmares. It's hard to be sure how often it actually
happens and how many of the stories are urban legends, but
it pushes our buttons just the same. Set in Harry Bosch's
world but without the actual Harry, Jack (from Connelly's
novel THE POET) and Rachel make a fine team. I stopped
hoping Harry would show up fairly early in. Well...not
really, but this novel doesn't suffer any because he's not
here. The other plotline in THE SCARECROW is the death of
the newspaper. It's a crime and one that Jack, Rachel...and
Harry can't begin to solve.
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 paperto 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.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy