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The Scarecrow
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The Scarecrow
Unavailable
The Scarecrow
Audiobook11 hours

The Scarecrow

Written by Richard Powers

Narrated by Peter Giles

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

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 Poet made 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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 26, 2009
ISBN9781600245756
Unavailable
The Scarecrow
Author

Richard Powers

Richard Powers is the author of thirteen novels. His most recent, The Overstory, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Book Award, and he has been a four-time National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He lives in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Reviews for The Scarecrow

Rating: 3.7952158075845976 out of 5 stars
4/5

857 ratings57 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This novel represents Michael Connelly taking one of his regular breaks from the chronicles of Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch, although there are a few oblique references to him. The principal character this time is Jack McEvoy, who has figured peripherally in a couple of the Bosch novels, and who was the main protagonist of ‘The Poet’.McEvoy is an experienced reporter, and for the last nine years has been chief crime correspondent for the LA Times. By 2010, however, the paper is struggling to keep its head above water, as hard copy sales diminish, and even its internet version finds difficulty competing with its rival titles. It is, therefore, ‘downsizing’, and McEvoy falls victim to an austerity drive. Because of the exploits recounted in ‘The Poet’, he had come to the paper as a celebrated journalist who could command a high salary. Nine years on, that high salary puts him on a list of reporters that the paper chooses to ‘let go’, giving him a fortnight’s notice and, to add insult to injury, he is asked to train up his young (and therefore much cheaper) replacement.Still dazed from his bruising encounter with the newspaper’s HR department, he receives a call from a woman complaining about the way her son has been represented by both the paper and the police. It transpires that he has been arrested for the murder of a young woman whose mutilated body was found in the boot of her car. McEvoy had run a brief story which closely followed a press notice issued by the police. Conscious that there may be some mileage in investigating further, thinking it might make for an interesting final case with the paper, he resolves to look into the case more deeply.Working with his prospective replacement, who emerges as already highly capable, and desperately ambitious, he uncovers some anomalies in the police handling of the case. Having reviewed the available evidence, he comes seriously to question the conclusions that the police have arrived at, and believes that the man in custody may be innocent. He and his new partner also uncover some strong similarities to a previous murder.Like ‘The Poet’, this novel is principally recounted in a first-person narrative from Jack McEvoy, occasionally interspersed with third person authorial narration following the actual murder. He is a computer expert and accomplished hacker, who is able to follow McEvoy’s investigation from afar.This is Connelly being as accomplished as ever: a strong, watertight plot and highly plausible characters. Connelly just seems to get even better as time goes on.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was far from the quality of writing I've come to expect from the author. The cast of characters was two-dimensional. There was no sense at all that he knew anything about the things he was writing. He does best when writing about Harry Bosch. I have not yet truly enjoyed any of his other characters when they were the focus of a book. I gave this three stars only because it was a mindless way to pass an even more boring afternoon.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I loved the first 80% of this book and stayed up all night reading it, but the ending was TERRIBLE! What drew me in about the first part was the realism of the descriptions of newspaper reporting, paired with a fairly plausible crime story. But when the mild-mannered newspaper reporter suddenly starting duking it out with bad guys I found it hard to suspend my disbelief.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jack McEvoy and Rachel Walling pair up after many years to try to solve a series of sadistic killings of young women, while the reader knows who the perpetrator is and can predict the next horrific event.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Scarecrow was Connelly's twentieth published novel and features Jack McEvoy, a Los Angeles Times crime reporter and Rachel Walling, the FBI's top profiler. Both characters worked together in The Poet, which had been published thirteen years earlier. The novel carries many similarities to Connelly's Bosch series, simply with different characters. It is recommended for anyone who enjoys the Bosch series or Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer series.

    It is, without question, a terrific and well-written story that captures the reader from the beginning and does not let go. It contains elements of police procedural crime stories, legal thrillers, and serial killers. It is also quite a modern story which takes place in the internet age with cell phones, hackers, and server farms. Connelly does tell the story from multiple points of view, at times intersplicing brief chapters from the killer's point of view.

    Without giving anything away, it is a terrific book and one of Connelly's best ever. Enjoy!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good, would give it 3.75 stars if I could.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loved this book and finished in one day-love the Jack McEvoy series. Brilliant writing by Connelly---get the audio as Peter Giles is outstanding!

    McEvoy is at the end of the line as a crime reporter. Forced to take a buy-out from the Los Angeles Times as the newspaper grapples with dwindling revenues, he's got only a few days left on the job. His last assignment? Training his replacement, a low-cost reporter just out of journalism school. But Jack has other plans for his exit. He is going to go out with a bang--a final story that will win the newspaper journalism's highest honor a Pulitzer prize.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jack McEvoy is at the end of the line as a crime reporter. Once a hotshot in the newsroom, Jack is now in the crosshairs of the latest set of layoffs at the Los Angeles Times. He decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paper to write the definitive murder story of his career. Jack focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a sixteen-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to the brutal murder of a young woman found strangled in the trunk of her car. Jack plans to write about how societal dysfunction and neglect created a teenage killer. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes the Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent. When Jack connects the LA Trunk murder to an earlier murder in Las Vegas, he is off and running on the biggest story he's had since The Poet crossed his path years before. This time Jack is onto a killer who has worked completely below police and FBI radar - and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. What Jack doesn't know is that his investigation has inadvertently set off a digital trip wire. The killer knows Jack is coming - he's ready.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rachel Walling, but no Harry Bosch. A crime story set against a backdrop of failing newspapers starring Jack McEvoy of Poet fame. I think it could have been a little longer to better tie in Western Data and the crime spree, but it was relatively clear. Think character development of the Scarecrow and his crew was a little lacking, maybe could have been done with less back and forth with McEvoy and his news room buddies. Overall, a good read
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A page turner but a bit formulaic. Characters don't really have much depth or complexity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not as suspense-filled as the Harry Bosch series, since you basically know from the outset who the bad guys are and it's just a matter for the good guys to figure it out and deal with them. The best part, for me, was the insider's look at the LA Times, the details of how a story gets budgeted and written. Connelly, a former Times reporter, brings a lot out that I didn't know before. He also gets to air his sorrow at the decline of the newspaper business, perhaps a bit too much.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Easy to read, fast paced, but somewhat shallow suspense tale with squeamish possibilities - serial killers that torture their victims. Yuck.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Jack McEvoy is a journalist who has been given his notice. He wants to leave with a bang so is soon on the case of catching a murderer, the Scarecrow.This version I read is a condensed edition for the Readers Digest. Not sure how much of the original was taken out but I don't think for me it made little difference. This is the second book to feature Jack McEvoy who I found quite a pleasing character. I do always prefer to read in order but don't think it mattered too much on this occasion. The story I found quite average. I've only ever read one other book before by Michael Connelly which was The Lincoln Lawyer and that I also found an average ok read. With this story it was based around computers, tripwire, hacking and I'm afraid I'm not the most of technical people do sometimes the story can be abit mind boggling. From what I learnt about Jacks previous book I have a feeling i may have enjoyed that better.Overall a quick ok thriller and I finished the book so I must have been ok with it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a great book!!! Michael Connelly is such an excellent author! I'm glad I heeded the suggestions to read his previous book "The Poet" first - - - - it added a richer feel and understanding of the characters and their backstories.

    This book was also very educational, as to how what we post on the internet can be used against us by some wacko who wants to study the background of his next potential victim. Spooky stuff!

    Jack McEvoy is an LA Times journalist who has just been given his two weeks notice and checks into an apparently inconsequential story. But the more he investigates, the deeper and broader this story becomes. Plus he gets to work with Rachel Walling, his former paramour from the FBI Behavioral Analysis unit.

    Terrific story. I recommend this and really ALL of Michael Connelly's books to anyone who enjoys a god crime thriller.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    this is not my normal genre, but in the spirit of summer as the time to explore new areas I gave it a try - a page turner even in audio!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A really great thriller by Connelly. This one features reporter Jack McEvoy and FBI Agent Rachel Walling. Jack is contacted by a family member of a person that he wrote about for the newspaper who insists that they are innocent. Jack decides to do some research and finds another crime that is identical. He and Rachel team up to bring down the killer know as the Scarecrow while he is trying to destroy them. Where will the cat and mouse game end...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A good Michael Connelly novel, although the Jack McEvoy character is not as well defined as Harry Bosch, Connelly's main hero. One of the problems with the plot is that you no who the Scarecrow is fairly early on, so the story is more about trying to catch him than a whodunit mystery
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    a jack mcavoy book - the reporter that was in the Poet and Rachel Walling. Good story about a serial killer that is a data geek (named Wesley Carver). Excellent listen though started a little slow.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was slightly disappointed by this book. Not sure why, because Void Moon and The Lincoln L awyer were both excellent reads. Maybe the subject matter just left me a little cold.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a sequel to The Poet, which was a good read. The Scarecrow's is well written and well characterized, but it isn't as suspenseful as the Poet or Black Echo was. Maybe I'm becoming too familiar with Connelly's writing and there's some predictability. Another factor though is that this one even more than The Poet was written from both McEvoy's point of view and the villain's. From the beginning, there's no mystery for the reader to solve, you only wonder how or whether the protagonists will catch the villain. Among the suspense/thrillers I've read, this technique seems surprisingly common. Other more convincing books with that dual perspective for the reader include Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal and Higgins' The Eagle Has Landed. But in The Scarecrow I think it would have been a stronger book if we didn't know so much about what the killer does, how he plans and operates before McEvoy uncovers it all.This was the third Connelly book I read. Black Echo, The Poet, then Scarecrow. The character of Jack McEvoy is convincing and human, no doubt written so well since he works the same job Connelly himself held for so many years. He's a heroic alter ego of the author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fun listen, twists and turns of plot kept me engaged.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting plot for this serial killer book. I wonder if there are really people out there that can hack computers as well as this guy can.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reporter being downsized out of the LA Times begins writing his last big story along with his replacement but instead becomes part of the story as a serial killer targets him and his girlfriend, an FBI agent. It becomes apparent that the killer has an accomplice and has computer hacking knowledge.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    quick summer read. not deep. no sursprises. not really my style.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Delighted to find this in our holiday cottage and quickly read it. Jack McEvoy a crime reporter on the LA Times who has been downsized out of a job, seizes an opportunity of one last scoop to go out on a high. The story seems to be an innocent black juvenile accused of murder but soon becomes a much deeper,darker story. Great holiday read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book in the Jack McEvoy series sees Jack being laid off by the newspaper and wanting to go out in style. One last story to show them that they shouldn't have let him go. But what can he find?The story of a 16 year old drug dealer who's grandmother says he was wrongly accused of murder seems like the ideal story. One that can be done in a week, show him as a good reporter and see him leave in glory. However this was until he finds an undercurrent to the story which leads to the discovery of a serial killer and then means that he is being chased down so that the story can be killed and this is only done with him dying.This is the sort of murder story you do not want to put down. It is pure fiction at its best as you lose yourself in it and then when you next look you are 50 odd pages further on in the book. Read it and enjoy every page please!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was great as an audio book.Lots of surprises and the protagonist as a newspaper reporter kept me interested.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Best Michael Connelly in awhile. Great tense thriller recalling the characters from The Poet.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book. It is very timely, with really up to date references to what is happening in the newspaper biz and the far reach of the internet. I was very glad to see a new protagonist....I liked him a lot. When an author is writing a series around a central figure, it starts to get old for me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The only other book I've read by Michael Connelly is "The Lincoln Lawyer." Based on reading those two books, I would say that one of the unique features of his mysteries is that in the course of defining his protagonist, the reader will learn a lot about his/her profession. In "The Lincoln Lawyer", you learn a lot about what it is like to be a criminal attorney who is forced to defend someone he knows is guilty. In "The Scarcrow," you learn a lot about what it is like to work as a journalist for a major newspaper, in this case the L.A. times. I found this an interesting enough story, but I would have preferred to learn more about the serial killer the book is named after. When you do learn about what motivates and drives him, it's pretty much in the last few pages of the book. A few hints are dropped here and there, but aside from that, the bad guy remains pretty much a stock character. I didn't dislike the book, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone other than hardcore Michael Connelly fans, those who want to read everything he has written.