The Scarecrow

Starred review from March 30, 2009
Bestseller Connelly comments on the plight of print journalism in a nail-biting thriller featuring reporter Jack McEvoy, last seen in 2004's The Narrows
. When Jack is laid off from the L.A. Times
with 14 days' notice to tie up loose ends, he decides to go out with a bang. What starts as a story about the wrongful arrest of a young gangbanger for the brutal rape and murder of an exotic dancer turns out to be just the tip of an iceberg that takes McEvoy from the Nevada desert to a futuristic data-hosting facility in Arizona. FBI agent Rachel Walling, with whom he worked on a serial killer case in 1996's The Poet
, soon joins the hunt, but as the pair uncover more about the killer and his unsettling predilections, they realize that they too are being hunted. With every switch between McEvoy's voice and the villain's, Connelly ratchets up the tension. This magnificent effort is a reminder of why Connelly is one of today's top crime authors. 8-city author tour.

Starred review from July 27, 2009
Connelly hits it out of the park with one of the best thrillers of the year. Seasoned reporter Jack McEvoy has just been laid off from his job at the Los Angeles Times
and—to add insult to injury—is assigned to train his replacement, a precocious young woman who will work for half his salary with none of his experience. But McEvoy will not go gently into the land of the downsized: he still has one last story to cover featuring a killer who dumps his victims in the trunk of a car. Peter Giles brings a skilled and intimate feel to his reading without losing the chilling momentum; at one point he relays a beautifully built scene that contains one of the best “gotcha” moments in some time. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 30).

L.A. TIMES crime reporter Jack McEvoy reflects the current state of the newspaper business as he fantasizes about freeing a convict who's not guilty and capturing a vicious serial killer two weeks before he's laid-off. Narrator Peter Giles delivers the crisp and compelling copy with a deadpan tone and a pace that advances like Patton through Italy. Working again with FBI agent Rachel Walling, with whom he worked on a serial killer case in THE POET, McEvoy is a strong character who shows a soft side when he falls in love with Wallling. Scenes involving the stalking of McEvoy and Walling raise hairs at the back of the listener's neck. Great characters and a satisfying ending cement Connelly's place as one of the best crime novelists working today. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine