Laid-Off Reporter Fights Crime

Michael Connelly’s new novel, The Scarecrow, is scary, yes, but not just for its portrayal of horrifying sex crimes. It’s the dying newspaper industry that will send chills down readers’ spines. The novel's antihero, "over-40 cop shop reporter" Jack McEvoy, is laid off from the Los Angeles Times. He spends much of the novel putting his unwanted reportorial skills to work in order to ferret out the book's villian, The Scarecrow. Janet Maslin says the book is compelling but the ending rushed. "It’s tantalizing to imagine what Mr. Connelly might accomplish if he ever took his time," she writes.