Book Review- Michael Connelly- The Poet

Michael Connelly- The Poet (Warner Books 2004) 3.75 Stars

Jack McEvoy has a comfortable position in the newspaper he works for. He gets to cover death and picks his own stories. Suddenly police brother dies and it is ruled suicide, but that just doesn’t add up for Jack. Now he is choosing to write a story about police deaths, which means he can investigate the circumstances around his brother’s death. He quickly discovers that his suspicions were actually fact, his brother was murdered and now he is going to find out just who is responsible for this atrocity. A serial killer is on the loose and he is leaving quotes from Edgar Allan Poe as his calling card. If Jack is careful this may very well end up being the last story he ever writes.

I loved the opening sentence as it was an interesting way to start off a book. The opening pages were not the most intriguing, but it was necessary for setting the stage for the rest of the book. I did find myself wishing it was a little bit more attention grabbing however, I have never found it take this long to get into a Connelly book. He set the ball rolling early on with Jack’s suspicions though which was good. I liked the character of Jack as he was a nice change from Harry Bosch, whom I do enjoy reading about. I did not enjoy the amount of sex in this book, although that can be very hard to avoid nowadays. The plot in this book was well planned and well executed from an experienced and hardened writer. I enjoyed the ending twist Connelly played me liked a fiddle. I completely thought he was going one way and was disappointed in the fact that I had suspected it all along, but then he hits one to left field were my fielding was weak, and I was like, “Whoa man! Were did that come from?” I loved to get shocked in a book, it says a lot about the skill of the author. I also liked how the first sentence in the closing chapters is the same as the opening line, as it ties the beginning in perfectly.

I recommend The Poet to thriller lovers and Connelly fans.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

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