The Scarecrow

The Scarecrow

It’s the second of the — so far — trilogy of Connelly books, set against a backdrop of the news business. Sort of newspaper, but then, that’s kind of a joke these days. However, the notion is still there, and the idea that the 4th Estate still does some good, except when it becomes parody of itself.

Like faux news

The scarecrow

The Scarecrow

I’m not allowed to comment, as I never professed1 to being fair and objective. However, as a clearly biased look at the book, the problem being, I’d already read Fair Warning, the last book in the series (so far), and with that behind me, I know that the hero, or anti-hero, or flawed and seriously messed up human of a character, the first-Edson narrator of most of the tale, I know he will survive. The notion is, a good book, it rips along, asks questions, and leaves some of those for the reader to answer for him or her self.

I’m good with that.

There’s a creepiness factor, and while I haven’t read much, if any, of the Bosch series, I admire the way the creepiness, death, gore, and other aberrant behaviors is handled. Gets right up next to the edge without going over it.

The story loops back on itself, towards the end, with a personal bonus point in that I spent time in the Phoenix area, and at one point, bouncing in and out of the old Sky Harbor airport. Not part of the setting, but sort of.

There was a trip out there, around the beginning of the double-aughts, and I recall covering much the same ground as depicted in the novel.

Sidebar item: wasn’t GoDaddy located there? Plot point, never mind.

Onto the book itself, ripping read, with points for getting into serial killer’s mind without overstepping bounds. I got into this series from a Stephen King recommendation, and I understand why. The first book was hard to beat, but this arrived as a good sophomore effort. Credible. Works the way it is supposed to work. Narrative gets to the point I don’t want to stop and do anything else but finish read the novel.

I understand the appeal and accolades from Stephen King. Hat tip to the master himself.

The Scarecrow

The Scarecrow

  1. See the fineprint for details.

About the author: Born and raised in a small town in East Texas, Kramer Wetzel spent years honing his craft in a trailer park in South Austin. He hates writing about himself in third person. More at KramerWetzel.com.

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