Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors. His book series includes Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer, Renee Ballard, Jack McEvoy and Stilwell. Connelly is a New York Times Bestselling author and has won every major writing award possible. He is the best of the best, in my opinion.
I recently heard a very successful writer state how important a book’s first paragraph grabs the reader. The Poet’s opinion paragraph:
Death is my beat. I make my living from it. I forge my professional reputation on it. I treat it with the passion and precision of an undertaker somber and sympathetic about it when I’m with the bereaved, a skilled craftsman with it when I’m alone. I’ve always thought the secret of dealing with death was to keep it at arm’s length. That’s the rule. Don’t let it breathe in your face.
That’s an impressive opening, as is having Stephen King write the foreword.
The Poet is a book I’ve never read, so I put the brand-new Bosch novel aside to visit the 1996 book, which came after the first four Bosch novels. There are three books in the McEvoy series.
Jack McEvoy is a Denver newspaper crime reporter, something Connelly did before turning to full-time novelist. McEvoy is deeply troubled by his twin brother’s suicide, a police detective who shot himself and left a cryptic message that no one understood, but evidence conclusively ruled it a suicide. Or was it? McEvoy didn’t want to leave it be, despite the evidence and pushback against his questions.
He decides to look into police suicides and the connection to cases they were working on that may have contributed to feelings of hopelessness and depression. His brother was struggling with such a case. He met with resistance from his family, the cops and his own editor. Yet, he proceeded, and found a way to get permission from his boss to move forward, but only with lukewarm support.
The story shifts between McEvoy and the suspected killer. You may think you’ve figured it out but there are twists and turns to the very end.
The subject matter of this book reminds me of the darkest of the Reacher novels. I wasn’t sure after the first fifty pages or so if I would continue. Thankfully, most of that was done, but the suspense ramped up.
As a thriller, Connelly really nailed it. I can’t say that Jack McEvoy is one of my favorite characters, but Connelly really understands the work of an investigative journalist.
As the reader, I have to be honest, this book was less satisfying than Connelly’s other book series. The plot is well-constructed, overall it’s well-written, McEvoy is a believable character, and Connelly is a police procedural expert. So, what was my problem. A novel about a serial killer who is a pedophile, and a ghastly one at that, is hard to stomach. In nearly 600 pages, thankfully that’s a very small part of the writing, but it’s more than enough for me.
There are a few other aspects of the story and the McEvoy character that I thought were weak. That’s my take. A very good novel, but not great.
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