The Scarecrow - Michael Connelly

If you ever read Michael Connelly's 1994 novel The Poet, you may remember reporter Jack McEvoy.  This 2009 novel again features him as the protagonist.  It opens with Jack, the seasoned reporter, being let go by the Los Angeles Times due to the financial crisis impacting the newspaper industry.  With only two weeks left on the job, he undertakes his last story, based on a young drug dealer's arrest for the brutal rape and murder of a woman. He expects to write a Pulitzer winning article on the societal factors that created a 16-year-old killer, but he (and the young reporter he is training as his replacement) uncover discrepancies in the confession and evidence behind the case against him. Jack enlists the help of FBI Agent Rachel Walling, again, to go after the real killer, who has worked completely below the radar up to this point.  Further, their investigation inadvertently sets off a digital tripwire, providing the killer knowledge of their moves against. him.

This is Connelly's 21'st published book.  He is, therefore, quite an accomplished crime fiction author and his work includes Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) novels.  I am a fan and found this book to be on par with other Michael Connelly works that I have read.  If you enjoy the crime thriller genre, in my opinion, this one is worth the read.