The Poet by Michael Connelly

The Poet by Michael Connelly
Mystery

When Jack McEvoy, a reporter from Denver, learns that his brother committed suicide something doesn't add up. McEvoy's brother was a cop and the police blame his suicide on a case that was eating at him. McEvoy decides to write a story about his brother's death and uncovers some inconsistencies. Soon, McEvoy finds similar cases in other cities and goes to the FBI to get more information from their database of cop suicides. He manages to get pulled in to an FBI investigation after he convinces them that there's a serial killer on the loose killing cops and making it look like a suicide.

Each cop that they find to fit the pattern leaves behind a line from Edgar Allan Poe as their suicide note, which dubs the serial killer as 'The Poet'. They follow the leads from different parts of the city and soon get a suspect in sight, while McEvoy starts falling for one of the lead agents Rachel.

Though there were some aspects of this book that were plain unbelievable (do you really think the FBI would ever allow a reporter to follow their investigation and take them to their sting operations?), it was still a great book. I didn't guess the plot twist until a couple of pages before hand, which had me turning the pages quickly as I read. Connelly did a great job with this book outside of the Bosch series. I also enjoyed reading about these amazing things called digital cameras (the book was written in 1996, pre-digital camera takeoff!).

First Line: "Death is my beat."

Rating:
(4/5)