false 17 33 33 true 5792739 read 0 true 483105 currently-reading 0 true 483104 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59635337 to: The Scarecrow (Jack McEvoy, #2) by Michael Connelly
"The Scarecrow", Michael Connelly's second thriller featuring Jack McEvoy, doesn't depend upon knowledge of the first (the superlative "The Poet"), but it sure helps. I reread "The Poet" last month, and it still holds up, despite the somewhat-datedness of the Internet technology it described. Like that book, "The Scarecrow" also focuses on Internet tech, as well as the budding relationship between newspaperman McEvoy (whose career is suspiciously similar to the author's) and FBI agent Rachel Walling. Unlike "The Poet" however, "The Scarecrow" doesn't dig too deeply into the dark psyche of the monsters that McEvoy and Walling are hunting. Nor does the book offer a big reveal of the criminal's identity in the last act; the criminal is named on page 1. Still, the book, especially in its first third or so, gives a great portrait of the end of the traditional newsroom, as dinosaurs like McEvoy are slowly phased out in favor of always-on Twitter-ready 24-hours new media journalists. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59610305 to: The Dirty Secrets Club (Jo Beckett) by Meg Gardiner
"The Dirty Secrets Club" is the first book in a new series by superstar-in-the-making thriller writer Meg Gardiner. The main character is San Francisco forensic psychologist Jo Beckett, who works for the SFPD to determine if questionable deaths are accidents, suicides or murder. In "The Dirty Secrets Club", Beckett investigates a series of suicides that turn out to be linked to the eponymous club, unknowingly putting herself into the crosshairs of a killer. Good use of San Francisco locales, plenty of action, a little touch of characterization, and some standard thriller twists at the end. I'll be tracking down "The Memory Collector", the next volume in the series, when it's released in June. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57108928 to: The Poet (Jack McEvoy, #1) by Michael Connelly
My first Michael Connelly, and a favorite. I re-read this last week in anticipation of Connelly's new one, THE SCARECROW. It's held up surprisingly well, despite being an internet thriller written in 1996. A few of the twists don't hold up, but that doesn't matter when you're feverishly reading at 1 am. What I missed the first time around is how personal the narrator Jack McAvoy is: his career is basically Connelly's. Can't wait for the release of THE SCARECROW on Tuesday. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41120473 to: The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found (Hardcover) by Mary Beard
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41417303 to: The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed (Hardcover) by Bart D. Ehrman
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/41225667 to: Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism (Paperback) by Eric Burns
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