The hero of The Poet and The Scarecrow is back in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly. Jack McEvoy, the journalist who never backs down, tracks a serial killer who has been operating completely under the radar–until now. Veteran reporter Jack McEvoy has taken down killers before, but when a woman he had a one-night stand with is murdered in a … one-night stand with is murdered in a particularly brutal way, McEvoy realizes he might be facing a criminal mind unlike any he’s ever encountered.
Jack investigates–against the warnings of the police and his own editor–and makes a shocking discovery that connects the crime to other mysterious deaths across the country. Undetected by law enforcement, a vicious killer has been hunting women, using genetic data to select and stalk his targets.
Uncovering the murkiest corners of the dark web, Jack races to find and protect the last source who can lead him to his quarry. But the killer has already chosen his next target, and he’s ready to strike.
Terrifying and unputdownable, Fair Warning shows once again why “Michael Connelly has earned his place in the pantheon of great crime fiction writers” (Chicago Sun-Times).
A Kirkus Best Book of 2020
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Another great story by Michael Connelly. I read into the early hours because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. There is a lot of intertwining action with a very inventive ending I didn’t see coming. I don’t want to give anything away but I’m already anticipating the next Jack and Rachel story.
Didn’t have the same impact as a Bosch novel
I am new to the Jack McEvoy series, however this did not affect my reading or enjoyment of Fair Warning at all. And I will now be going back to read the first two books in this series.
When Jack is questioned about the murder of a one night hook up, so begins his foray into investigating a potenial serial killer.
I was drawn into this story right from the start. I have always been wary of things that are looed at in this book, and now I am even more sure that I would never ever use certain services that are out there.
When I found out that the character Myron Levin, and the publication Fair Warning were real entities, that just made me like it even more.
I loved the relationships in this story – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Reading Fair Warning had made me realise how much I have missed reading a Connelly story, and I will be heading to my bookshelves to pull some out to read.
I hope we get more Jack McEvoy in the future.
Michael Connelly is both essential entertainment for me as a reader and inspiration for me as a mystery/procedural author. His latest does not disappoint. It’s a fast-paced, multi-layered book starring a complicated journalist with a penchant for deep-diving into a story. Fans of detailed sleuthing will not be disappointed.
I’m a Connolly fan but this is not one of his better ones. Characters not particularly interesting, likable or involving.
Excellent and quick read!!
Almost at the end of the book and I wish it went on. As usual in Connelly’s novels the plots gets better and better as it develops. His characters are well defined and the settings are clear and easily visualized. Enjoyable and entertaining. Highly recommended.
A new Michael Connelly book is always a good thing for mystery/thriller readers, but as someone who spent the first 15 years of my adult life in journalism, I was anticipating this one more than usual.
Fair Warning surpassed even those high expectations.
Not only did Connelly bring his exceptional writing style and the gritty reporter Jack McEvoy, but he truly captured what it’s like to be a reporter chasing a story and digging into a subject — in this case, the essentially unregulated and lucrative commercial DNA analysis industry.
And, of course, there was a page-turning murder mystery that involved a serial killer with a particularly brutal M.O.
Connelly also made something difficult look easy: He captured the old-school methods of reporting a sensational story and blended it seamlessly with the current state of journalism.
By having McEvoy work for a journalism nonprofit and detailing the particular struggles and realities therein, and having McEvoy dive headfirst into a real industry with real regulatory issues, he made this story relevant in an age when many people regard journalism as a relic.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Connelly, books featuring reporters, and anyone who enjoys a good story well told.
Bestselling author Michale Connelly has created iconic characters, including Detective Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller, the Lincoln lawyer, and Detective Renée Ballard, who have been featured in his thirty-four bestselling novels. It may seem surprising that Fair Warning marks only the third appearance of Jack McEvoy, the tenacious reporter in The Poet and The Scarecrow. Through Jack’s adventures, Connelly has depicted the state of journalism in America. The Poet was published in 1996, but by the time The Scarecrow appeared in 2009, the industry had changed dramatically. As newspapers struggled to reinvent themselves in order to survive in the digital age, journalists found themselves doing the same thing, often after losing jobs they had held for decades.
In Fair Warning, Jack has been forced to reimagine his own career as an investigative reporter. The book’s title comes from the consumer watchdog internet news site where he has been employed for four years. A far cry from the massive Los Angeles Times, where Jack was previously a crime reporter, FairWarning is just a five-person organization. The site displays a donate button prominently on the page of every news story, and the editor, Myron Levin, spends most of his time seeking donors and placing stories as co-projects with bigger news organizations.
Jack is justifiably dismayed by the current attacks on his profession, but knows that Myron is “undaunted, unprejudiced, and therefore [will] not be intimidated.” So even though Jack has been forced to downside his lifestyle — incoming royalties from his books have slowed to a trickle and his salary at FairWarning is a fraction of what he once earned — he knows “for the first time in a long time” that he is in “the right place.”
In Fair Warning, finding the truth is particularly personal to Jack because he finds himself a person of interest in a murder investigation. As the story opens, a woman with whom he had a one-night stand a year ago is brutally murdered. When the police link her to Jack and two ambitious LAPD detectives pay him a visit, he learns the cause of death was internal decapitation. Shortly before her death, the victim confided to her best friend that she felt she was being digitally stalked, claiming a man she met in a bar seemed to know things about her he should not have known. Jack is intrigued not only because of his encounter with the decedent, but the unusual way in which she died. His research leads him to a an online forum for coroners and medical examiners where he learns that atlanto-occipital dislocation (AOD or internal decapitation) is a rare form of death, but there have been a few other unsolved cases in various U.S. locations. He also delves into the issue of cyberstalking, and reaches out to the friend to whom the dead woman divulged her discomfort about how much a supposed stranger seemed to know about her.
Jack quickly finds himself immersed in the investigation and trying to convince Myron that the story actually fits into FairWarning’s stated mission. He discovers a commonality among the women who died as a result of AOD: each of them provided a sample to a company called GT23, a low-budget alternative providing DNA analysis in exchange for agreeing that samples submitted may be sold to and used anonymously by research facilities and biotech firms. Jack’s research reveals that there is “virtually no government oversight and regulation in the burgeoning field of genetic analytics. . . . And that was a news story.”
Connelly lays out the steps Jack takes to investigate the case via his first-person narration. As he relentlessly and meticulously follows the clues he uncovers, Jack realizes that he is on the trail of a story that has his “blood moving with an addictive momentum.” It’s a feeling he hasn’t known for quite some time, and it’s “good to have that feeling back.” Connelly also includes third-person descriptions of the movements of Hammond, an unscrupulous lab technician, and a killer who calls himself the Shrike, a moniker adopted because a shrike is a bird that silently stalks and attacks from behind. The shrike grips its victim’s head in its beak and snaps it viciously.
No one writes a better police procedural novel than Connelly, and he brings that same deft timing of revelations and taut story construction to Fair Warning, along with an intimate look at Jack’s frustrations and emotional journey. Now fifty-eight years old, Jack has remained single since he and Rachel Walling last broke up. The former FBI agent now operates RAW Data Services, providing background investigations to various businesses and organizations. It’s not what she wants to be doing — she loved being an FBI agent, but that career came to an abrupt end in a prior installment of the McEvoy series. Now she and Jack haven’t seen each other for at least a year, but Jack seeks her advice and assistance with his investigation. Connelly tenderly and believably portrays their complicated history, and the seemingly insurmountable barriers to their relationship’s success. It is an excrutiatingly heartbreaking story, and intriguing accompaniment to the murder mystery. Rachel told Jack years earlier about her theory of romance: everyone has one special person out in the world who can “pierce their heart like a bullet.” For Jack, Rachel’s name is “on the bullet that pierced me.” Can they make it work this time?
Fair Warning is a contemporary, cautionary story about the dangers of releasing private information pertaining to one’s DNA into the hands of a commercial enterprise that may be controlled by persons with unethical, immoral interests. It’s a compelling step-by-step exploration of the gritty work required of investigative journalists, especially on a complex case fraught with peril. It’s also a timely commentary on the value and importance of dedicated, independent journalists who devote themselves to finding and publishing the truth so their informed audience members can make up their own minds about the issues confronting society.
In short, it’s Connelly at his best. He delivers yet another gripping, compulsively readable, entertaining mystery that leaves readers wanting more stories involving Jack McEvoy.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
Not his best work, but still a good story. Tone of book is nothing like his Bosch books. I read The Poet and The Scarecrow, but it has been so long I have forgotten. Will have to re-read them.
Michael Connelly is always a winner.
This was not Connelly’s best work, but it did give a very thoughtful and frightening insight into the workings of the DNA testing services available to everyone.
I did not like this as much as other Michael Connolly books. He is my favorite. But it is so timely and creative. I recommend it.
I couldnt put it down!
Everything he writes is a page-turner and a must-read I’ve read all his books and I cannot put them down
Connelly is a master of this genre. I thoroughly enjoy all his books.
A great and entertaining read
I absolutely loved this book. Michael Connelly is my favorite author. Although Harry Bosch isn’t in this book, Michael Connelly does not disappoint. Jack McEvoy is a great character and you don’t need to read the other 2 Jack McEvoy books to enjoy this. By the way, the other 2 books were great too. If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!
Michael Connelly portrays real life non-profit journalism in a thriller. When does a reporter cross ethical reporting lines?
For fans of Connelly’s Jack McEvoy series the wait has finally ended. Jack is back and in typically Connelly fashion this story starts with a bang and keeps moving with action and great dialogue.