This is the story of a criminal reporter Jack McEvoy, who is told that his twin brother, a Los Angeles police officer, committed suicide – a bullet to the head while sitting in a parked car, with the doors closed. Inside the foggy windshield, written with a finger, is an Edgar Allan Poe quote.
His fellow police officers are convinced it is suicide. His twin brother, Jack, doesn’t think so. He begins his own investigation and soon discovers that there have been an extraordinary number of police suicides. As Jack follows the leads, acting as a detective, he finds evidence indicating that a cop killer is behind the deaths. Usually a suicide note is found with the body, the note is a quote from Edgar Allan Poe.
The local police try to dissuade Jack, they tell him to accept the facts, move on, as they are certain it was a suicide and the case is closed. But as Jack McEvoy gathers evidence from different states, the FBI gets involved when it discovers that there is a pattern to the suicides / murders.
Jack and the FBI are now on the trail of “The Poet”, who is not just a cop killer, but a violent and twisted man and a pedophile. The story progresses apace; It is in the first person when Jack tells the story, but it turns to the third person when it comes to “The Poet” whose name is Gladden. This works quite well, giving us two characters that are separate, not knowing each other, but working towards a final clash.
Gladden, he’s absolutely disgusting, there’s nothing good about him, or what he does. Some parts of the story are quite unpleasant, as he goes about his business. But even when Gladden is taken into custody by the police, suspected of photographing naked children, he connects with a like-minded lawyer who rescues him. However, it’s easy to read on knowing that one day Gladden will run into an angry crime reporter and some irate cops.
The story is quite complicated, moving to various cities: Bolder, LA, Phoenix, Chicago, all of this is for the better, giving a constant sense of action, movement and different backgrounds. The story deals with the pain of those involved in a comprehensive and realistic way. This is a theme of the book, which allows us to see the characters more deeply than most detective novels.
The descriptions, the action, the background are all top notch. Which means that the book is interesting and exciting. You watch as Jack McEvoy slowly approaches Gladden. But Gladden has friends, pedophile friends in a mutually supportive network, like an underworld club. Ah, there is more, but wait until you read the novel.
Yes, there is a love interest, in the form of Rachel Walling, an FBI investigator, but is she helping Jack uncover the truth or is she protecting someone?
The story has many twists and turns, but the last twist was too much. It came after it seemed like the story was finished. It was as if we were waiting for the credits to go up, only to find there was another reel left. Sometimes an author has to know when to stop. Still, it is a good novel.
The author of The Poet, Michael Connelly, was a police reporter for the Los Angeles TimesAs far as you know the procedures and methods used, there is no sense of “Oh, that couldn’t happen.”
It is worth reading.