cover image The Scarecrow

The Scarecrow

Michael Connelly, , read by Peter Giles. . Hachette, $39.98 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-60024-574-9

Connelly hits it out of the park with one of the best thrillers of the year. Seasoned reporter Jack McEvoy has just been laid off from his job at the Los Angeles Times and—to add insult to injury—is assigned to train his replacement, a precocious young woman who will work for half his salary with none of his experience. But McEvoy will not go gently into the land of the downsized: he still has one last story to cover featuring a killer who dumps his victims in the trunk of a car. Peter Giles brings a skilled and intimate feel to his reading without losing the chilling momentum; at one point he relays a beautifully built scene that contains one of the best “gotcha” moments in some time. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 30). (May)