First published 1996
Jack McEvoy stares at the crime scene where his twin brother Sean lies dead in a car, an Edgar Allan Poe quote smeared across the windshield. The Denver police call it suicide, but Jack knows better. As a crime reporter, he recognizes the signs that don't add up. His investigation reveals similar deaths in cities nationwide, each involving a detective's apparent suicide marked by literary quotes. Jack discovers he's tracking a serial killer who targets cops, a predator the FBI calls the Poet. The killer operates through internet channels, hunting both children and the officers who pursue him. Jack teams with federal agents in a race against time as the Poet selects his next victim. The deeper Jack digs, the closer the killer circles back toward him. Michael Connelly steps away from his Harry Bosch series to create a different kind of protagonist in Jack McEvoy, a journalist driven by grief and determination rather than police authority. The investigation becomes personal as Jack fights to honor his brother's memory while staying alive long enough to catch a killer who always seems one step ahead.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: investigative-journalism, race-against-time
Setting: Denver, United States
Period: Contemporary
576 pages · Paperback · Orion
Content warnings: death, murder