After reading The Bride Collector I was ready for another mystery; so I searched through my books and found Michael Connelly's The Poet. The Poet is the story of newspaper reporter Jack McEvoy's need to understand the apparent suicide death of his police officer twin brother. He can't wrap his head around the death. None of it makes any sense to and after a little digging he discovers that everything is not as it seems. The Poet is a killer that leaves behind cryptic messages by using the Poetry and works of Edgar Allan Poe. At the same time we are introduced to The Poet we are exposed to another underlying story: cops involved in the molestation of children. This is a common thread throughout the book and one that ties several of the characters together; however this is classic misdirection. The Poet is a 501 (mass market edition) page wild ride of twists and turns and suspense. This is definitely Connelly at his finest hour. I really can't write to much about the book without giving away vital parts of the plot; so I'll share with you what I loved about the work.
I loved that Edgar Allan Poe's poetry was used by the killer is a calling card. This is a bit different and definitely interesting. At first none of the suicide notes containing these lines made any sense until they were examined further. It was never really explained in the book as to why The Poet used Poe. Another thing that was great about this book were the plot twists. You begin to believe that the killer is identified early. We think we know who the killer is and then plot twist; and with the first twist a sudden and heart wrenching betrayal. Then another plot twist and the real killer is revealed. There were so many layers to these twists; the author really kept me guessing. Another thing I really enjoyed was the ambiguous ending. Connelly left it open for McEvoy to have another encounter with The Poet.
I gave The Poet 5/5 stars on Goodreads.
Quotes I Liked:
"It's lucky no one else knows what our most secret thoughts are. We'd all be seen for the cunning, self-aggrandizing fools we are."
