04/20/2020
Edgar-winner Connelly’s entertaining if subpar third thriller featuring L.A. reporter Jack McEvoy (after 2009’s The Scarecrow) finds McEvoy, once a bestselling true crime author, working for FairWarning, an online news site that focuses on consumer fraud. He’s pulled back into the world of violent crime when he becomes a person of interest in the murder of Christina Portrero, with whom he had a one-night stand a year earlier. Portrero was killed by “internal decapitation,” her head having been twisted 180 degrees. McEvoy volunteers a DNA sample, confident he’ll be quickly cleared, though the LAPD homicide detectives on the case don’t welcome McEvoy’s subsequent probing of the murder. McEvoy gets a break when he posts a question on the unusual killing method on a forum used by medical examiners and learns that several other women have recently been killed the same way. His theory that one person is responsible for all the deaths is buttressed after he discovers another connection among the victims. Connelly keeps things moving briskly, but neither the plot nor the lead is up to his usual high standard, and he doesn’t stick the landing. Fans will hope for a return to form next time. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary. (May)
"Connelly is in terrific form here, applying genre conventions to the real-life dangers inherent in the commercial marketing of genetics research."—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
"[A] fast-paced thriller, written by a master of the genre."—Christina Ianzito, AARP
"There is no better news than a new book from the great Michael Connelly... Fair Warning brings back reporter Jack McEvoy, a character I always liked every bit as Harry Bosch or Mickey Haller or Renee Ballard... Connelly [is] at the very top of his game."—Mike Lupica, New York Daily News
"A truly terrifying thriller... [Jack McEvoy] has appeared in only two previous novels, but they are two of Connelly's best: The Poet and The Scarecrow. McEvoy makes it three for three with this riveting tale."—Bill Ott, Booklist (starred review)
"Intruiging... Throughout his outstanding thrillers, Michael Connelly has expertly weaved contemporary issues into solid plots... Connelly also has achieved this in his novels about journalist Jack McEvoy, who makes his third most welcome appearance in Fair Warning."—Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Score another one for the dean of America's crime writers... Fair Warning sheds light on the murky billion-dollar world of DNA testing... the subject [is] ripe for a good mystery. And Michael Connelly is just the guy to write it."—Sandra Dallas, Denver Post
"Like all of Connelly's novels, Fair Warning is a satisfying adrenalin rush."—Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
"Darkly essential reading for every genre fan who's ever considered sending a swab to a mail-order DNA testing service."—Kirkus (starred review)
"A smart, propulsive thriller... Connelly excels in making investigative reporting as enthralling as any action scene. Fair Warning shines a spotlight on the shocking lack of government oversight in the field of DNA analysis and ancestry identification... Connelly spins a skin-crawling, cutting-edge mystery about the dangerous ways the data can be mined."—Shelf Awareness
After a long break in this series, narrator Peter Giles returns to portray Michael Connelly’s investigative reporter, Jack McEvoy. Giles is joined by Zach Villa, who provides the calm, creepy voice of the serial killer, The Shrike. The Fair Warning of the title is the news organization that McEvoy now works for and is also an alert about the dangers we face when we innocently provide DNA to learn more about our genetic heritage. Giles masterfully portrays the persistent, self-righteous McEvoy; his editor, Myron Levin; and FBI agent Rachel Walling. This is a fast paced and engaging listen. Stay with it to the end for a bonus: Connelly’s interview with the real Myron Levin (the basis of the fictional Levin), founder of the news organization Fair Warning. E.Q. 2021 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
★ 2020-05-18
A first-rate case for Connelly’s third-string detective, bulldog journalist Jack McEvoy, who’s been biding his time since The Scarecrow (2009) as Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer have hogged the spotlight.
The consumer-protection website FairWarning can’t hold a candle to the LA Times, where Jack once plied his trade. The real problem this time, though, is that the cops come to Jack rather than vice versa, as a person of interest who had a one-night stand a year ago with Christina Portrero, whose latest one-night stand broke her neck. In fact, Jack quickly discovers, Tina was only the most recent among a number of women who died of atlanto-occipital dislocation—several of them erroneously listed as accidents, all of them clients of the genetic testing firm GT23. Why would sending out your DNA for genetic information put you at enormously increased risk of falling victim to a brutal killer who calls himself the Shrike? The answer to the question of how “predators now can custom-order their victims,” which lies in the DRD4 gene, is guaranteed to make even the most hard-bitten readers queasy. Throughout his pursuit of the killer, the LAPD’s pursuit of him, and his unwilling partnerships with fellow journalist Emily Atwater and former FBI agent Rachel Walling, Jack works the case with a dogged professionalism, a mastery of detail, and a scarred but oversized heart that puts most of his police procedural cousins to shame.
Darkly essential reading for every genre fan who’s ever considered sending a swab to a mail-order DNA testing service.
