Who can forget Michael Connelly’s 1996 thriller, “The Poet,” an epic, complex battle between crime reporter Jack McEvoy and a fiendish killer? In 2009 Connelly reprised McEvoy in “The Scarecrow” – that thriller was excellent without being memorable. Now “Fair Warning” sees McEvoy working for an internet corporate wrongdoing site and being suddenly thrust into a series of murders pitting himself, once more, against a remorseless, implacable killer. Look, let me tell you that Connelly is one of my favorite authors, incredibly skilled and entertaining, but as a writer, he mainly excels with his Harry Bosch character. Compared to Bosch, “Fair Warning” feels (dare I say it?) formulaic. The plot (deviant use of DNA data) fascinates, Connelly is always an entertaining, capable stylist, and the pacing is meticulous, but nonetheless, this reader enjoyed, but was not riveted by, the reading experience. For Connelly completists but not a pertinent entry point for new readers to his extensive oeuvre.
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