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Fair Warning (Jack McEvoy, 3) Hardcover – May 26, 2020
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Veteran reporter Jack McEvoy has taken down killers before, but when a woman he had a one-night stand with is murdered in a particularly brutal way, McEvoy realizes he might be facing a criminal mind unlike any he's ever encountered.
Jack investigates—against the warnings of the police and his own editor—and makes a shocking discovery that connects the crime to other mysterious deaths across the country. Undetected by law enforcement, a vicious killer has been hunting women, using genetic data to select and stalk his targets.
Uncovering the murkiest corners of the dark web, Jack races to find and protect the last source who can lead him to his quarry. But the killer has already chosen his next target, and he's ready to strike.
Terrifying and unputdownable, Fair Warning shows once again why "Michael Connelly has earned his place in the pantheon of great crime fiction writers" (Chicago Sun-Times).
A Kirkus Best Book of 2020
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
- Publication dateMay 26, 2020
- Dimensions6.7 x 1.65 x 9.7 inches
- ISBN-100316539422
- ISBN-13978-0316539425
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An excerpt from Chapter 1
I had called the story “The King of Con Artists.” At least that was my headline. I typed it up top but was pretty sure it would get changed because it would be overstepping my bounds as a reporter to turn in a story with a headline. The headlines and the decks below them were the purview of the editor and I could already hear Myron Levin chiding, “Does the editor rewrite your ledes or call up the subjects of your pieces to ask additional questions? No, he doesn’t. He stays in his lane and that means you need to stay in yours.”
Since Myron was that editor, it would be hard to come back with any sort of defense. But I sent in the story with the suggested headline anyway because it was perfect. The story was about the dark netherworld of the debt-collection business—600 million dollars a year of it siphoned off in scams—and the rule at FairWarning was to bring every fraud down to a face, either the predator’s or the prey’s, the victim’s or the victimizer’s. And this time it was the predator. Arthur Hathaway, the King of Con Artists, was the best of the best. At sixty-two years old, he had worked every con imaginable in a life of crime centered in Los Angeles, from selling fake gold bars to setting up phony disaster-relief websites. Right now, he ran a racket convincing people they owed money that they didn’t really owe, and getting them to pay it. And he was so good at it that junior swindlers were paying him for lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays at a defunct acting studio in Van Nuys. I had infiltrated as one of his students and learned all I could. Now it was time to write the story and use Arthur to expose an industry that bilked millions each year from everybody from little old ladies with dwindling bank accounts to young professionals already deep in the red with college loans. They all fell victim and sent their money because Arthur Hathaway convinced them to send it. And now he was teaching eleven future con men and one undercover reporter how to do it for fifty bucks a head twice a week. The swindler school itself might be his greatest con of all. The guy was truly a king with a psychopath’s complete lack of guilt. I also had reporting in the story on the victims whose bank accounts he had cleaned out and whose lives he had ruined.
Myron had already placed the story as a co-project with the Los Angeles Times, and that guaranteed it would be seen and the Los Angeles Police Department would have to take notice. King Arthur’s reign would soon be over and his round table of junior con men would be rounded up as well.
I read the story a final time and sent it to Myron, copying William Marchand, the attorney who reviewed all FairWarning stories pro bono. We didn’t put anything up on the website that was not legally bulletproof. FairWarning was a five-person operation if you counted the reporter in Washington, DC, who worked out of her home. One “wrong story” spawning a winning lawsuit or forced settlement would put us out of business, and then I’d be what I had been at least twice before in my career: a reporter with no place to go.
I got up from my cubby to tell Myron the story was finally in, but he was in his own cubicle talking on the phone, and I could tell as I approached that he was on a fundraising call. Myron was founder, editor, reporter, and chief fundraiser for FairWarning. It was an Internet news site with no paywall. There was a donate button at the bottom page of every story and sometimes at the top, but Myron was always looking for the great white whale that would sponsor us and turn us from beggars into choosers—at least for a while.
“There really is no entity doing what we’re doing—tough watchdog journalism for the consumer,” Myron told each prospective donor. “If you check out our site you’ll see many stories in the archives that take on powerful kingpin industries including auto, pharmaceutical, and wireless companies. And with the current administration’s philosophy of deregulation and limiting oversight, there is nobody out there looking out for the little guy. Look, I get it, there are donations you could make that might give you a more visible bang for your buck. Twenty-five dollars a month keeps a kid fed and clothed in Appalachia. I get that. It makes you feel good. But you donate to FairWarning, and what you are supporting is a team of reporters dedicated to—”
I heard “the pitch” several times a day, day in and day out. I also attended the Sunday salons where Myron and board members spoke to potential white-hat donors, and I mingled with them afterward, mentioning the stories I was working on. I had some extra cachet at these gatherings as the author of two bestselling books, though it was never mentioned that it had been more than ten years since I had published anything. I knew the pitch was important and vital to my own paycheck—not that I was getting anywhere close to a living wage for Los Angeles—but I had heard it so many times in my four years at FairWarning that I could recite it in my sleep. Backward.
Myron stopped to listen to his potential investor and muted the phone before looking up at me.
“You in?” he asked.
“Just sent it,” I said. “Also to Bill.”
“Okay, I’ll read it tonight and we can talk tomorrow if I have anything.”
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Read more from the New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly | LAPD detective Renée Ballard must join forces with Harry Bosch to find justice in a city scarred by fear and social unrest after a methodical killer strikes on New Year’s Eve. | The first installment of the Renée Ballard series introduces a "complicated and driven" young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD's toughest beat (The New York Times). | Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard team up to solve the murder of a young girl in this #1 New York Times bestseller. | Together again, Bosch and Ballard take on the murder case that obsessed Bosch's mentor in this New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. | When an LAPD narcotics officer is found with a fatal bullet wound and a suicide note, Detective Harry Bosch follows a bloody trail of drug murders across the Mexico border. | Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller is back on the job in this heart-stopping thriller from a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling author. |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
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
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company; First Edition (May 26, 2020)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0316539422
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316539425
- Item Weight : 1.41 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.7 x 1.65 x 9.7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #233,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #480 in Legal Thrillers (Books)
- #4,774 in Murder Thrillers
- #5,386 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels and one work of nonfiction. With over eighty-five million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty-five foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent New York Times bestsellers include Desert Star (2022), The Dark Hours (2021), The Law Of Innocence (2020), Fair Warning (2020), and The Night Fire (2019). Michael is the executive producer of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and streaming on Amazon Prime/Amazon Freevee. He is the executive producer of The Lincoln Lawyer, streaming on Netflix, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. He is also the executive producer of the documentary films, "Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story' and 'Tales Of the American.' He spends his time in California and Florida.
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I often forget about McEvoy, as I so enjoy Connelly's detective Harry Bosch, so much that I often forget that Connelly's roots lie in journalism, his take on the daily grind of law enforcement so effective. Then I read McEvoy and remember this, you can feel the journalism deep down in the writing.
The story stresses the digitalization of journalism, and its crossroads into the technology of genealogy sites, the data, privacy and sharing. It is harrowing at its worst, troubling at its least. Very troubling issues intersecting with modern journalism. And, a serial killer.
Connelly brings his characters to us as people, but leaves enough that you get to fill in the blanks. That's part of his skill, not telling too much, that the reader can use their own perceptions and complete the characters to their own reference as well. He respects the reader enough to leave it open,let us fill in the blanks.
I would also like to add one more thought: I glanced at a few reviews on Amazon and a few were sounding the alarm about politics in regard to this story. I didn't see it, but I can tell you this: anyone who considers themselves a journalist at heart will hold the written word and the freedoms attached in very high regard. If you believe that's politicized here, it says more about the reader than the writer.
As always, I highly recommend this book and author.
The subject: DNA testing and the manner in which it can be abused. A lurker on the dark web known as The Shrike kills his victims as the bird does—by viciously breaking their necks. As luck would have it, Jack McEvoy once dated one of The Shrike's victims and is thus investigated by the LAPD. He is now working for a website called Fair Warning (which actually exists) that studies consumer threats and utilizes investigative journalism to warn the public. Working with a colleague at Fair Warning (and, eventually, with a former love who once worked for the FBI), Jack investigates the manner in which a discount DNA service keeps its prices low by selling samples to other labs. Once able to hack into the mother ship's records an unscrupulous smaller service can locate genetic markers for risky sexual behaviors and sell the identities of the women possessing those markers to predators. Think of it as a dating service for monsters.
The book is enormously successful for several reasons. First and foremost we learn something—the potential dark side of DNA labs and the scientific possibility of locating markers for particular behaviors and utilizing it for sleazy gain. Second, MC is a master at the general procedures of journalistic investigation because he was an L.A. crime reporter for years. He knows the methods and he knows the city like the back of his hand. He plots with great skill, develops interesting characters and nails the setting. Plus, I say again, we learn something when we read him. This is why he makes millions of dollars and earns every penny.
All of his books are of high quality so it is pointless to try to rank them. FAIR WARNING is certainly up to his general high standards; fans will devour it and have a great deal of difficulty putting it down and accomplishing the necessary chores and responsibilities of their lives.
A tiny quibble: Jack McEvoy works with the 'assistant sac', i.e. the assistant special agent in charge of the L.A. FBI office. I believe that the L.A. office is run by an assistant director, not a sac (as in smaller offices). There are then sac's for different divisions at the HQ, so Jack could be working with one of their assistants, but the division is not identified. As I say, a tiny quibble; MC is generally scrupulous with regard to such details.
A second tiny issue: MC draws some reviewer fire for an aside to the effect that the journalistic profession is now under unfair attack by the president. This arises twice, as I recall, and Jack is speaking for himself (and not, by narrative theory, necessarily for MC). Still, the reviewers do not like politicization. I am with them on that score, but I would add that this is not a major distraction in any way and that if all members of the contemporary media conducted themselves with the professionalism that Jack does we would not have a problem in the first place.
Bottom line: highly recommended.
Michael Connelly is one of the few really prolific bestselling authors authors who has never disappointed me. Despite FAIR WARNING being his 34th novel, the book is is a page turning thriller, that is fascinating, relevant and plausible, never veering into the realm of outlandish or unbelievable. I don't like crime fiction that makes me raise my eyebrows, and think "REALLY?!! Well that could never happen!!"
FAIR WARNING is a very current serial killer novel that doesn't require you to suspend belief. It is a police procedural in every aspect, except that the one following the clues is a seasoned reporter. The reporter works for the publication FAIR WARNING, a consumer watchdog publication. Both FAIR WARNING and its editor Myron, play a significant role in the novel, but neither is fictional.
Perhaps it is these nonfiction aspects to Connelly's books, along with his extensive research and deep understanding of policing, that keep his writing so level, logical and believable. None of that interferes with his ability to churn out a novel featuring current technology that will pull in the reader and keep you vested in the plot, all the way through.
Connelly is just an excellent writer, who proves it time and time again.
This police procedural is a true THRILLER!
Top reviews from other countries
Good thriller but end was abrupt and slows down during second half of plot