Fair Warning, by Michael Connelly {Book review}

Are you a fan of true crime documentaries or reality tv? I was always a fan of Rescue 911 back in the day. Anybody remember that show? Am I giving my age away here??? 😉  Anything with real life scenarios, I’m there! Recently I have been inhaling true crime documentaries on Netflix, the latest being, The Staircase. Today’s review of Fair Warning, is fictional, but the investigative nature of the book, as well as notes from the author kind of gave me this true crime feeling.

Let’s get into the review!

What is Fair Warning about?

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.

McEvoy 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. But his inquiry hits a snag when he himself becomes a suspect.

As he races to clear his name, McEvoy’s findings point to a serial killer working under the radar of law enforcement for years, and using personal data shared by the victims themselves to select and hunt his targets.

Called “the Raymond Chandler of this generation” (Associated Press), Michael Connelly once again delivers an unputdownable thriller that reveals a predator operating from the darkest corners of human nature—and one man courageous and determined enough to stand in his way.

My Review

Fair Warning revolves around Jack McEvoy, a reporter for a watchdog consumer type of magazine. He starts out being a person of interest in a murder, so he sets out to clear his name. He has help from Emily, a colleague, as well as his ex (who also happens to be an ex FBI agent), Rachel.

The story is told from Jack’s POV, as well The Shrike (our resident villain). I found that the story was well told, and the dialogue flowed well. Also, the actual storyline and how The Shrike chooses his victims is pretty interesting. The protection of our private/personal information is a very real concern here in 2021. Fair Warning gives us a lot of food for thought in that area….

I did feel that the way Jack goes over the information he’s discovered over and over was really repetitive. Without the repetition and the plot in essence being explained multiple times, this book could have been shorter. Another issue I had, was the fact that Jack solved mysteries with little wisps of information. The leap from D to X was quite astonishing and made no sense to me at times, but it always panned out for Jack. I also feel that our villain needed some more meat on his bones. I didn’t really know what turned him into the monster that he was.

A note about negativity in a review

I always feel so bad for pointing out things that I did not enjoy in a book. I cannot even imagine how it feels to pour your heart and soul onto pages. Then put those pages into a book out there for the world to read?? I watched a live with Abigail Dean (author of Girl A) and she said, essentially, book reviews are written for the readers….not for the authors. This is very true…this is about what I like to read, and essentially share with you. If we have the same tastes, you know to avoid….if we don’t, you know to run and grab it off the shelves.

 

My Rating

Fair Warning scores really high on Goodreads, with a 4.2 star rating. So please, read reviews, especially from book bloggers that you share similar tastes with. The book has a solid storyline and it makes for entertaining reading.

Fair Warning is available at all good leading book retailers 😉

Disclaimer: Fair Warning was sent to me by Jonathan Ball Publishers in exchange for an honest review.