Cover of The Poet by Michael Connelly, featuring the text The Poet by Michael Connelly.

The Poet By Michael Connelly Book Review

The Poet is the fifth book of American author Michael Connelly. This book was published in 1996. It is the first of Connelly’s book without featuring Detective Harry Bosch and the first to feature crime reporter Jack McEvoy. The Poet won the 1997 Dilys Award.

 

❛The Poet❜ is not just a story of a serial killer who is killing people perversely, but also a story of a crime reporter’s twin brother’s murder. Michael Connelly’s masterpiece ❛The Poet❜ is about betrayal, love, love for brother, etc. 

 

Here’s my review of the book.

 

Plot

Sean McAvoy, twin brother of crime reporter Jack McAvoy, commits suicide as an officer of the Denver Police Department. The news of Sean’s death shook John deeply. While unraveling the mystery behind the brother’s suicide, many more mysteries are revealed, where several police officers’ suicides are similar. In all cases, lines of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe were written as suicide notes. So, is there a serial killer behind all the suicides? Who is selectively killing police officers?

 

Jack McAvoy becomes completely involved in the investigation in order to uncover the mystery of his brother’s murder. After the investigation, the killer’s way of killing, dismembering the body, cutting off the fingers, etc, came out. Will the FBI finally catch the deranged killer, or is there another dark story hidden inside?

 

Except for a few things towards the very end, this plot is simply excellent. Mainly, the story is arranged around the suicide of a homicide cop. And this one murder investigation pulls several unsolved suicide cases out of the hole.

 

My Review

I chose Michael Connelly’s excellent creation ❛, The Poet,❜ to read slowly in the gap between busy academic study and university lab classes. But after reading the first page, the pace was no longer slow. It was such a situation that there was no way to turn the eyes from the page of the book, even for a moment. After reading for 2 consecutive days, I finally reached the end. There are some books whose stories are so engaging that it is a different kind of satisfaction to read the book. One such book is ❛The Poet❜. It can be said that I am still in a state of flux.

 

Usually, the story of giant-sized books moves slowly in the beginning, but this book will keep the reader hooked from the start. As the pace of the story increased, so did the tension. The story picked up pace after the FBI joined the investigation. The twists at the end of the book are unpredictable. Along with Jack McAvoy, I wanted his suspicions to be proven wrong. I was so engrossed in the book that every scene of the story was floating in my mind. 

 

The Poet in this book is the killer who commits the murders using Edgar Allan Poe’s lines as suicide notes. Interestingly, the reader can already know who the Poet is. Yet for some unknown reason, the reader will want to break through the cloak of mystery the killer has wrapped himself in.

 

The elements that add another dimension to the story are Edgar Allan Poe’s lines and stanzas. There was a strange vitality in the lines and stanzas that sent a chill down my spine when I read the book.

 

Writing Style

Michael Connelly’s perfect narrative style quickly immerses the reader in the story. The story begins in such a way that the first sentence of the book makes the reader interested. Although it is a giant-sized book, the author has not taken any time for character-building. The character builds up along with the pace of the story. Due to this, the story of ❛The Poet❜ becomes enjoyable from the beginning. I like it more because there are no fat descriptions in the book. Because of this, it seems that the story ended too quickly. Due to the excellent writing of the author, there would have been no reason to get bored, even if the story span was longer.

 

Price

Kindle – $9.99

 

Hardcover – $4.45

 

Paperback – $14.19

 

Personal Rating

9/10. This is a must-read book for thriller lovers. The author’s obscured points will hopefully be clarified in the next book. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

 

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