Scary Times

The reader reviews in Amazon of The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly talk about lack of character development and less than stellar plotting. Maybe. It's hard for me to tell because this book tells the story about one of my favorite characters - The Los Angeles Times. There is more going on about people in this book, but it is a love story for those of us who loved The Times.

The protagonist is laid off from The Times and is given two weeks to train his replacement on the police beat. Two weeks. In my experience people are given two hours to pack their stuff. I guess McEvoy and I are lucky, we got more time. From what I remember, everything he talks about is true, except for the shouting lady in the cafeteria who makes him clean up after himself. The cafeteria staff was never rude like that, but reporters often were, leaving a mess behind. Okay, not just reporters. I suppose some IT guys might have been a little messy.

The layout of the newsroom seems right; from Baja Metro to the Assistant Editor's desks to the PBX operators looking down from their perch (where they could spot reporters easily) to the area on the north side of the room where people seem to be hiding. The tech guys' role is loosely represented. You would never expect a newsroom staff member to really understand what other people do.

I'd love to hear what my old Times' friends have to say about the book. Not that any of my friends from that time are old.