Rating: 
Summary: Interesting & complicated main character
Review: There are flaws in this book, but for me, the high points far outweigh the low ones.In the 40's, newspaper reporter heroes were common, one of the most popular being George Harmon Coxe's Flashgun Casey, but as mysteries became more realistic, reporters no longer made plausible as investigators. Connelly justifies his reporter character by having him practically forced into being part of the investigation. Jack McEvoy is indeed in a complicated situation in that he on one hand is a reporter right on top of an important story, and on the other hand, is one victim's brother and therefore motivated to do the right thing by his brother. At one point, I suddenly didn't like him because he performed what I consider an inconscienable act for purposes of embellishing the story he'll eventually write; but he later has second thoughts and feelings and realizes the sorrow his action would cause, so that he replaces that which he took before the act is discovered. This was an illustration of his struggle between being a top reporter and being a good brother. The revelation of the Poet's identity threw me and disturbed me at first, but after analyzing it, I saw what he was saying. However, the message was somehow garbled and that's why I'm not giving it 5 stars. However, I do advise all readers to watch that ending carefully so that you catch the writer's intent. Otherwise, you might like many of the reviewers think it a very unbelievable ending. Finally, I warn more sensitive readers that this is indeed strong stuff. We see a very disgusting killer's mind in operation, and it's not a pleasant view we get.
Rating:
Summary: His best book
Review: I liked The Poet better than the other Connelly books that I have read. There are two reasons for this; the situation and characters were more compelling than in most of his other novels and it is the one novel of his that had a strong mddle section.Iam not a big fan of Connelly but this book was quite good.
Rating: 
Summary: Great page-turner!
Review: A friend recommended Michael Connelly when I said I hadn't read a really good thriller since Riptide by Preston and Child. I got the Poet the next day, and I read it in three big gulps. There are many parts of the book where it is simply impossible to stop reading. I'll stay away from the plot(and I recommend you stay away from reviews that tell you too much), but it involves a likeable narrator, the FBI profilers, a truly creepy villain, and many plot twists that still make sense after you catch your breath. If you are looking for a thriller, and you don't have to get to sleep soon, then this book is certainly for you. I plan to read all of the Michael Connelly books this summer, and that's the highest praise I can give an author.
Rating: 
Summary: Serial-killer Novel with a Difference
Review: Connelly's clear, easy-to-read style enhances the pace of this stellar effort. His hero's flaws and shortcomings are thoroughly believable, and the supporting characters are all plausible. The plotting is tight and the investigative procedures are attention-holding without becoming embedded in minutiae that slow the pace and dissipate the reader's interest. What struck and pleased me most about THE POET is that it's a whodunit rather than the usual serial-killer story in which the reader clearly knows the murderer's identity and sits back to watch him/her play a cat-and-mouse game with the investigators. The bottom line is that this being the first of Connelly's books I've read, I know I'll be reading more in the future. He's that riveting.
Rating:
Summary: A great serial killer story
Review: While this story lacks his main central character Harry bosch, it is still, i am sure, going to end up as one of his best books ever. (Along with "The Concrete Blonde"). The plot is original and compelling (if a tad far-fetched, but i can live with that. fiction is, by its definition, not supposed to be real.) and adds much to the genre. The motive for the killing is good, but its description lacks a certain empathy, which i feel would have given this book even more dimension. Jack McEvoy is a very likeable character, and his quest to discover more about his brother's supposed suicide is written with emotion, feeling, and conviction. Rachel Walling, his obligatory love-interest, is also likeable, and when the two get together first, you really want it to suceed. The killer is chilling, and the way he kills is also so. The conclusion is great...you think it's all over, and then Connelly just finds more and more to hit you with, playing with the reader's expectations and assumptions, and finally trumping them with a nice twist to head it all off. If you're a fan of the serial killer genre, this would be a very good novel to reach for.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent story, but...oh! that ending.
Review: This was my first Michael Connelly read. I enjoyed the story well enough, although the love relationship felt artificial and I agree with the reviewer who says the Poe quotes should have played more of a role. I read the book steadily and enjoyed it UNTIL THE END. What a disappointment! Get real. Without giving it away, I will just say, NO WAY could/would that happen. It amazes me that someone with Connelly's obvious skill could come up with a "solution" like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Detective Fiction!!!
Review: Oh, mighty deity of heaven relieve us of this burden which me must bare. Why does Detective Fiction happen to good people? I don't get this whole genera and believe me I have tried really hard to get it. Every book begins with something bad happening then about a hundred pages of nothing happening to somebody nobody cares about. (The Detective). Worse we are then stuck with this idiot while he bumbles his boring way through the villain's plot to kill another totally unrelated character nobody cares about. Then the stupid detective winds up killing the only interesting character in the book (the villain). Then he marries the only sexy character in the book and for some reason the better half of the world loves reading it. How in the smoking chars of the home of the lost souls did this ever come to be?
PS: If you thinks this review was a little odd meat me in person!
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: It has been a while since something grabbed my attention so easily, this was a book that I couldn't put down. It was involving and had you guessing until the end, but also flew by quickly. As a mom, I look for books I can pick up and read a few minutes at a time and still keep a grip on what is happening, Connelly did an amazing job of keeping everything moving, capturing, and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: One of Connelly's best
Review: Crime reporter Jack McEvoy's brother Sean commits suicide, depressed over a unsolved murder. There's a suicide note - a note drawn from an Edgar Allen Poe poem. The case is closed. But Jack knows Sean wouldn't kill himself -- he knows it the way family knows those sort of things, so he launches his own investigation, uncovering a series of police suicides with Poe-inspired suicide notes. Aha! Sean is not a suicide, but the most recent in a series of serial killer victims. This research puts him on the trail and brings him into the FBI search for the Poet. So begins a great mystery and a great new undertaking by Connelly. I enjoy his Bosch mysteries, but am always pleased to see authors try new approaches since sticking to one character forever can turn a good series into a self-parody. It's encouraging that Jack is not Harry with a safari jacket and notebook, but a newly imagined and well-crafted new person. In some ways, he's a little more intuitive than Harry, more depressed and not quite as quick on the uptake. However, he is also more cynical and wry. This could be the start of a good new series. There are some been-there, done-that elements to the story, but it's well constructed and imaginative.
Rating:
Summary: A nice change...hell, a great change!
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. I am a devout Stephen-King-J.K.-Rowling fanatic. I was jeering the whole way through the poet. I had it all figured out. I knew who the killer was within the first twenty pages. WRONG! This is a hell of a yarn and since I have read Concrete Blonde, The Black Ice and The Black Echo. All are awesome books. I still favor my King and Rowling when I have the opportunity, but when nothing is fresh from either of those two, it's to Connelly I go seeking that great Crime Suspense. If you're a Connelly fan, check out some of Elmore Leonard's books like Pagan Babies and Rum Punch (Jackie Brown). Cold Coast is another great read. As far as this book and Connelly are concerned, the book is awesome and I hear he has a new book coming out in April. I can't wait. Read The Poet, you won't be sorry!
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