The Poet

The Poet is the fifth novel by American author Michael Connelly. Published in 1996, it is the first of Connelly's novels not to feature Detective Harry Bosch and first to feature Crime Reporter Jack McEvoy. A sequel, The Narrows, was published in 2004. The Poet won the 1997 Dilys Award. The story is told in first-person narrative from the perspective of reporter Jack McEvoy. At times, a first-person narrative is also used for a mysterious character named "Eidolon". And, while telling the story from the viewpoint of pedophile William Gladden, Connelly uses third-person narrative. The book also features the first appearance of FBI agent Rachel Walling, a recurring character in Connelly's novels. In April 2004, The Poet was reissued in paperback with an introduction by Stephen King. Plot Jack McEvoy, a crime reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, is informed that his identical twin brother Sean, a Denver homicide detective, has died in an apparent suicide. Despite the apparent implausibility that foul play was involved, Jack is reluctant to accept that his brother had succumbed to depression. He re-examines Sean's investigation into the gruesome death of a college student, Theresa Lofton, and concludes that his brother's death was staged.