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Memory #3
Straw Men
He is a madman known as the Scarecrow. For eight years he has languished in prison, convicted of a vicious attack that left a rookie policewoman near death--and unable to remember her past. When DNA evidence surfaces that frees him, Teresa Harnett must face the possibility that her flawed memory put the wrong man behind bars. But then the phone calls begin--and the crackly, threatening voice of the Scarecrow reawakens her terror. Only Teresa's onetime nemesis, psychologist Jim Christensen, can pull the truth from her shattered mind--before the man who left her for dead can finish the job...
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
13 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Martin J. Smith
34 books30 followersAuthor Martin J. Smith was editor-in-chief of the monthly Orange Coast magazine from 2007 to 2016, and a former senior editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He wrote three crime novels, "Time Release," "Shadow Image," and the Edgar Award-nominated "Straw Men," before turning his writing energy to nonfiction books, including "Oops: 20 Life Lessons from the Fiascoes That Shaped America," "Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions and Lore That Shaped Modern America" (both with co-author Patrick J. Kiger), and "The Wild Duck Chase," upon which the award-winning documentary film "The Million Dollar Duck" is based. Diversion Books published his fourth series novel, "The Disappeared Girl," in March 2014, and released his first stand-alone suspense-thriller, "Combustion," in September 2016. Globe Pequot published his collection of journalistic essays about the people, places, and peculiarities of the American Southwest, "Mr. Las Vegas Has a Bad Knee," on Nov. 1, 2017. His latest nonfiction book is "Going to Trinidad: A Doctor, a Colorado Town, and Stories from an Unlikely Gender Crossroads," which Bower House and Tantor Media will publish in April 2021. Smith lives in Granby, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 30, 2021
The most important clue from this fabulous piece of suspense was right in front of me, and I never saw it til I put the book down after staying up way too late to finish it.
When Teresa Harnett was savagely attacked eight years ago, one of the casualties was her memory. Painstakingly reconstructing it over the following years with the help of her husband, it all starts to come unraveled when the man convicted of that assault, DellaVecchio, is released pending a hearing based on new DNA evidence. The man’s voice she hears is no longer the same as the voice whispered in her ear the night of the attack. So she approaches Jim Christensen, a psychologist who testified as an expert on memory at the original trial – and the same man who was now living with the attorney in charge of the defense for DellaVecchio.
Tensions mount as the three weeks before the hearing tick off. Clues are revealed through counseling sessions, reviews of testimony, questioning of key characters, and even present-day events. When I thought it was all figured out, there were still a few niggling details that didn’t quite fit, and the attacker almost gets away with it … again.
But Marty Smith pulls us along with the investigation, sometimes piecing together the puzzle only moments before the characters. The stunning climactic scenes left me turning pages faster than I could read them, only to have me turn them back to savor the mounting anticipation. A dazzling good read.
When Teresa Harnett was savagely attacked eight years ago, one of the casualties was her memory. Painstakingly reconstructing it over the following years with the help of her husband, it all starts to come unraveled when the man convicted of that assault, DellaVecchio, is released pending a hearing based on new DNA evidence. The man’s voice she hears is no longer the same as the voice whispered in her ear the night of the attack. So she approaches Jim Christensen, a psychologist who testified as an expert on memory at the original trial – and the same man who was now living with the attorney in charge of the defense for DellaVecchio.
Tensions mount as the three weeks before the hearing tick off. Clues are revealed through counseling sessions, reviews of testimony, questioning of key characters, and even present-day events. When I thought it was all figured out, there were still a few niggling details that didn’t quite fit, and the attacker almost gets away with it … again.
But Marty Smith pulls us along with the investigation, sometimes piecing together the puzzle only moments before the characters. The stunning climactic scenes left me turning pages faster than I could read them, only to have me turn them back to savor the mounting anticipation. A dazzling good read.
September 30, 2017
One of those where you leave on the light while you are reading and don’t read near Halloween. Scarecrows really do exist and can come back to life and get you. Or it seems after they are released from prison come after you again since they didn’t kill you the first go round. Will Mr. Scarecrow get her this time? Read with the lights on!
June 28, 2019
I couldn't put it down!!
Want to read
November 15, 2019Synopsis: for 8 years a madman, The Scarecrow, has languished in prison. He is freed and pursues the rookie policewoman who put him there.
September 20, 2007
Straw Men - VG
Martin J. Smith
Teresa Harnett has been unable to remember the circumstances of the attack that left her almost dead eight years ago. With the help of her devoted husband, she's finally beginning to put her life together again. But then the man who was convicted of the crime is released from prison after DNA evidence indicates that he may not have been responsible. So who's making the frightening phone calls, repeating the phrase from the attack that only the man dubbed the Scarecrow could know? It was Teresa's testimony that put the Scarecrow behind bars, and the indefatigable efforts of his defense lawyer, Brenna Kennedy, that cleared him. But now Teresa is having second thoughts. The scary phone calls don't sound like the man who nearly killed her, and fragments of the past have begun to haunt her dreams again. The only person who can help sort out Teresa's memories, psychologist Jim Christensen, is Brenna's sweetheart, a man with doubts of his own--not just about the Scarecrow, but about the woman he loves as well.
Man convicted but released after 8 years by DNA. Good read.
Martin J. Smith
Teresa Harnett has been unable to remember the circumstances of the attack that left her almost dead eight years ago. With the help of her devoted husband, she's finally beginning to put her life together again. But then the man who was convicted of the crime is released from prison after DNA evidence indicates that he may not have been responsible. So who's making the frightening phone calls, repeating the phrase from the attack that only the man dubbed the Scarecrow could know? It was Teresa's testimony that put the Scarecrow behind bars, and the indefatigable efforts of his defense lawyer, Brenna Kennedy, that cleared him. But now Teresa is having second thoughts. The scary phone calls don't sound like the man who nearly killed her, and fragments of the past have begun to haunt her dreams again. The only person who can help sort out Teresa's memories, psychologist Jim Christensen, is Brenna's sweetheart, a man with doubts of his own--not just about the Scarecrow, but about the woman he loves as well.
Man convicted but released after 8 years by DNA. Good read.
May 1, 2023
two books for one
I thought the end of the book was when they buried her husband but then the story shifted into second gear. Didn’t see the last part coming but it made the read worthwhile.
I thought the end of the book was when they buried her husband but then the story shifted into second gear. Didn’t see the last part coming but it made the read worthwhile.
October 26, 2012
Maybe I should have seen the ending coming, but I really liked this one. Policewoman w/amnesia
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2012
I was happy with it. I grabbed it randomly. I wouldn't say the book is scary, but I had three nightmares relating to the book.
March 18, 2024
Couldn’t put this one down - one of my favorite books I’ve ever read!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews