Straw Men (novel)

For other novels, see Straw man (disambiguation) § Arts and entertainmemt.

Straw Men

First edition
Author	Martin J. Smith
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Berkeley Publishing Group
Publication date	2001
Publication place	USA
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	321
ISBN	0-515-12950-X
OCLC	45761674
Preceded by	Shadow Image

Straw Men is a crime novel by the American writer Martin J. Smith set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

It tells the story of a madman known as the Scarecrow, who has served in prison eight years 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. Only Harnett's nemesis, psychologist Jim Christensen, can help to solve the case.

Reception

Bill Spurgeon of The Star Press called it "a real page-turner". ^[1] Barbara Vancheri of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opined that Smith has the "ability to turn a descriptive phrase, to nail characters with telling details and to provide enough clues to gently guide perceptive readers to satisfying conclusions." ^[2] Publishers Weekly wrote that Smith "fails to create characters that emerge as real people, however, and readers will come away thinking they've read similar, albeit stronger, novels." ^[3]

References

1. Spurgeon, Bill (March 25, 2001). "Martin Smith's 'Straw Men' is as good as a thriller gets". The Star Press . Retrieved March 22, 2025.
2. Vancheri, Barbara (February 1, 2001). "City is welcome character in former reporter's thriller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved March 22, 2025.
3. "Straw Men". Publishers Weekly . December 11, 2000. Retrieved March 22, 2025.

Sources

Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2006. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000132047.

External links

• Martin J. Smith website Archived 2008-03-19 at the Wayback Machine