BROADCAST BLUES

5 stars out of 5

Having read four other books in this series - this is the sixth - I almost feel like New York's Channel 10 News Director Clare Carlson is an old friend. It helps, I suppose, that many of my working years were in journalism also, albeit print and not broadcast. Despite her sometimes (make that frequent) abrasive manner, I've worked with a few who probably could eat her for lunch.

When private eye Wendy Kyle gets blown up along with her car, Clare smells a big story. Wendy, it seems, specialized in nailing cheating husbands and made a comfortable living plying her trade. Clare needs that big story because she's always at odds with her boss, the station is about to get new owners, her daughter Emily is in the midst of a personal crisis and - horror of horrors - she's about to turn 50 years old. Could the situation be any more dire?

The dead woman once was an NYPD officer, but run-ins with the powers-that-be forced her to quit. After a little digging, Clare finds a connection to a mega-wealthy billionaire who has a woman in every port, so to speak - and then to an up-and-coming politician who has ties to the NYPD but an up-to-now squeaky clean image. Clare's investigation brings her in contact with former husbands - she's had three so far - and sends her down some paths that twist and turn and lead nowhere but are intriguing to explore and others that are a clear and present danger.

The ending - which seemed a little out of character (and of which I'm not a huge fan, BTW) - could lead to an interesting next installment - and for sure, I'm looking forward to it. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. Well done once again!

Broadcast Blues by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, January 2024); 340 pp.

IT'S NEWS TO ME

4 stars out of 5

My own experience as a journalist prompted me to read the first book in this series, but I've kept on reading them just because they're so darned entertaining. This is the fourth, and after finishing it, I remain a devoted fan.

It's not so much that I identify with New York TV editor and hotshot journalist Clare Carlson; she says and does things far beyond my pay grade (too much of the former, in fact, made me lose a bit of respect for her in this story). And, this one has a little too much repetition. But overall, the plot and all the twists (some expected, others not) had me hanging on every page and not wanting to put it down.

As Clare is dealing with a cantankerous, ratings-hungry new boss, a beautiful and popular college student named Riley Hunt is murdered not far from the school. At first blush, it's thought to be a random attack. Led by her well-honed instincts, Clare isn't so sure - so she starts digging around and finds that Riley's perfect image may have a few flaws. Among them are a reported stalker, an unreported missing laptop and connections to a couple of well-connected young men and an escort service. Riley's mother's behavior, too, arouses Clare's Spidey senses; what, if anything, is she trying to hide?

When a local homeless veteran is charged with the murder and is too psychologically messed up to resist, Clare is even more sure there's more to Riley's story. Ferreting out the truth brings her in contact with some seedy, dangerous characters as well as her ex-husband, Homicide Detective Sam Markham. In between, a blind date with a Princeton professor leads to another, and another, and thoughts of a more permanent relationship (sometimes, when there's a will, there's a way). 

But as Clare ignores warnings to back off, the situation heats up; one murder puts an untimely end to what might have been an enlightening interview, and other murders follow. There's plenty of action right up to the end both on the case and in the studio, keeping me glued to the story. Thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. Another one well done!

It's News to Me by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, October 2022); 349 pp.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

5 stars out of 5

I love and recommend this series - and this may well be the best of the bunch I've read so far. The star of the show, New York TV News Director Clare Carlson, really shines as her investigative reporter skills kick into high gear.

She's asked by an attorney friend to give some air time to the story of Vietnamese supermodel and relatively low-level actress Laurie Bateman, who is divorcing her filthy rich husband Charles Hollister. But just as Clare's about to make that happen, Laurie's story veers off in another direction: Hollister is found brutally murdered, and his still-wife has been arrested as his killer. Apparently, she was at the scene of the crime and had somewhere around a billion reasons to do him in. But when Clare does a jailhouse interview in which Laurie plays the wronged woman card to the max, the dial on Clare's suspicion meter starts jumping. Ignoring conventional wisdom (police-style), she takes on the job of getting to the truth.

Mind you, as a former newspaper journalist I can't totally condone Clare's methods for trying to prove wrong is right or right is wrong (nor, on a personal level, her choices in men that pretty much are limited to anyone who's good-looking and not currently married). But hey, those characteristics absolutely make for a more intriguing story with plenty of action; and not insignificantly Clare's slightly left of center sense of humor makes the whole thing more fun. Her digging early on not only reveals that the dead guy had plenty of enemies, but also a hint that he may well have been involved in some very shady activities.

It is Clare's investigation and dedication to leaving no stone unturned, of course, that makes for a great story - one with several twists and turns (some surprising, some not so much) that kept me glued to the pages (well okay, to my Kindle). Already, I'm chomping at the bit for the next installment - this is the fourth, by the way. Also for the record, while I always recommend starting any series at the beginning, this one stands on its own quite well. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review it.

Beyond the Headlines by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, May 2021); 287 pp.

THE LAST SCOOP

5 stars out of 5

Having spent roughly 16 years in journalism prompted me to say yes to this book - the third in a series featuring journalist Clare Carlson (now a TV news director). I'm glad I did; I thoroughly enjoyed every single page.

That's not to say I identified well with Clare; two of my years was as a beat reporter for a daily and 14 came managing editor of a regional business journal. Unlike Clare, neither experience got me a Pulitzer, sorry to say, but then again, neither was I ever in much danger. The closest I ever came was when I was interviewing a pair of township trustees who clearly didn't like each other, and when one started to take a whack at the other I had to jump out of the way. For sure I never got death threats, nor was my life ever in danger because of any story I wrote.

Almost from the first page of this book - the third in the series - Clare is on shaky ground. When a long-time friend and mentor is murdered, she isn't willing to believe, as do the police, that it was a mugging gone wrong. That's mostly because shortly before his death, he met with Clare to tell her he was looking into goings-on that related to New York's current hot-shot District Attorney Terri Hartwell. 

Clare's TV boss isn't thrilled that she wants to delve into the situation to find out specifics about what her friend knew; but she's determined to get to the bottom of things, for the most part going off on her own. Meanwhile, Clare has a few personal "secrets" she'd rather not disclose - things that could derail her so-far stellar career. Her investigation takes her through a dark world of mob bosses, payoffs and yes, murder that go back to an unsolved murder many years ago in small-town Indiana (another plus for me, since I grew up not far from Indianapolis and Fort Wayne). In the end, everything comes to an exciting conclusion, most issues are resolved without, of course, Clare getting killed off (you really don't expect the heroine of a series to bite the dust, do you)?

All told (in first-person, by the way), I highly recommend this book. As always with a series, I'll also recommend starting with the first; but I have not, and I'm happy to say this one stands on its own just fine. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

The Last Scoop by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, May 2020); 369 pp.

YESTERDAY'S NEWS

5 stars out of 5


Like the author, I've spent time as managing editor (and reporter and copy editor) of a newspaper, albeit something like 429 miles from big-time New York City. Unlike the author, though, I couldn't write a word of fiction if my life depended on it. No matter - he does it so well that I was perfectly content to kick back, pull out my Kindle and enjoy the heck out of this one.

It is that print/TV/news "connection," of course, that initially prompted me to request an advance review copy (thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for making that happen). But it was the intricate, well-written plot, with all its twists and turns, that hooked me from the beginning and didn't let go till the end (and then some). In short, it's one of the best books I've read in quite some time.

The star of the show is Clare Carlson, a newspaper reporter-turned-TV news director - the latter a position she earned in large part because of earning a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the disappearance of 11-year-old Lucy Devlin back in her newspaper days. When Lucy's long-suffering mother claims to have new information on her daughter's disappearance, Clare's TV boss agrees to do an update on the missing child story (bringing to my mind one of the things I hate most about TV news - a reporter shoving a microphone into the face of a grieving family member). But I digress; Clare agrees, and when she meets with Lucy's mother, she learns the woman is dying of cancer. Apparently, the mother has been informed of someone who saw her young daughter with a motorcycle gang - a gang to which the girl's ex-husband once belonged.

With her boss's approval, Clare starts to dig (after all, she's got a stake in the case as well as in the success of the TV update). The trail leads to a "biker chick" who claims to have seen Lucy way back when - with a man who's now in the running for a big-time political office. Clare is in awe of the guy (and it doesn't hurt that he's an unmarried hunk), but she's suspicious as well. Then, bodies of other young children are unearthed, and Clare suspects they may be related to Lucy's case and once again begins to dig in.

But surprise - as any good reporter knows, there's always more to a story than meets the eye or ear. Now it's time to get serious - and in the process, unearth some news that Clare would be happy to keep buried.

Well done - highly recommended!

And for my blog only - with our income tax refund and summer on the way, I decided to take the plunge and buy a Kindle Paperwhite to make it easier for me to enjoy reading on our sunny deck. Wow - what a difference! I'm hooked - and highly recommend this as well!

Yesterday's News by R.G. Belsky (Oceanview Publishing, May 2018); 2106 KB.