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Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter in Phoenix, covering general assignments and some special projects. She is looking to do more solid reporting and establish herself as a serious journalist. But she often gets silly assignments, and the trend at stations toward reporters doing it all, and having to take time to constantly share information on social media, is galling.
Work gets interesting when word gets out that there’s been a death at a local radio station. It just so happens to be the one that hosts the ultra-conservative talk show of Larry Lemmon. Larry advocated for a border wall before Donald Trump and gets a lot of mileage out of talking about immigration.
Jolene recently interviewed Lemmon, so if he is the one who died, she could be sitting on the last-ever interview. And sure enough, Lemmon is the victim — if it’s foul play.
All of a sudden, TV reporters are coming out of the woodwork and the competition is fierce for constant scoops that can be shared on the nighttime news and social media. Jolene is constantly scrambling. Solving this case, or at least being the first to report it, may stretch her standards to the limit — and even lead her into danger.
Off the Air is a fun mystery that gets in lots of gibes at ultra-conservatives who spout about patriotism, God and family values. It also takes its share of digs at today’s media companies, where journalistic values are going down the toilet and all that matters are clicks. As a longtime journalist myself, I definitely got a kick out of all of it. Estes capitalizes on the circus atmosphere and creates a heroine who still has standards but is starting to cave a bit just to keep up.
The mystery part of the book is perfectly fine but it plays second fiddle to the setting, which, for me, was entertaining. It’s possible that those who haven’t braved newsrooms and the changing media landscape may not find it quite as hilarious, but I recommend it for an easy read.
Rated: Mild. Profanity includes around 16 instances of moderate profanity and about 10 uses of mild language. Sexual content is mild, with just some references to extramarital affairs. Violence is mild, with a murder involving poison and some peril with dogs and guns.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
