Off The Air by Christina Estes is an original, well-written page-turner that is full of action and propels the reader from start to finish.
The focus on the competitive and frustrating business of television news is original and entertaining, and Estes develops the storyline as one would imagine would happen in real-life news reporting.
The main character of Jolene is relatable as she struggles to maintain her journalistic integrity in an atmosphere in which it seems to matter less as her investigation continues, even to her superiors, who are more interested in likes than the protection of a source. Her frustration is palatable, making the lengths she will go to for a scoop understandable. The supporting characters round out the cut-throat world of news, and those who have worked in the industry, be it on air or in print, will feel a kinship for Jolene and her co-workers.
The mystery itself touches on topics that the reader can recognize from current events and issues. Estes also provides a treasure trove of well-researched facts on the Phoenix area and other topics that give the novel an added depth that serves to enhance the reader's experience.
This is an outstanding debut novel that will hopefully develop into a series.
I happily received an ARC of #OffTheAirBook from #NetGalley .

Off the Air by Christina Estes will be published March 26, 2024 by Minotaur Books. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

Off the Air is a novel about a young female television reporter trying to get the next big story under her belt. Unfortunately, Jolene ran an unverified story and lost her last position in Minnesota before ending up in Phoenix.

Embroiled in finding information on the sudden death of a television personality, Jolene finds herself walking a tight rope to make sure she doesn’t give up her sources, uses evidence based information and battling her bosses who want the story! Jolene is also faced with getting deliveries of threats and possible interviewees. Was the newscaster poisoned by his wife? Was it a disgruntled guest ? A coworker? Follow along as Jolene is determined to find out Larry’s possible murderer. Jolene’s tenacity for observation skills and critical thinking leads her to the killer. Suspenseful.

I found the nuances of the work of news reporters interesting. The competitiveness between reporters of different stations and the same station was news to me. All in all an enjoyable read.

Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, hoping for a chance at covering a big story.

When a death at a radio station is reported Jolene might get her chance. Journalists swarm the scene, vying for information. The body is soon identified as Larry Lemmon, a controversial talk show host, who died under suspicious circumstances. Jolene conducted his final interview, giving her and her station an advantage. But not for long.

This is a different sort of mystery. It's from the viewpoint of a reporter digging for information and not an amateur sleuth. It's an interesting take, but it wasn't really for me.

It's clear a lot of research went into this. We get details, step by step, of what it's like behind the scenes when the media is covering a story. I would have preferred less of a play by play because the narrative was too slow for me. It was also hard to root for the main character because I found myself put off by things reporters do to get a story. Readers who are interested in journalism will enjoy this book.

This book is a perfect example of why I hate the news and media: reporters who will do anything to get a story and don't seem to care about the people involved in them, news stations that are all about the likes on social media, and all of them not being unbiased like they should be. It's a world where honest, unbiased reporting seems to be a thing of the past, and those involved will do anything to get the scoop.

With that said, this was pretty well-written. The author definitely knows her stuff about the journalism world, as she spent many years being a journalist herself. There's plenty of talk of what goes on behind the scenes to make newscasts, and how the world has shifted from the printed stories of old to the new era of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. The mystery itself is pretty basic - a controversial radio talk show host, Larry Lemmon, has gotten himself murdered, and all the news stations are competing to be the first to get exclusive stories with the people close to him. You can easily see how this story could happen in real life, as Larry was a conservative voice who enjoyed riling up the other side. The political angle isn't terrible, but we really need to get over the thinking of everyone on one side being the bad guys and everyone on the other side being the good guys. It's tearing us apart having such black and white thinking, especially since things are rarely that simple.

As far as the murder goes, do I think what Larry did was terrible? Yes. Do I think it warranted murder? No. I was expecting a much bigger reason for why the murderer did what they did, and was a little let down when I learned the actual reason, seeing as how it all felt so hyped up with Larry being such a controversial person. It just didn't live up to the expectations I had made for myself.

I think this will appeal to anyone with an interest or background in the journalism and news world, and those who like pretty straightforward mysteries. Just don't set your expectations too high.

I overall really enjoyed this novel! Great plot and pace throughout. I also enjoyed the characters and found myself gripped with the twists and turns. I found myself really drawn into the details of journalism but if you are not a fan of politics, you probably won’t enjoy this novel! Overall I would recommend!

I was initially intrigued by this book, due to its unique premise. A TV reporter happens to be on the scene of a crime, while trying to get a scoop. As she tries to get more info, she takes on the role of amateur detective.

I found the journalistic characters, and their world extremely unsavoury and questionable. It’s definitely a dog eat dog world, and they will do anything to get the edge on their competition. I found it hard to empathize with characters who seemed so slimy, and this definitely hampered my enjoyment of this book.

I felt that this book was decently written, I just found the characters and their world extremely off putting.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

To be honest, I wanted more of the nitty gritty murder mystery part of the story. This reads very much a day in the life of a journalist. Unfortunately, this made for a very slow, at times boring read. The main character came across as whiny at many times too. If you are miserable in your career, try to make life changes. She complained about the state of Arizona, Politics, the change in journalism to social media, and the cut-throat nature of being a journalist. I wanted more about Lemmon's life and the challenges to find the killer. I guess I went into the book thinking it would be more of a mystery involving journalism than a play by play of a journalist's life.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Well I have a mixed feeling about this book. I liked the details about how media and journalism work behind the scene. This was very interesting to me. I also liked a murder story.
I am not sure if I liked the characters of the book. Hard to relate

2.25-2.5 STARS

As a longtime resident of Arizona, living just southeast of Phoenix, the backdrop for this book was the first thing that appealed to me upon reading the story’s synopsis. As a huge fan of thrillers and murder mysteries, the “whodunnit” aspect of this story pumped up my interest even further. Unfortunately, for me, “Off the Air” missed the mark on that front. So, while I enjoyed the local tidbits about Phoenix and its surrounding cities, the whole murder mystery just fell flat. Though I can certainly appreciate the struggles and ethical dilemmas faced by those in the media, that was not the story I signed on to read, hence it was not the story for me.

I was very tempted to pull a DNF, but I pushed through, hoping to feel something other than boredom. What I ultimately came to feel is best described as indifference. I was not at all invested in the characters, and thus, I didn’t even care enough to hate them as some other readers have voiced in their reviews. I have no issue with the writing, per say, or even the political undertones. What I have an issue with is the story itself, which became a study in journalism rather than the thriller/mystery I was anticipating at the onset.

Overall, this one was only okay for me. While the main plot was intriguing, I felt like a lot of the book was dedicated to simply talking about the journalism industry. As someone who is not in that industry, I didn't really care so much and felt this took away from the overall story.

Off the Air by Chrisrtina Estes is a well -written book about the entertainment business and contains a mystery. With thought provoking themes, Off the Air was a great read.

I thought it would be interesting to read a book with background information into the journalism world. In the end, this book had a somewhat silly murder plot and became political. I almost put it down, but ended up finishing it. If you like the journalism and politics piece, this may be a must read.

Off the Air by Christina Estes is a captivating blend of thought-provoking themes and entertaining storytelling. This full-throttle mystery is filled with dangerous undercurrents that readers will both expect and love. Once you dive into this thrilling debut, you'll find it impossible to put down until the very end.

Jolene, a television reporter in Phoenix Arizona is assigned to cover the sudden death of controversial local radio personality Larry Lemon. When it turns out to be murder, Jolene becomes determined to solve the case and scoop the competition.

Although the premise sounded interesting, the book just didn’t work for me. When the book started, I was interested in how Jolene and Nate went about covering the story. But about a quarter of the way through the book, Jolene seemed to loose all personal integrity and I wound up really disliking her. Plus, I never cared enough about the victim to become invested in what had happened to him.

I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book. The emphasis is definitely on the reporting and less on the murder mystery. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I was expecting more of a traditional mystery/thriller and this is not that (or at least not the focal point). I also found myself getting bogged down in all of the details around reporting and newsroom operations. There were quite a few supporting characters and I got most of them confused since there wasn’t much to differentiate them as far as I could tell. The biggest disconnect I think was that I couldn’t really connect with the MC’s ruthless need to “get the story” at all costs, including alienating her friends and colleagues and putting her own safety at risk. I think someone with a background in journalism is more of the target audience for this one and would enjoy it.

Pub Date: 3/26/24
Review Published: 3/4/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was less mystery and more like a love letter towards journalism. I understand the author has a journalism background, but to me it almost read like a memoir. The plot was stale and the characters lacked depth. At times I felt there was unnecessary pieces thrown in that didn't have much to do with the plot. 3 stars. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Entertaining and actually informative!
In her debut novel, Phoenix AZ reporter Christina Estes has followed the well-known advice, “Write about what you know”, and the result is as informative as it is entertaining. When a radio talk show host is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Phoenix TV reporter Jolene Garcia wants to be first to break the news as the story develops. This naturally turns into a quest to learn whether the dead man was murdered or died of natural causes, which involves probing into all aspects of his life: targets of his controversial reporting, former wives, work colleagues, and more.
As Estes investigates, readers learn a lot about investigative journalism, TV news reporting, and the Phoenix area. I found the information about how the stations use social media like Facebook interesting and spotted some restaurants that might be worth a visit if I go to Phoenix! There were also some fun mentions of real events that I had forgotten or not known, such as an incident in Chicago in 1982 when someone put cyanide into bottles of Tylenol, leading to the deaths of seven people and the development of tamper-resistant packaging.
Narrator Jolene Garcia came across to me as rather a sad figure, living alone except for her goldfish Oscar, never cooking at home, and seeming to have no life outside her job. There is a lot of competitiveness in her industry, but some of her colleagues (and an ex-beau who works for the police department) show kindness and kept me from feeling negative about everyone.
The emphasis on journalistic practices dominated the first two-thirds of the book, so readers who want a lot of action or a gripping challenging puzzle to solve might be a bit disappointed, but I must say that the denouement turned out to be both fair and clever. I would definitely read more by Christina Estes.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Minotaur Books.

This book unfortunately missed the mark for me. It was too political, heavy on boring journalism procedures, and the main character was very unlikable. I couldn’t get past Jolene’s overall attitude towards everything, she was selfish and just kept rubbing me the wrong way. At one point there is a character, that must have been named originally but I missed it, she refers to him as Woman Hater constantly, no name. It was just weird.

The characters were not developed past the surface so they’re all very flat, maybe meant to create mystery when, frankly, there is none. The story included details on events or descriptions that did not add anything to the plot and made the book drag painfully.

I was hoping for an entertaining, twisty murder mystery but it was overshadowed by everything listed above, it was just not enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the review copy.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a debut novel by Christina Estes who is also a journalist! I found this book really showed you a behind the scenes look at newsrooms. I found while this book was marketed as a mystery it focused a lot more on journalism.

I did enjoy following Jolene as she tried to solve what happened, however there were a lot of parts that left me wanting more. I am looking forward to seeing if this will become a series and what more Christina will write.

4 stars rounded up from 3.5.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of ‘Off the Air’ by Christina Estes.

I’m sorry to say, this has got to be the worst book I’ve read this year. The main character, Jolene, was self centered and totally unlikeable. It’s as if the entire world revolves around her and her journalism career, and while the author tried to bring me in, I just rolled my eyes constantly. She had not one redeeming quality. The competition with the rival reporter was petty and annoying. I hope nobody takes themselves or their jobs this seriously.

At around the 60% mark, I had to force myself not to rush and end it. I’m sure this will be marketed as a cozy mystery, but it did not leave me feeling cozy in the slightest.

Oh, and minor spoiler/trigger warnings for animal abuse and death. That pissed me off.