This debut novel by Christina Estes looks at how journalists put together a newsworthy story, from following up leads to putting "teasers" on social media to promote a story.

Jolene Garcia, a TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, is among the first to report on the sudden death of a controversial radio host. Hoping to outscoop the other journalists, she gets caught up in the investigation. Relying on tips from a friend in law enforcement, she proceeds to head up her research into the presumed murder. What follows is a look at the extent to which Jolene is willing to go to further her career.

While the story is intriguing, I found myself a bit disgusted at Jolene's tactics to try and stay ahead of the competition. She alienates colleagues, witnesses, and police contacts to further her career and, in my case, the reader. This is a fast-paced read and a good look at what goes on behind the scenes of broadcast news. I was expecting more of a cozy mystery, so I was slightly disappointed in what was more about broadcast journalists. I recommend the book; just go into it knowing what you'll get. 3/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Minotaur Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is March 26, 2024.

This was not my cup of tea. To me, this one was really hard to get through and was so political. Which is completely fine if you like that type of book, but I read to escape things like that. The chapters were long and the plot was really really dragging out the entire book in my opinion. Missed the mark for me

Title: Off the Air by Christina Estes
Publication Date- 03/26/24
Publisher- St. Martins Press
Overall Rating- 3 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Off the Air is a mystery with a lot to say. Christina Estes has an intro that discusses her as a journalist and how that influenced the story behind Off the Air. Journalism is something that has always interested me and the depths reports go to get information. We get to know the field, how competition between reports can come about and the pressures of social media and reporting. As a whole I found this book very interesting and compelling. Below I am going to lay out some things for you to know before going into this mystery.

This is the story of a reporter who is covering the mysterious death of a controversial radio host. If you take Alex Jones and make him a book character that is this controversial radio host. This is basically a retelling of Alex Jones’s terrible opinions and I wasn’t mad about it. The writing was funny at times and took heavy topics and made them informative and palpable. At times there are factual passages informing the reader of current/ past events that are still relevant today. Big themes are racism, immigration, MAGA and Trump. If you are not in a place to read about these themes do not pick up this novel; it is greatly politically driven throughout the entire novel. For me, these were some of my favorite parts. If you are not in the right headspace this will not work for you.

I enjoyed the main character a lot. She was entertaining, intelligent and hilarious. The mystery was pretty interesting at the start but got redundant from the middle on. I also really did not like the ending or explanation for the crime. It would have been a four star read but I just really did not like the ending which is a big part of a murder mystery. We do get a clear answer, I just personally didn’t love it.

I will read from this author again, all in all I was entertained and I’m not mad about it.

"Equal parts thought-provoking and entertaining, Off the Air introduces Jolene Garcia in Emmy Award-winning reporter Christina Estes's Tony Hillerman Prize-winning debut.

Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, splitting her time between covering general assignments - anything from a monsoon storm to a newborn giraffe at the zoo - and special projects. Stories that take more time to research and produce. Stories that Jolene wants to tell.

When word gets out about a death at a radio station, Jolene and other journalists swarm the scene, intent on reporting the facts first. 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.

As the story heats up, so does the competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. It's an investigation that could make or break her career - if it doesn't break her first."

Get a murderous inside scoop from an author who knows what's what.

Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, who splits her time between covering general interest assignments and working on special projects. Her most recent interview was with Larry Lemmon, “America’s true conservative voice”- and a controversial radio talk show host.

When word gets out about a death at Lemmon’s radio station, KFRK, Jolene and Nate Thompson, her photographer, rush to the scene-hoping to be able to report the facts first but she finds herself one step behind JJ, her nemesis at a rival station.

Emmy Award winning reporter Cristina Estes is a Tony Hillerman Prize winner for this debut and her knowledge and experience admirably shine here. This plot is right up my alley but something was missing for me.... it almost read like a nonfiction, biographical account of the journalism field, which could be fascinating for some, but slowed the story down for me. The political aspect didn't help either.

I did want to point out though, that Ms. Estes included a Trigger Warning with references to abandonment, ageism, animal cruelty, child neglect, classism, homelessness, racism, sexism, sexual coercion, and substance abuse. This is the first I have encountered such a warning in a book and I found it to be very considerate.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.
#offtheairbook #netgalley

Off the Air was a great whodunit mystery and I enjoyed reading from a reporter's perspective. I found Jolene to be unlikeable at times, although it was easy to see the pressure she was under to get the scoop first. This was an enjoyable read and the writing was wonderful.

What a quirky novel! Jolene is a reporter who just can’t catch a break. She is following all kinds of leads….both big and small…to try to find out who the killer is, and most of all, to get this info before other reporters do! Her journey is quite exciting! Loved the dramatic ending! This was a fun read.

Jolene is a local TV reporter in Phoenix and when word gets out about a death at a radio station, Jolene and other journalists swarm the scene, intent on reporting the facts first. As the story heats up, so does the competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. It's an investigation that could make or break her career - if it doesn't break her first.

This story starts off full speed ahead - you're thrown into the fast paced world of reporters, always trying to be the first in this cutthroat industry. It was high stress and it made me feel stressed reading it!
The characters we meet can be quite stereotypical, and our murder victim being controversial and overly political felt like a way to make a stand but some of the comments brought about just felt out of place in the story instead of being thought provoking.

I think this book could be right for a reader who is really interested in Journalism and true crime/thrillers but it was too much of the bad and the ugly of the industry in the narrative for me.

Thank you, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you so much to Christina Estes and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the eARC to review. This is my first read by Christina. I love mysteries and this book was right up my ally. It has a great story line and its a fun whodunit mystery. Definitely recommend this to mystery lovers.

This is a cozy mystery that focuses on journalism, particularly tv journalism. The plot centers on a tv reporter in Phoenix (Jolene Garcia) who is assigned to do an interview with a famous ultra-conservative talk radio host (Larry Lemmon), but learns shortly thereafter that Lemmon has been murdered. Jolene chases the story around Lemmon’s death, as does her rival JJ, who is a reporter with a competing tv station. What ensues is not only a fairly interesting mystery surrounding Lemmon’s death but also a solid look at tv journalism today and how it is changing to fit better into the multi-media world in which we now live.

This interested me because I have a degree in journalism myself, but I found the characters way too political (and aren’t journalists supposed to be neutral and report just the news/facts?) and the plot moving too slowly for my taste. All in all, though, I found it to be an interesting read.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe I was not the target audience for this book, but I had a really hard time getting through this one. Lots of what seemed like propaganda that didn’t relate to the story.

3.5 stars.

Off the Air is a debut novel that takes the reader into the world of a news reporter.

Jolene Garcia is that reporter and she is on the cusp of what she hopes to be an exclusive into the murder of Larry Lemmon a talk show host .

The competition is fierce for Jolene but she is determined to get the story and perhaps an Emmy.

The suspect list is long and the pace quickens with twists and turns and a few red herrings.

It was interesting to see a behind the scene look at journalism, past and present..

Christina Estes kept me turning the pages and I can't wait to see what her next novel will be.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the privilege of reading and reviewing Off the Air.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Jolene Garcia is a news reporter in Phoenix that is working on the low level assignments when she scoops the story of the suspicious death of a local, infamous talk show host, Larry Lemmon. It just so happens that Jolene conducted his final interview, giving her and her station an advantage on this latest event. As the story heats up, so does the competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder.

As far as the crime was concerned, there are plenty of suspects, and putting the pieces together was quite an accomplishment. I do think that the conclusion was unsatisfactory and left me longing for better execution. This is worth a read with the caveat that this is a debut novel.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the invite to read Off The Air by Christina Estes. Expected publication date March 26, 2024.

Jolene is a Phoenix, AZ news reporter out to get to the latest scoop around town first. There's not much breaking news lately, until Larry Lemmon, a controversial talk show host dies under suspicious circumstances. Jolene feels the heat when she tries to report on and solve the murder. The competition of other reporters getting to the news first is heavy. Will this be Jolene's big break in news reporting?

Review: The main point in this book was to have us understand how cutthroat the world of news reporting can be, but I feel like it overshadowed the mystery behind Larry Lemmon's death. I did find it interesting, but I could not really connect with the content until over mid-way through the book. I quite enjoyed the beginning and the end, but it was slow going for me for most of the middle of the book. You might enjoy Off The Air if you are looking for a slow burn mystery about a fast paced industry.

I went into reading this book very intrigued by the premise but it was not quite what I was expecting. It's very well written and has a lot of informative details in regards to having a career in journalism but I felt like it overpowered the mystery at times.

Overall the writing style wasn't for me but I do think it will definitely find it's intended audience.

Thank you Christina Estes, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Minor spoilers included:

This book is heavily focused on journalism—jockeying for the scoop, the role of social media, battling producer and network interests—with little investigation by the MC into the murder mystery details. There was a fair amount of commentary about Arizona and other important topics like immigration which pulled focus at times because connections were not always made to the murder.

The synopsis says “Jolene is determined to solve this murder” but I believe a fairer statement is “Jolene is determined to get the scoop first.” Her actions are focused around getting information no other reporter knows, getting an exclusive interview first, and getting credit for her work. Anytime someone challenges her actions, she complains about the pressure she is under to deliver on this news story, which made it hard to root for her. She makes an important connection at the very end of the book but recklessly endangers herself to save her career, which again made her hard to root for.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

I’m not entirely sure how I felt about this. On one hand, it was well written and incredibly detailed. On the other hand, the details were at times irrelevant to the story. There is no doubt in my mind that the author is knowledgeable about news and journalism, but at times, it didn’t feel like a mystery and more of a biography about someone’s time in the industry. I found myself skimming over entire pages just to get to dialogue that progressed the story forward.

Overall, It wasn’t my favourite book, but wasn’t bad by any means. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Christina Estes for allowing me to read and reviews the ARC of Off The Air.

This book is action packed, fast-paced and very believable. The setting is a TV-4 news room in Phoenix where 29-year-old Jolene, a reporter, is willing to do whatever it takes to get a breaking-news story.

Larry Lemmon just died and it was declared that he was murdered. An unidentified woman brought cookies to the radio station where he was broadcasting his show. He ingested cyanide in his blood stream which killed him. Jolene was in competition with not only local reporters but also those from national news to get the story first of who did this.

Jolene had a list of possible suspects. Larry had a gun range with all sorts of people practicing the targets. Some women weren’t happy as they could shop but not shoot guns at the range. This broadcaster shared the same values as Donald Trump with the border and undocumented immigrants. Larry was convinced that the election was stolen and felt like someone had to speak the truth even if it hurt liberals.

Christina Estes wrote this book about what she knows. She is a senior reporter for KJZZ-FM Radio in Phoenix and could create several sequels from her past experiences. Her setting makes you feel like you’re in the middle of heart-pounding meetings with the producers wanting high ratings quickly. However, I didn’t love the nicknames used: sexy, nacho, snail, thigh-high boots, Sherlock, woman-hater and others.

The author characterized someone promoting climate change in a radical way from the liberal area of San Francisco. She was sarcastic about wealthy Scottsdale residents and tried hard to include shocking news such as animal abuse. This sets the tone even though parts of her story were very interesting about the changes in journalism and a reminder of the dangers with poisons. There is always a risk of turning away half of the readers in our divided nation when a book picks up conservative vs. liberal values. This story will likely get a lot of interesting feedback.

My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of March 26, 2024.

Christina Estes debut novel Off the Air is an enjoyable look at modern day new reporting. Jolene Garcia is a reporter for a local Phoenix station and stumbles upon the murder of a well known shock jock radio pundit. With major competition from other stations; and the added stress of reporting the news in an ever evolving social media landscape; Jolene will stops at nothing to break this story wide open.

Overall I found Off the Air to be just so/so. It is clear that Estes has a background in news because the clarity with which she writes about the daily happenings of a new station is top notch and has a "behind the scenes" feeling to it. However the plot was drawn out and the twist ending was not that shocking, or unpredictable. I found there were too many side characters/co-workers and not many of them were given any real time in the plot to make a difference in the story. As the reader, I did appreciate how Estes added explanations of real life cultural events that had taken place in or near Arizona to her telling of the fictional story.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Off the Air. This novel will hit the bookshelves on March 26th.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Cozy thriller but not much of a fan for the political aspect of this book or a fan in real life. So it shouldn’t hinder my opinion. Give it a try if that is your thing! 😊