Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter trying to make a name for herself in the Phoenix market. Somewhat hapless, she always seems to be one step behind JJ, the golden reporter from a rival station. When a local contentious radio host is found dead by poison, Jolene has the advantage of having been the last person to interview him. That advantage soon fades and once again she is playing catch up. When she gets a tip that may lead her to the murderer, will she solve the case, will she avoid endangering her life and will she finally win an Emmy?

Debut author Estes was an award winning reporter and demonstrates she knows her way around this sometimes toxic field. There is a fast paced plot, written with humor and characters that were endearing even when they were annoying. This was a refreshing break from some of the dark thrillers I have read recently and I enjoyed the emphasis on the pressure that TV and other journalists are under in this social media crazy world. Estes even manages to squeeze in some geography and history lessons without being pedantic or preachy.

I wonder, is this the beginning of a new cozy mystery series? It would be fun to read more about Jolene’s adventures.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was less thriller and more so a murder mystery type of book. I wanted to like this one and I love how the author added her personal experience to the story of being a reporter for a station. This one just wasn't the one for me. I was frustrated at how the main character allowed herself to get pushed over and treated like crap. I LOVE a good strong female character and I didn't get that from this. The murder aspect was decent, the main murder is about Larry who just drops dead while in his station. It's Jolene's responsibility as a news reporter to figure out the deets, who did it, and the motive to report to local television. She's getting the information, but yet she's not able to reveal her sources to report it live *HOW FRUSTRATING* I would NOT be able to do this job and props to anyone who has and is currently.

Overall, a good read but not up my alley of just because of the lack of mystery and the main character.

3 hold the press stars

Jolene Garcia is a Phoenix TV reporter looking for her big break; she’s tired of chasing rival fellow reporter JJ, who always seems to get the scoop first. When news breaks about a death at the building where a controversial radio station is housed, everyone wonders if it could be Larry Lemmon. He’s known for his talk show, and he’s got a host of enemies.

At first, it seemed that Jolene had the upper hand, as she had recently interviewed Lemmon. However, JJ got a scoop, and Jolene’s source refused to let her publish details about the case.
Risking her personal safety for the story, Jolene gets deeper into the mystery surrounding Lemmon’s death.

While this was an interesting premise, this definitely felt like a debut novel to me. The writing got too deep into politics for me and shared so many details about how reporting has changed. I was rooting for some redemption for Jolene and her shifty strategies to get the story, but that never materialized.

I thought this was a great debut novel for this author. I love reporters being the center of the story in a mystery/thriller so I knew I wanted to read this right away. For this book alone, I can't wait to see what else the author does. The tension in this book will have you on the edge of your seat wanting to know how it ends.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise seemed to be something a little different than most books I have read. Unfortunately the execution did not deliver for me. I really struggled with the lack of depth of the characters and would typically read a book in a few days but this one took me a week.
This writing style was also not for me. I often felt like I got whiplash when reading and suddenly the plot went from where they were going to get a story to a history lesson about the neighborhood. It felt very disjointed and out of place.

I appreciate the opportunity given to me by netgalley and Minotaur books to read an early copy of this book and provide my honest review.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me. I made it through about 25%.
I do not know how accurate the depiction of the behind the scenes of a breaking news story is. If it's anything like what was portrayed in the portion of this book that I read, is it ever a cut throat profession!
I can appreciate the inspiration of this book and I do think this is has a good storyline for the right audience. It just wasn't the right fit for me. I would like to sincerely thank the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to explore this novel.

Talk about getting the scoop, well this story even has the national news looking to take over.
When a local radio controversial talk show host dies under mysterious circumstances everyone wants to know what happened!
We journey for answers and with that comes danger to a local reporter, but Jolene is determined.
With suspense comes danger and threats, and yet, she is determined to be the first with answers. Is her career on line?
There are surprises, and yet, Jolene is putting herself out there, but will it cost her her life? Will she get the story she desires or become the headline herself? Page turning will answer your questions!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Off the Air by Christina Estes from St. Martin’s Press,Minotaur Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

I was so looking forward to reading this book, both because it won the Tony Hillerman Prize, usually a great indicator of a really good mystery set in the Southwest, and because it features a journalist as its main protagonist. As a recovering one of those sorts my own self, I’m always up for a walk down memory lane.

Alas, I didn’t even get hardly any steps down this particular path before realizing that the writing style was the sort that seems very forced to me, and that I was going to have a hard time ignoring really “off” word choices and phrasings.

I dunno, maybe better in concept than execution? Been what, all of five minutes since I said _that_ about a book, right? LOL.

So, yeah, did not finish. In a big way.

But I'm still almost always going to give a Hillerman Prize winner a go.

DESCRIPTION
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.

I enjoyed this book. The story line seemed intriguing to me. While I found the beginning of the book to be on the slow side, once the plot surfaced, it read fast. I felt like the author drew me in and I was assisting the reporter on finding the culprit. The way the author included the neighbor's visitor threw in a plot twist but I don't necessarily know if it was pertinent to the story. I can't remember if we find out who wrote the notes though.
I would recommend this book to my peers

A conservative talk show host is found dead under suspicious circumstances, news reporter Jolene hopes to be the first one to report this story and determine to find out the truth about his death. This book has a lot of political mentions and journalism jargon, it was a slow read for me. Expected the book to be more focused on the mystery/thriller rather then journalism, history of AZ and the political conversation.

Thank you Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

I have never been so glad that a book ended.

This book was so unbelievably boring. I am a huge fan of amateur sleuths but this was more of a reporter complaining the whole time that other reporters were getting her stories.

Jolene had the most bland personality in the whole entire book.

I kept going with this book because I really wanted to know who killed Larry Lemmon.

Controversial radio talk show host, Larry Lemmon has been killed and journalist. Jolene Garcia, was the last one to interview him. Now she works harder than ever to also learn who murdered him and interview that person as well.

This was a slow read and I struggled to get through it. Jolene is a reporter working in Phoenix. She wants to land a really juicy story so that she can further her career.
I found her whinny and her integrity was questionable.
Seeing what it is like behind the scenes as a broadcaster in a newsroom was interesting. Reporters always seem to be going for the next scoop.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I commend the author on finishing her first book.
The book was a very, very slow burn. It seemed repetitive in storyline in that Jolene simply kept looking for a lead. By the end of the novel, I found that I really wasn't at all invested in the ending. It was also quite evident that, intentionally or not, the book was derivative of Sue Grafton's work. Jolene's entire persona was akin to Kinsey Milhone (just a different job). Given time and experience, I'm sure Estes can grow in her storytelling.

The concept was entertaining but I just felt that the book overall didn't really deliver. The first 30% of the book felt like it dragged on and then the last bits just felt hurried and not a complete story.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel for review purposes.

This was a good book; however, I was not 'wowed' by it. The plot was solid and the story was well written but I couldn't warm up to the characters at all.

I would be interested in trying another novel by Christina Estes but this one was a bit of a hard read.

I enjoy murder mysteries! This one was fun! I’ve never read about it from a reporters perspective so that was awesome!

The famous but equally loathed talk show host Larry Lemmon collapses and dies, and his death is investigated due to its suspicious nature. Reporter Jolene Garcia tries to get the exclusive rights to the story, and delves into an investigative journey that ultimately leads to bringing a killer to justice.

This was a fun read that really explores the inner workings of investigative reporting, and it brings to light a lot of social issues that are portrayed by the media. There was also some pretty interesting background about the Phoenix, Arizona area and many of the complexities of this city and surrounding areas.

I felt like this book was a social commentary wrapped in a murder mystery presented as behind the scenes footage from of investigative journalism, which certainly made for a read that differs from my normal territory!

i graduated with a degree in politics and i did not enjoy the politics in this book. i read to escape and felt like i was doing side work for a class lecture.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this advanced copy of Off the Air. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one as I really could not get into the story.

I felt like character development was lacking and the story seemed to drag on unnecessarily.