This story follows Jolene, a reporter in Phoenix, AZ. She is covering the death of a very outspoken radio personality. She finds herself constantly being undercut by competing news stations and is under an immense amount of pressure to deliver and time is running out!

I visited Phoenix recently and it was nice to learn some of the history about the neighborhoods, cuisine, and landmarks. I enjoyed the writing a lot and can't wait to read more from Christina Estes. I was really rooting for Jolene to come through and figure out what was happening. I have been in her shoes where everything is just going wrong and the mental toll it can take. Once I got into the story, I could not put it down. It was a well done whodunit. I would have liked a few more twists and turns but I overall really enjoyed the book! Also check out Christina's website there are some GREAT pic's of her live reporting days! I loved the hair!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Christina Estes, and Netgally for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Jolene is a reporter for a local Phoenix tv station, trying to navigate the pressure of competing stations and constant content updates on social media. When a controversial local radio host dies on air, Jolene battles her inner morals as well as the other reporters to get the scoop and figure out who murdered him before anyone else. Relatively fast-paced and a fun look at what goes on behind the scenes of our daily "news" shows.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.
This is the story of a Jolene a 20 something local TV News reporter based out of Phoenix Arizona. She is on the case of a murder of a local conservative radio firebrand- Larry Lemons ( a Rush Limbaugh-esque figure ). When I selected this story I was hoping the murder would be the main point for the story, but unfortunately thats not the case. Instead it focuses on all the mundane details of working at a local TV newsstation in Phoenix Arizona.

This book would be interesting for a reader who wants a behind the scenes look at broadcast journalism. We gets lots of them in this story- everything from dull phone calls from her manager to sitting in a conference room - to what kind of pizza they ordered ( the good kind from Oregano’s) to the color of marker used on the white board ( Blue). Unfortunately, these asides slow down the story telling. There are many scenes of jockying for postition and fighting to get the scoop or keeping her work from being stolen by Broadcasters . We get to meet the various news photographer/van driver- from decent guy Nate to the “ woman hater” to van driver Roger Hale cleverly nicknamed “ Snail”. As we plod along with Jolene we are forced to attend all the work minutia.. Its bad enough in IRL but in a book, hard pass.

As someone who lived in Phoenix for 30 years, I thought this book would be kind of fun to get to visit again. Instead it reads like whole paragraphs were torn from wikipedia, and have nothing to do with character development of progression of the story. The entire story is peppered with oddly specific name dropping of people, products and places. Pat Tillman, Maryvale, Indian School Road, Arizona Cardinals, Food City, Orange Patch, and needless explanations of their history. Case in Point- they are driving the home of the wealthy ex-wife of the murdered man- in Paradise Valley. Instead of simply saying that Paradise Valley is home to the uber wealthy, and moving on with the story, we get this bit of useless info:
“ Paradise Valley-It’s home to the country’s first police department to catch speeders by using cameras and radar devices streaming across roads. Besides hating speeders, Paradise Valley loves money. It’s Phoenix’s wealthiest suburb. But you won’t find a Neiman Marcus, Whole Foods, or even a Starbucks. For those, you have to travel to the neighboring cities of Phoenix or Scottsdale. Paradise Valley is zoned for hillside mansions and resorts cradled between Camelback, Mummy, and the Phoenix Mountains.”

The murder itself ( or the plot for that matter) takes a back seat to the history and culture lessons of Arizona. As I said at the beginning, I am perhaps not the right audience for this story. At the 60% mark, this book was a DNF for me.

The book features a cozy mystery with a determined news reporter and highlights the ruthless nature of reporting. I didn’t connect with the main character Jolene, so it was a bit hard to feel invested in the story. If you are interested in cozy mysteries, this book is for you. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

Christina Estes’ debut novel combines her experience as a reporter into a story about how far a journalist will go. Jolene Garcia is investigating the death of radio show host Larry Lemmon. Lemmon had a polarizing personality on the air and angered many listeners, and Jolene wants to solve the mystery of who killed him. Jolene is under pressure to produce news, but she’s always a step behind her rival JJ who seems to always get the exclusive interview. The main character finds herself trying to get the news while not disclosing information from her contact Jim, showcasing the lines between protecting her source and getting the story first. Her dream is to win an Emmy for her work as a journalist, and she knows she has to get this one right, or she’s back to stories about dry cleaners and gluten-free cupcakes.

The book read fast and I enjoyed the plot. Estes is knowledgeable about the industry, and this makes the book feel authentic. I didn’t predict the ending and was surprised when the killer’s identity was revealed. Thank you to NetGalley, Christina Estes, and St. Martin's Press for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Off the Air is a debut novel by Christina Estes. This highly competitive and morally charged universe of reporters takes readers on a heart-pounding, race-against-time.

This one took a while for me to get into, but I appreciate that it's a different approach to a typical mystery novel.

Jolene is an interesting and unique main character and narrator, and the inside look into "under the hood" of what it takes to be a competitive reporter was a new point of view for me that I appreciated. However, I felt that the underlying mystery of this book was a little underwhelming and low-stakes, which made it hard for me to get invested. It's another slow burn with a climax that kind of made me go "... so what?"

It was well-written, and unlike some reviewers, I appreciated the in-depth reporting and journalism background and explanations. This was a solid effort for a debut novel, and I think Estes has a solid future ahead of her as a novelist with Jolene as a lead character.

Thank you as always to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views and thoughts are my own.

I’m really confused with some of the reviews I’ve read about this book because I absolutely loved it and really enjoyed the characters (especially those we love to hate or who aren’t quite as reliable as we’d like them to be). I’ve seen some comments about this book not just zooming like a fast paced thriller, but to me, this felt like a cozy mystery which I love. Overall, a great read!

This is a book I should have DNF'd. It was not what I expected.

I love a good mystery and this was not that. It fell flat.

Off the Air is the story of TV reporter, Joleen, covering the murder of Larry Lemmon, a local radio talk show host. The story is set in Arizona, and reflects the conservative nature of the state. It also highlights the importance of contemporary journalism, which includes a lot of social media hype.

Unfortunately, I didn't seem to be able to connect with much in this book. Solving a murder can be quite interesting and entertaining, but there's a lot in this book that's more about culture and history, and that just didn't pique my interest. I was not able to get beyond 74%.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Off the Air.

I got this as an early release arc.
I normally enjoy mystery books but I thought this was absolutely horrible. It was one of the worst books that I read in a long time. I was not the slightest bit interested until 90% done with this book. I told several people I should have DNF’d it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of Off the Air in exchange for this review.

This is an enjoyable, behind-the-scenes story of a TV news reporter trying to get the scoop on an ongoing murder investigation. Jolene must walk a fine line between being overbearing and proactive as she pursues an exclusive interview or story for her station.

The murder investigation plot line is engaging and interesting. However, now that I’ve finished reading the book, I’m not sure that the characters or the action are completely believable. Some aspects of the plot are better developed than others. Additionally, there are many examples in the text of real news stories that are used to explain news processes or characters’ approaches to doing their jobs. In some cases these explanations come across as didactic and a bit heavy-handed.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but it’s not the best mystery I’ve read recently. It was fun to read something told from the perspective of a news reporter, which made it unlike other books I’ve read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for making this book available.
I was excited for a quick and easy read. I went into it mostly blindly, but quickly found myself searching for positive reviews to keep me going.
I called TOD at 101 pages…. Just couldn’t do it. The main character had no depth. She was whinny and annoying with no real gravitas. The murder aspect wasn’t really interesting. I have no experience in the world of journalism- other than acknowledging it’s highly competitive. This book leaves me with no desire to read about it from the angle portrayed.

This just in: In the world of investigative journalism, you better have a killer story.

Jolene Garcia is a TV reporter who spends most of her time investigating groundbreaking stories such as which dry cleaner is the best at removing stains and which nail salon gives the best manicure. When controversial radio host Larry Lemon is found dead, Jolene, who conducted his final interview, siezes the opportunity and races to solve his murder.

This was an interesting look inside the world of journalism. It was interesting to see the protocol behind breaking news and what can happen when those rules are broken. The mystery was well-crafted and unpredictable.

I felt like some of the side characters in Jolene's personal life were a bit unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot. In general, none of the characters were very likeable. I was also expecting the book to be a bit funnier, but at times it felt dry and seemed to drag on.

Overall, this was a unique story that provided an interesting prospective on journalism. However, much like the news, it was informative but not the most entertaining.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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3/5 very inconspicuous cookies

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher. This was a different novel than I usually read but I enjoyed the Arizona setting and the uniqueness of the reporting storyline.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Jolene wants more out of her career. When she hears theirs ben a murder she wants to get a keg up on everyone else. This book dragged in a few places.

Not my usual type book but Arizona was a great place to park my head over winter.

Story started out interesting touching on all the different types of stories a typical journalist gets involved in until a fellow journalist of social standing is murdered, and Off The Air.

This book did not live up to they hype it received for a new author. The competition must have been relatively weak for it to have won the Tony Hillerman Prize. It does come close to that level of writing. The best I can say is that it is a quick read if you can stick with it. I found the main character to be particularly annoying after the few chapters with her lack of common sense and somewhat self indulgent view of herself. Solving the murder won’t take long for a reader of this genre. Another positive for the book is that is does present a look at the dog eat dog world of media reporters. This is not surprising as it is the background of the author. Others seem to enjoy the book so I leave it to you to decide if it is worth the time.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Goodreads, Net GAlley, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

I had a hard time getting into this book. Too many characters and too much information. I prefer simple storylines that are easy to follow.

I just reviewed Off the Air by Christina Estes. #OffTheAirBook #NetGalley