Thank you to NetGalley and Christina Estes for this ARC. I didn’t particularly care for this book as there was too much political referencing. I like to read to relax and to escape the drama and bologna of every day life. Having politics thrown at me in a book does not fit for me, as there’s too much coverage of it already in day-to-day life. The story reveal wasn’t all that interesting to me, as it was more about Jolene being on top of other news stations, rather than any suspenseful plot progression. Being a dog lover, I was also livid to find that Larry hunted and killed them for sport. Again, too much of this sickening abuse happens in real life.

Off the Air is one of those thrillers with really well-developed characters, that is so descriptive, you have no problem getting invested. I enjoyed reading through the perspective of a reporter and getting a feel of what that job is like. The storyline itself at times dragged a bit for me. It wasn’t as “edge of your seat” as I prefer thrillers to be. However, the way everything wrapped up, the way the characters were developed, really did a great job holding my attention. That’s what kept me invested in finding out how things would wrap up.

This book was a welcome surprise! Jolene (love her name!) is a broadcast journalist working for a local news station in Phoenix, and she’s looking for a big story to get her name out there when, lo and behold, she stumbles onto the death of a local radio talk show host that turns out to be a murder. She’s working to scoop the other reporters, especially one in particular, while trying to solve the case before the police and jockeying with national cable news stations too.

I learned a lot about the broadcast news business in this book. Wow, has their work changed with the advent of social media. Poor Jolene was always being told to tweet or Facebook immediately after she wrote her piece, did an interview on camera, or investigated which person to question next. These people never stop! And the murder victim became someone who was both good and bad, and then bad and good, and I was guessing up almost to the reveal as to who was the culprit. The writer does a great job of keeping the tempo accelerating throughout.

I can see why this debut novel was award-winning, and I really enjoyed it. My thanks to St Martin’s Press and the author for the ARC through NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC! I wasn’t a huge fan of this novel. Repetitive and wordy. Definitely a slow burn, when I wanted something a bit faster-paced.

This is a fun book to read, even with all of the murders and evil. It’s hard these
days to keep media outlets profitable and people are pressured to do things
they would never consider, were their job and self identity not always facing
challenges from everyone, even their friends.
My thanks to St Martins Press - Minotaur Books, via Net Galley, for the
download copy of this book for review purposes.

I normally try to be gracious with my reviews, but with this one…I just can’t. I wanted to DNF the book about a fifth of the way through. The only reason I didn’t was so I could leave an honest review here. There are a lot of descriptions of characters, but this book missed the mark with helping the characters come alive and developing them into something more than words on a page. There was a lot of unnecessary journalism talk that ruined the focus of the plot. As far as the murder mystery part…this one’s a dud.
For the sake of the book and the author, I will not be posting my thoughts on social media or Amazon.

Debut novel that gives you a view of the life of a news reporter, a real cutthroat world.
A controversial talk show host is found dead. What happened?
Jolene Garcia tries to take control of this cat and mouse race as she wants to be the first to get that important interview. She wants an exclusive.
Wonderful characters and interesting plot.. The pace was slower times, but it kept me guessing.
A fun debut novel.
I received this ARC copy from NetGalley.

This missed the mark for me. I think a big part of it was because there was a lot of journalism word and lingo and talk that I just didn’t understand. Also it was very politically filled and I tend to stay away from that. Overall the writing was done well, it just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I never thought the journalism world would be so cut-throat. I liked learning more about the “behind the scenes” aspect of the journalist career. I thought it was well written and look forward to future books by this author.

I wanted to like this book. It has everything I need: great writing, a snarky protagonist, a world that intrigues me (journalism in Phoenix), and a murder to solve. Unfortunately, the ingredients came together to produce a flop.

Debut author Christina Estes has a background in journalism and IS a great writer. But she gets sidetracked by every side character’s backstory, while her main character moves beyond snarky into pessimism, manipulation, and self-centered moaning. The backbiting and bickering between journalists and their bosses left me thankful that I didn’t pursue journalism. And I wanted to track the breadcrumbs to the villain, I just couldn’t find them!

I think the author has potential. A few classes in characterization and plot and she could have a great story. This one, sadly, wasn’t that.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC of Off The Air by Christina Estes. In my opinion, this book is a slow burn. In the book, Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix, Arizona. She splits her time between covering general assignments to special projects. Word gets out about a death at a radio station. This is when Jolene and other journalists rush to the scene to report the story first. The body had soon been identified as Larry Lemmon. Larry was a controversial talk show host who died under suspicious circumstances. Jolene actually conducted his final interview. As the story heats up, so does her competition. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. This investigation was something that could make or break her career. I would recommend this book if you like slow burns and journalism. 😊😊😊

I finished the book, but I must say that at 10% or so, I was feeling like DNFing it. The writing threw me off, it was so tedious and repetitive. The narrator describes every single action of the characters and also gives an explanation of so many things. Every new character is introduced by the narrator as she starts to recall how and when she met them. It felt like reading a diary where its owner tells everything that happens in their life. When historical events or locations were mentioned, it was always followed by an explanation as if I were reading an excerpt from Wikipedia.

All of these elements made the story very static. The story didn’t progress at all. It’s a murder mystery, but it felt like the story was too centered on the main character’s work and the dynamics behind it, but very little was explored when it comes to the murder mystery itself. The main character, Jolene, was extremely unlikeable and had very questionable work ethic, which made me feel very uncomfortable and actually root for her downfall.

Being an avid thriller reader, I was expecting a lot more than what I got. It’s not just that it’s very slow-paced, but there’s just not enough elements for me to be intrigued by the plot or charmed by the characters. It was a boring book overall that I could not wait to be over with.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of “Off The Air” through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The tense atmosphere was continuous throughout. Who killed the radio host?? But also prevalent was a rather juvenile animosity between two female journalists from different stations. Bravo to the author for a surprising conclusion.

Loved this book!! This author was new to me, will definitely be looking for more books!! Excellent read!!

Not as exciting as I thought it would. Based off the synopsis seemed like it would be a straight forward murder mystery. However there was more to it.

I found myself reading it just to get it over with or fill in time between my dreamt group/buddy reads. It was way more political than I expected but not that it was a deterrent. Just not what I was expecting. More of the book focused on the job of journalism itself as opposed to the murder that happened.

Really felt like it could have been more exciting focusing on the murder and interviewing of the suspects. Yes that did happen in the book but only for a few paragraphs if that.

It is a slow murder mystery that has minimal action and little excitement.

This book felt like a Janet Evanovich book- a main character that you root for, even if things just tend to go wrong all around her. It’s the story of an accident-prone reporter trying her best to out-scoop the competition and solve a celebrity murder in order to regain status as the best reporter in town. For me, it was enjoyable, but it didn’t keep me up reading late at night to find out what’s next.

This is a cozy mystery with characters you can relate to. It is a light read with some humor to it. The story has an easy flow to it and simple to follow. The plot is based on the competitive world of journalism. The protagonist is a female reporter going to any lengths to get the edge on a newsworthy story.
For me, I really like the plot and characters. There are parts I wanted more going on or something more to grab my attention. I did finish it but it is a book I can put down and go back to later. With that said, I think it was good for the author's debut. I would read another book, if written, by this author.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC through NetGalley. This is my personal review and I've received no compensation for posting it.

I got a copy via NetGalley, this is my honest review.

Honestly? DNF at 15%. I kept getting jerked out of the narrative to have more information thrown at me. There is a MURDER and instead of hearing more about that I keep getting more background, more history, more flashbacks. Maybe it gets better, but I came for plot and got reflections.

I was really excited when I received this ARC, without requesting it, from the publisher.
I have to be honest. I didn’t love this but I didn’t hate this either.
After reading the synopsis, I was expecting more thrills and less information from this book. I suppose because she’s a journalist the author wanted to give lots of information, but I really wish more of the book revolved around the story line. I feel like there were some loose thread fillers.
This is a debut novel so I don’t want to be too harsh, but I wish this kept my attention the whole way through.
I thought Estes voice was great and her writing was extremely easy to read. I would read her again for sure. I did enjoy most of the book, but I think I would have liked it more if there had been more action.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for choosing me to read this ARC.

When tv news reporter Jolene Garcia learns that she had the last interview with a controversial radio talk show host before he dies, she thinks she’s got it made. That is until she gets out scooped when it’s discovered that the host was murdered.
But what comes after is more than she could’ve ever expected. Jolene brings us through the cut throat world of the news room all while she risks life and limb to crack this case. Because she has to. Her life depends on it in more ways than one.