It's News to Me by R.G. Belsky

 Riley Hunt seemed to have it all. Grew up in Dayton, OH . . . valedictorian . . . homecoming queen . . . Dad's a physician and Mom's an attorney . . . quality high school and college basketball player . . . Well into her first year at Easton College in NYC . . . lots of volunteer work in the City . . . lead singer in a local 80s/90s NY band . . . wants a career in politics to make the world a better place . . . she's now the lead story on the evening news . . . 

Lovely young women brutally beaten to death in the early hours of the morning on the doorstep her college. Not robbery. Not rape. Just bludgeoned to death.

Clare Carleson is the news editor for Channel 10 in the City. She's having lunch with the station owner who has just told Clare that he has hired a new Executive Producer (EP, now Clare's boss) to bust chops and raise the station's ratings. Eyeballs drive TV news and Clare's knack for breaking big stories and her Pulitzer Prizes are old news. 

Clare's #2 at the station interrupts lunch with a call telling Clare about the Riley Hunt murder last night. Clare's going to go all in on this one, new EP or not. But the new EP does make one decision on her first day: Clare will be the face of the story. Put the biggest name on the biggest story. 

The early work from the police is that it's sad story told too often in the Big Apple. A random act perpetrated on a random victim. Happens. Clare's journalistic antennae are activated and begins doing  her reporter due diligence.  

-She learns Riley had a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend. This guy is the son of a Deputy Director of the NYPD. 

-A bartender near the college tells Clare that Riley had spent time in the bar with another guy. One Johnny Steffano. A real hothead with a rapsheet. Not what one might expect Riley to be involved with. And it's not just his temper. He's the son of an organized crime boss in the NYC. 

-Her college roommate is a theater major who mentions to Clare that Riley had lost her laptop or it was stolen. Not to mention that Riley's phone wasn't found at the crime scene. 

-The Afghanistan/Iraq vet with PTSD Riley met through one of her volunteer gigs.

-Riley's father is devastated. Her mom, an Easton alum, is strangely stoic when she gets the news, but is visibly shattered at the memorial organized by the college.

Lot of balls to keep in the air. As if juggling all those leads isn't enough, Clare has to deal with the new EP wanting to fire some of the on-air talent at Channel 10, tries to keep the station's news ship afloat during the EP's assault, work with her ex-husband/homicide detective's role in the case, keep another ex- (not husband) who is a ADA lothario still trying to bed Clare at arm's length, do the dating dance with a Princeton Spanish prof that Clare's best friend set her up with, and bemoan her general inability to have anything resembling a social life.  

No 11th hour disclosures by Belsky. Clare's history is to not accept the party line of a big story.  She lives for the next Big Story. She wants any minute thread that might - just might - lead to the next chip in the game. That's what drives her and drives away most anyone not connected to her pursuit of the truth. This woman doesn't know when to throw up her hands and agree with what the rest of the legal community of New York says. No way. No how.

And that makes for a great story, a fun read, and a raucous escape from Covid-19, Ukraine, and the roller coaster weather. This is Belsky's 5th Clare Carleson book, all of which have been reviewed by the boys at MRB.  All told Belsky has at least 12 books to his credit and most all pertain to 'the news' because that's what he does. He's made a career of 'the news' be in print, TV, digital, etc. mostly in New York. He writes what he knows: Crime, NYC, News. And he's dang good at it.

I first stumbled across Belsky's Gill Malloy character in around 2014/15 and loved it (all 4 Malloy books are reviewed on the blog). He then moved onto the Clare Carleson character. The blog now has 9 Belsky books reviewed on the blog. And I think I can say that Belsky deserves a place of honor on my personal power rotation of authors. 

Three other reasons I like Belsky's books. First, it's published by Oceanview, my 2nd favorite publisher (a close 2nd to Emily Bestler Books). Second, the Oceanview website mentions that Belsky occasionally writes under the pseudonym of Dana Perry - more reading opportunities. Finally, the Oceanview blog says Belsky is an alum of the J-School at Ohio University . . . my alma mater.

Keep it up, pal. We're addicted to your next story that should be due this time in 2023. Mark your calendar. 

Due to be published October 2022. Thanks to NetGalley and Oceanview for the advance review copy.

ECD

Beyond the Headlines by RG Belsky

She was born in Vietnam near the end of the war . . . family whisked to America with the help of the US military . . . father killed in an LA hit and run . . . mom weds a TV/movie mogul . . . Step dad gets his daughter into commercials that leads to modeling that leads to acting . . . that leads to marrying Charles Hollister who helped get the microchip biz going to meet the thirst for computers . . . Laurie Bateman was living proof that the American Dream is real.

Remember Clare Carlson? Channel 10 News Director in NYC. Has a Pulitizer Prize in her pocket for her investigative reporting. Even behind the desk, she manages to somehow get inserted into the next story further upping her street cred in a city that values street cred. A lawyer friend says that Laurie Bateman wants Clare to interview her. She and Charles are starting the divorce process and Laurie wants her truth delivered to the public. Clare agrees and heads uptown only to find police barriers surrounding the Hollister townhouse. Laurie is being perp walked to a waiting squad car. Charles has been found dead, broken vase beside his head and three bullets to complete the scene. The maid found one deal multimillionare just as Laurie was ready to rush out the door.

About as open and shut as a case can be. Means: Laurie owns a gun. The lamp was handy. Motive: Charles had rewritten his will years ago after a showdown with his son. Wrote Jr. out and put Laurie in. Opportunity: Home alone arguing with Charles. With the divorce, Charles had rewritten the will to agree with a prenup, but he had yet to file it. Too perfect. Clare thinks Laurie is being set up while the rest of NY is ready to toss her in prison.

So, Clare does what Clare does best. She digs. Digs. Digs some more. Snagging interviews with Charles adult children, Charles’ former wife, Laurie’s mom, Hollister’s lifelong #2, business rivals of Hollister, the PI Clare hired to follow Charles.

To say that Clare shakes things up is an understatement. Much of what keeps this bizarre media blitz alive dates back to when Hollister was stationed in Vietnam near the end of the war. And the connections from there to now are enough to leave the reader with multiple audible gasps.

RG Belsky has spent a lifetime in various aspects of media and journalism. And while I’ve no way to know otherwise, Belsky certainly delivers the goods. Clare is a no holds barred journalist when it comes to chasing a story to its end no matter how many 3 steps forward 2 steps back situations block her path to the truth.

Betting few of us knew much about investigative reporting in the pre-Watergate years. But from what books about news reporting that I’ve read, Belsky sits at the top of the heap. A lifetime of writing has sharpened his skills to a razor’s edge. Pace, plotting, characters, twists. This has them all. With this effort, I’m happy to elevate him into my personal power rotation. Can’t wait until the next Belsky book comes out.

Available May 4, 2021. Get in line, kids.

ECD

p.s. you might recall in my previous post (Bad Scene) that you should pay attention to books from Oceanview Publishing. Well, Tomlinson may be good. But if Belsky isn't Oceanview's top sellling mystery writer, I have to wonder just what the public wants.

Below the Fold by RG Belsky

Dora Gayle, a homeless woman who called herself Cinderella, held the door open to a coffee shop hoping for a handout, was found stabbed to death in the vestibule of a bank. An unknown in a city with thousands of faceless unknowns.

Clare Carleson is Channel 10s news director. Last time we met she was still struggling with a decision she made as a freshman in college. Remember that Clare is first and foremost a reporter, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work about a little girl who was abducted on the way to school and never heard from again. She goes against the grain of her news staff and approves a full press on Dora Gayle’s murder, determined to prove that being homeless doesn’t make one any less of a person than a politician, athlete, or movie star.

A month or so later, Grace Mancuso is found bludgeoned to death in her apartment. Grace was a player with Revson Investments who got caught up in an embezzlement scheme that bilked a couple hundred investors out of millions. Regulators went after Revson and Grace took a plea. People within Revson and the investors weren’t really happy with Grace for different reasons. The suspect pool is large. This murder of a hot blonde business woman presses Cinderella off the primetime news and, as they say in the news business, ‘below the fold’.

Grace’s murder was brutal. She was barely recognizable. This was about more than just money. This was personal. She’d had a string of boyfriends, a girlfriend, and was desperately in need of money but close to a big score. A really big score.

But it was more than just the murder. A note was left at the scene. A note with 5 names of people who must account for their sins:

1.     Bill Atwood: Disgraced Congressman (for multiple affairs) now trying to amend his image as President of Benson College in NYC

2.     Emily Lehrman: Big shot criminal defense attorney who was once an advocate for renters, homeless, and others under the boot of The System.

3.     Brendan Kaiser: Media tycoon who just happens to own Channel 10 amongst multiple other media outlets and formats.

4.     Scott Manning: NYPD detective on force leave due to possible involvement in mis-deeds that resulted in an Hispanic suspect being tossed out a window.

5.     Dora Gayle: Homeless women recently stabbed to death.

Clare tells her boss about Kaiser being on the list and they both take this info to Kaiser. To his credit, Kaiser tells the news team to go all out on one condition – that Clare be the lead reporter. Forever a reported, Clare dives in.

Initial main questions are the connections between the names. Their first investigations find no connection and then start to wonder why a homeless woman would be included with the other four.

Kinks in Atwood’s story point to him and in everyone’s haste to find Grace’s killer, Atwood is taken in custody. But in the afterglow of leading the cops to Atwood, Clare’s not so certain now.  One of Clare’s mentors once told her about a hot story, ‘No matter how much you feed it, the beast is always hungry.’ And this beast is really hungry.

So Channel 10’s team starts back at the beginning by tracing the history of each name on this list way back, 20-30yrs, finding one night when all five names on the list crossed paths, even if was just in passing. The night the METS came from behind to beat the Red Sox (the night of Buckner’s error) that propelled the METS to a World Series title. The connection found, the beast starts roaring for food and the story unfolds.

Have to finally admit what I guess I’ve always thought. I’m ready to elevate Belsky into my power rotation. I loved his Gil Mallory series and Clare Carleson is equally excellent. One of Belsky’s goals is to show readers the true ins and outs of news reporting, much of which is based on his own reporting career. To say Clare is a flawed news director and reporter is an understatement because her college decision still haunts her in life, loves (and three failed marriages), and career. On one level it’s hard to pull for Clare because of her personal self-inflicted issues, but on the other hand, she is such a dogged reporter that each lead, no matter how small, is met with our approval that we can’t help but hope she wins. And maybe, just maybe, with a couple wins, she can finally find in it herself to look in the mirror and not be so sad.

ECD

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Yesterday's News

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All three reviewers at Men Reading Books have favorably reviewed Belsky’s novels. I was particularly enamored with The Kennedy Connection. And, Belsky has done it again with Yesterday’s News. This is a prepublication review, and the book will be released on May 1, 2018. I read this book in a day, could not put it down. I’m only concerned that this brief review won’t do justice to the quality of this story.

My heart sank in the two-page prologue when it was clear the story would be about a missing schoolgirl, 11-year-old Lucy Devlin. But, as the story begins, Lucy has been gone for 15 years. A newspaper reporter, Clare Carlson, had won a Pulitzer for her coverage of the story. At the time of Lucy’s disappearance, it was a story that captured the nations attention. Since then, Clare had moved on from her newspaper reporting gig and had moved up from being a TV reporter to a TV executive. But she had promised Lucy’s mother that she would never let people forget about Lucy. Lucy’s parents, Anne and Patrick had long since divorced, the marriage couldn’t survive the disappearance of their child. Patrick had moved on, to another town, remarried, and had a new family. But Anne continued to hunt for clues and to bother law enforcement about her ideas, some of which were really crazy. It seemed everyone wanted Anne to come to terms with the certain death of Lucy, but she would not, and Clare had given her a promise.

When Anne had a new lead, she contacted Clare who had to get permission from her executives to pursue the story, not on the basis of a new lead, but on the basis of the 15^th anniversary of Lucy’s still unsolved disappearance. Through the first half of the book, Belsky did character development as one would expect, but then the plot really got going. There were a series of twists that I did not see coming and the end was both excellent and realistic. Belsky provides an excellent character study of aspects of the dark side of life that we hope does not ever touch us.

Blond Ice by R.G. Belsky

We pick up shortly after Shooting For The Stars ends. Gil Mallory is, as usual, looking for his next big story. So are the paper's e-editor and the print edior. The NY Daily News' coarse receptionist, Zeena, is tired of acting as Gil's personal secretary and is extremely annoyed at being asked to be Malloy's wall against the public.

Today's walk-up asking to see Gil is an exception. Vanessa Issacs, aka Houston.

Houston was perhaps Malloy's biggest success and more horrific failures. Not long ago, Malloy wrote a series about high-end prostitution in NYC. His inside information was named Houston. While the woman existed, Malloy fabricated the bulk of the story. And when Houston turned up, Malloy's reputation was down the tubes, nearly lost his job, and his wife divorced him. He's been trying to distance himself from that nightmare, but won't abandon Vanessa/Houston.

Vanessa's husband, a normal and fairly dull lawyer, is missing. She was curious about his comings and goings so she hired a PI who told her it looked like he was running around on her. He hasn't been missing long enough for the cops to get interested, so she asks Gil to help her out.

And he turns up. Dead in a hotel room. Beaten horrifically and shredded with a very sharp knife. One of the worst murder scenes the NYC detective has seen. This wasn't the act of a jealous husband or boyfriend. The scene argues something more, something seriously sick. The hotel's security cameras seen him enter with this stone-cold knockout blond. The type that turns everyone's head when she crosses a room.

Gil is also doing a TV show, per the New Media editor. And it's pretty good. Well watched and flexible enough to change show topics on the fly or do an in-depth feature on politicians and socialites alike. The mayor has appointed a new Crime Czar, Bob Wylie, the former St. Louis top cop. Polished, competent,  and in charge. no matter what room he's in. Rumor is he is the top candidate for mayor. He is the subject of a future show for Gil and he has interviews set up with Wylie n preparation for the on-air interview.  These interviews go so well that Malloy is offered a job in the new administration. Malloy said he'll think about it.

Then another guy is killed. Same MO. Picked up by a stunning blonde, tortured and murdered. Of course, Malloy has the exclusive and NYC eyes are watching the print and online Daily News editions.

A third is killed. This time, it's a departure from the others. This guy was not running out on his wife. He was abducted but was still killed the same way. Viciously. And he was Wylie's chief of staff.

Meeting with the editors, Gil has to work up storylines that will captivate the public.  NYC has a serial killer. But this is no Son of Sam or Ted Bundy. This is a woman, a knock-out at that. And she needs a name. The print editor comes up with it: Blonde Ice.

The police and Gil track back through the victim's wives a common link - a women's empowerment group held at a local college. From the group leader, the identify a female PI who works on infidelity cases. A stunningly gorgeous PI, and she's blond. Now all they have to do is flush her out in the open.

Then she turns up dead.

I really like Belsky and the Gil Malloy character. Irreverent, cocky, and damaged. Every day he is reminded of his failure with the Houston story, which he has to deflect at every turn. Belsky takes a serial killer plot and takes it well beyond what I've ever read. Heck, the main suspect turns up dead halfway through the book. The true identity of the Blonde Ice killer is the real mystery here and Belsky's takes us up and down one blind alley after another. Is it really just a nut woman, or do the clues that point back to St. Louis and Ohio mean they likely next mayor is somehow mixed up in this.

I was excited when I opened up the package from Atria Books cuz I certainly like the previous two Gil Malloy books. Belsky's style is addictive and highly readable where he develops an interesting character study of a talented writer who became damaged goods. Terrific. Highly recommended.

ECD

available October 18, 2016

Shooting for the Stars by R.G. Belsky

Talk about cold cases.

The Prime Time Files, a NYC-based local news magazine TV show, is preparing to do a story on the 20-year old murder of America’s sweetheart Laura Marlowe. Abbie Kincaid is the show’s host and destined for national exposure. Maybe even 60 Minutes?

Marlowe was a nothing teenage actress wannabe hitting the audition circuit when she hits the big time with a surprising leading role in an award winning film. She followed up with another winner. Her third film was beset with delays due to various Marlowe illnesses. After the film was released, Marlowe was in NY on a promotion junket where she was murdered outside her hotel by an obsessive fan. In the aftermath, Marlowe’s body was cremated quickly and the fan hung himself in a two bit hotel. Marlowe’s husband and mother worked tirelessly to keep her memory alive through foundations and fan supported cruises, film fests, memorabilia, and more. 

Abbie Kincaid uncovered some long suppressed information that implicated a mob connection with Hollywood back when Marlowe broke in and was going to run with it. The show’s producer contacted the New York Daily News and asks that Gil Malloy write a few pieces in the lead up to the big show. 

Why Gil? He’s an up and down reporter who, many years before, printed a fabricated story and suffered the eventual fall from grace. But his recent outing (see The Kennedy Connection, which was favorably reviewed here by MRB) put Malloy back on page 1 with a byline. Despite his history, the producer and Kincaid have a high opinion of his abilities as a reporter. 

Now Malloy doesn’t see himself as a publicist, much less for a TV show, but goes anyway. The teaser show and series of articles brings Marlowe’s death back into the public’s eye. 

Then Kincaid is killed in the same hotel where Marlowe was murdered. 

Malloy convinces his editor that he sort of owes it to Kincaid to continue her investigation into Marlowe’s death and what he should learn will also help find Kincaid’s killer. His editor is more interested in web hits than investigative journalism, but grudgingly agrees.

Malloy’s investigation into Marlowe’s history takes a number of unexpected turns through the underbellies of Hollywood, the Mob, obscure cults, Manson worship, serial killings, and lots more. 

I really enjoy Belsky’s style. His Gil Malloy has this wise cracking, to hell with it all attitude that reminds me a great deal of Nelson DeMille’s John Corey of the NYC anti-terrorist task force and Brian Haig’s Army lawyer Sean Drummond. Characters that will say and do what we readers could only dream to have the same nerve. Belsky has been in the newspaper business for years, mostly in NYC and his familiarity the the peaks and valleys of being a reporter are plainly evident as his descriptive narrative and dialogue appear spot on. Readers are taken on a personal ride through the investigative process of journalism while also displaying his obvious contempt for the ‘new media’ that places more value on electronic hits than it does on The Story.  I have an opening on my power rotation and am seriously considering elevating Belsky. Great story that I could’ve read in a single sitting. Malloy may be a deeply flawed character, but that’s part of what makes this a highly readable book. 

Shooting for the Stars will be available August 11, 2015. Put in your pre-order now.

East Coast Don

The Midnight Hour by R. G. Belsky

The Midnight Hour is Belky’s sequel to The Kennedy Connection, a book that I reviewed very favorably in 8/14. He has the same protagonist, Gil Malloy, a reporter for the New York Daily News. In this story, another reporter, Dani Keegan, was murdered, and that became big news, in part because Keegan was the daughter of Jack Keegan, a legendary Manhattan D.A. Why would Dani have gone to a construction project in a sketchy area of town?

But, Malloy was on bad terms with his editor, having been nearly fired for his past shenanigans, so he had not seen any plum assignments for a long time, and he was not getting to write the lead stories about Keegan. Malloy was given some background work that other reporters might need for their stories, but it was there that he discovered a possible link between the murder and the story Dani was covering at the time of her death. Suddenly, Malloy had the front page headlines that he craved.

This is a novella length story into which Belsky wove a complex plot about a murder that occurred three decades earlier, followed by serial killings of families around the U.S. I was surprised by the ending – did not see it coming even though I was looking for the final twist. Malloy is a compelling and flawed character that the author makes believable. His constant proposals to his ex-wife, as well as his often flippant demeanor, provided a good comedy offset to the gruesome deaths which were being described. Belsky surrounds Malloy with a good cast of characters. I like this work and I hope there is a next Malloy installment.

The Kennedy Connection by R. G. Belsky

This is a very clever murder mystery, a most interesting intersection of plot lines. Gil Malloy was a very successful and high profile journalist for the New York Daily News, but in writing a story about a legendary prostitute, he overstepped acceptable boundaries by making up conversations with the woman who he was never able to find. When he was found out, he was humiliated and knew he would never be trusted again by others in the industry. His newspaper kept him on, but relegated him to tertiary stories, not the front page stuff where his writing had lived for years. Malloy was dying for a break on a new story which would take him back to the front page – it’s how he measured the value of his life. His editor let him know no such stories would come his way.

An old police acquaintance, Roberto Santiago, a homicide detective, had asked him some years before to look into the shooting of Victor Reyes, but at the time, Malloy was riding high with more interesting stories, so he never did. The nonfatal shooting of another Hispanic gang member was just not interesting enough. Reyes lived 15 years after the shooting, but then he died. Santiago let Malloy know he was disappointed he had never pursued the matter, and two weeks later, Santiago was killed. Malloy was ready to pay a debt to his friend and look into the death of Reyes, but then he got distracted by the big story he had been waiting for.

How do three seemingly unrelated murders in New York connect to each other? Shawn Kennedy had been shot in Union Square, a rich and beautiful woman, and no one took her valuables. A homeless guy in the Bowery was stabbed to death. A 79-year-old woman was bludgeoned to death, and she was robbed. Each of the victims was found with a Kennedy half dollar, these murders happening on the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Was is just a coincidence that the first victim’s name was Kennedy? As I write this review, the plot seems contrived, but Belsky pulled it off so it did not seem contrived at all. The story was riveting and I read this over the course of one day – could not put it down.

The idea of writing about the greatest crime of the century pulled Malloy in like a moth to a flame, but his history of having lied in a previous big story was a constant hurdle with his editor. The character development was solid and the characters with whom Malloy interacted were all believable and well fleshed out. As has been the case with so many novels, I was not happy with the portrayal of the psychiatrist and the psychotherapy process. But, I enjoyed Malloy’s look into the Kennedy assassination and some new details he unearthed. This is a good book and it gets my strong recommendation.



From East Coast Don: wanted to add my 2 cents. Just finished this book (thanks again to the good folks at Simon & Schuster). Unfortunately, I didn't have West Coast Don's free time. If I did, I too could've read this in one sitting. Belsky's history in journalism is evident in his crisp writing style that draws the reader in quickly and doesn't let go. He expertly connects seemingly distinct crimes into a cohesive plot with enough twists to keep you from putting it down. First rate stuff. Belsky has two other reporter-based books that I'm going to have to try and track down. 

The Kennedy Connection is now available in print and electronic versions.