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booksuzi54's review
5.0
From BookBub
When evidence goes missing and a prosecutor disappears, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a villain who will do anything to conceal the truth…
MY THOUGHTS:
Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker I the first in her Thriller/Mystery series about a crime reporter/journalist on the trail of a hit story that could place her in grave danger. Nichelle "Nicey" Clarke has made a place for herself at a Richman, Virginia newspaper, but she is climbing up with the Washington Post in her sight. Ms, Walker elicits suspense, humor, and action/adventure in this very good story. I had to read it in one go the first time. I recently reread it on audiobook and highly recommend that form to others.
When evidence goes missing and a prosecutor disappears, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a villain who will do anything to conceal the truth…
MY THOUGHTS:
Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker I the first in her Thriller/Mystery series about a crime reporter/journalist on the trail of a hit story that could place her in grave danger. Nichelle "Nicey" Clarke has made a place for herself at a Richman, Virginia newspaper, but she is climbing up with the Washington Post in her sight. Ms, Walker elicits suspense, humor, and action/adventure in this very good story. I had to read it in one go the first time. I recently reread it on audiobook and highly recommend that form to others.
berit08's review
3.0
This was definitely a fun book! I loved Michaela, I loved her fashion sense and Tenacity. I definitely love when the tough girl can still have an extremely feminine side, why can't you have both??? The only problem I had with his book is it was a bit scattered and all over the place, maybe a little too much going on. Sometimes things were a little bit unrealistic, but that usually doesn't bother me. I liked the characters enough in this book to definitely give the next book in the series ago.
cjaneread's review
4.0
Not quite 4.
I just couldn't believe a mobster would want to involve the police and FBI in things. That I found to be a implausible part of the story. That made the rating lower.
I will read the next one as I liked the characters.
Spoiler
I just couldn't believe a mobster would want to involve the police and FBI in things. That I found to be a implausible part of the story. That made the rating lower.
I will read the next one as I liked the characters.
whatcha_listening_to's review
5.0
This is not my normal genre, but this is my favorite narrator so I thought I would give it a try. Buddy listening with my book bestie we are both loving it so far.
The character Nichelle is pretty awesome she is a crime reporter not usually a job I would think of as a female and I kinda love that. She is great at her job but she isn’t the only one who wants her job.
Her boss is like a father/mentor she never had. He is a pretty big part of the book I personally love the relationship they have.
The suspense/ mystery of the book had me on my toes I had no idea who it was.
I will say there are a lot of names in this book and keeping them all straight was a bit difficult. Therese really does a great job with the voice and that does help to kind of keep them all from blending together.
Like I said Therese is a favorite narrator of mine and one of the reasons that is, is because the voices and inflection she gives brings the story to life in all the best ways. I am looking forward to book 2.
The character Nichelle is pretty awesome she is a crime reporter not usually a job I would think of as a female and I kinda love that. She is great at her job but she isn’t the only one who wants her job.
Her boss is like a father/mentor she never had. He is a pretty big part of the book I personally love the relationship they have.
The suspense/ mystery of the book had me on my toes I had no idea who it was.
I will say there are a lot of names in this book and keeping them all straight was a bit difficult. Therese really does a great job with the voice and that does help to kind of keep them all from blending together.
Like I said Therese is a favorite narrator of mine and one of the reasons that is, is because the voices and inflection she gives brings the story to life in all the best ways. I am looking forward to book 2.
obsidian_blue's review
4.0
So I really did enjoy this book from beginning to end. The only reason why I gave it four stars was that I found certain plot points kind of tasteless (i.e. Nichelle's coworker Shelby and the constant commenting on her bedroom habits) and the flow was off here and there. However, other than that, I thought it was a very nice set-up to the series.
Nichelle Clarke is a twenty something investigative reporter living in Richmond, Virginia. Her dream is to go and work for the Washington Post someday as a political reporter (I am shocked by that, I don't think anyone in D.C. even looks at the Post as the most credible news source out there anymore) and is slowly building up her reputation in Richmond. While working on a story about two robberies/murders that may be linked, she also gets pulled into an investigation involving some Richmond PD officers who died on a boat.
I thought that Nichelle's editor/father figure Bob was really great. I had someone like that in my life early in my career too. You need that person that is going to push/pull you and also you get just as irritated as Nichelle does that her investigative job may be up for grabs to her annoying coworker Shelby.
Speaking of Shelby, I was sick of her and her machinations regarding Nichelle. In the real world she would have been fired and or reported to HR for her unprofessional behavior. Having her act like a jerk and we find sleeping with those in charge to advance her career, ugh. I wish we could just have a story about two women who are good at their jobs with Shelby not being looked as being "bad" for using sex to advance herself. Why can't she just be good at her job? That was the only part of the story that fell a little bit flat to me.
We also get some other characters introduced in this one, Nichelle's best friend, and her coworker Parker. And we also get some asides thrown out about her high school boyfriend. There seemed to be a lot of things going on at once, but Walker managed to keep the story going with the main focus really being on the story that Nichelle investigates and not her non-existent love life. I am not going to lie, some of the secondary characters were a bit thin, and there didn't seem to be much backstory really to Nichelle's character, but I assume that we will get more information on her in future stories.
I thought the writing was really good and Walker I found out used to work on a newspaper so you can definitely see that she knows what she is talking about. This book gave a really nice insider look in how stories are developed and how reporters have working relationships with the police.
I think the flow was off here and there, not a lot, but just a little because the story sometimes got really muddled when we have Nichelle trying to fit all of the pieces together, so some times I found myself re-reading things trying to figure out what was going on.
The setting of Richmond, Virginia was great. Walker really does a good job describing the town and the different areas in the community. She also has me hoping that the bookstore that she described in this story really does exist. I may have to take a road trip and investigate.
The ending had everything wrapped up in a slightly messy bow with a hint of more mysteries to come with Nichelle at the center of them.
Nichelle Clarke is a twenty something investigative reporter living in Richmond, Virginia. Her dream is to go and work for the Washington Post someday as a political reporter (I am shocked by that, I don't think anyone in D.C. even looks at the Post as the most credible news source out there anymore) and is slowly building up her reputation in Richmond. While working on a story about two robberies/murders that may be linked, she also gets pulled into an investigation involving some Richmond PD officers who died on a boat.
I thought that Nichelle's editor/father figure Bob was really great. I had someone like that in my life early in my career too. You need that person that is going to push/pull you and also you get just as irritated as Nichelle does that her investigative job may be up for grabs to her annoying coworker Shelby.
Speaking of Shelby, I was sick of her and her machinations regarding Nichelle. In the real world she would have been fired and or reported to HR for her unprofessional behavior. Having her act like a jerk and we find sleeping with those in charge to advance her career, ugh. I wish we could just have a story about two women who are good at their jobs with Shelby not being looked as being "bad" for using sex to advance herself. Why can't she just be good at her job? That was the only part of the story that fell a little bit flat to me.
We also get some other characters introduced in this one, Nichelle's best friend, and her coworker Parker. And we also get some asides thrown out about her high school boyfriend. There seemed to be a lot of things going on at once, but Walker managed to keep the story going with the main focus really being on the story that Nichelle investigates and not her non-existent love life. I am not going to lie, some of the secondary characters were a bit thin, and there didn't seem to be much backstory really to Nichelle's character, but I assume that we will get more information on her in future stories.
I thought the writing was really good and Walker I found out used to work on a newspaper so you can definitely see that she knows what she is talking about. This book gave a really nice insider look in how stories are developed and how reporters have working relationships with the police.
I think the flow was off here and there, not a lot, but just a little because the story sometimes got really muddled when we have Nichelle trying to fit all of the pieces together, so some times I found myself re-reading things trying to figure out what was going on.
The setting of Richmond, Virginia was great. Walker really does a good job describing the town and the different areas in the community. She also has me hoping that the bookstore that she described in this story really does exist. I may have to take a road trip and investigate.
The ending had everything wrapped up in a slightly messy bow with a hint of more mysteries to come with Nichelle at the center of them.
cutenanya's review
4.0
I think this book has a more intricate and captivating plot than average cozy mysteries, which is why I'm giving it a 4 star rating. The characterization is also great though I cannot share her passion for shoes. Unfortunately, like its contemporaries, this book suffers one major problem - jumping to conclusion.
Call me old fashioned but I prefer mysteries where logical hints are dropped along the way so that readers can guess who the culprit is based on the clues. Sadly, I feel the author is trying so hard to have the readers guess who is NOT the murderer rather than the opposite.
As for characterization, the only flaw here is that the heroine (despite realizing her situation is extremely dangerous), still manages to jump right into danger without a weapon. Sorry but I just hate books where heroine get super lucky just because they're living in fiction and not the real world. I am not demanding novels to be photocopies of reality, still, I think authors should allow the hero (heroine) to arrive at a solution without risking his/her life, or at least not running around solving crimes in heels.
Call me old fashioned but I prefer mysteries where logical hints are dropped along the way so that readers can guess who the culprit is based on the clues. Sadly, I feel the author is trying so hard to have the readers guess who is NOT the murderer rather than the opposite.
As for characterization, the only flaw here is that the heroine (despite realizing her situation is extremely dangerous), still manages to jump right into danger without a weapon. Sorry but I just hate books where heroine get super lucky just because they're living in fiction and not the real world. I am not demanding novels to be photocopies of reality, still, I think authors should allow the hero (heroine) to arrive at a solution without risking his/her life, or at least not running around solving crimes in heels.
cr4nkyp4nts's review against another edition
4.0
When I first opened up the book, I didn't think I'd make it very far. The first person POV and my initial impressions of the protagonist and her voice were off putting but the more I listened - I checked out the Kindle Unlimited ebook and then decided to add the audio for $1.99 - the more I liked Nichelle and the story.
The narrator did a good job but sometimes I found her a bit over the top and I enjoyed reading with my eyes a bit more. Unfortunately, I don't have much eyeball reading time so the majority was consumed with headphones.
Usually the thriller/mystery books I read are from the point of view of cops or lawyers so getting the story from an investigative journalist was different and enjoyable. Especially since the author has plenty of real-life experience in the field. I hardly ever wanted to shake Clarke or yell at her. I liked her and some of the secondary characters and have already checked out the sequel.
If you're a fan of the genre, I think this one is worth a gander. Especially if you have KU.
The narrator did a good job but sometimes I found her a bit over the top and I enjoyed reading with my eyes a bit more. Unfortunately, I don't have much eyeball reading time so the majority was consumed with headphones.
Usually the thriller/mystery books I read are from the point of view of cops or lawyers so getting the story from an investigative journalist was different and enjoyable. Especially since the author has plenty of real-life experience in the field. I hardly ever wanted to shake Clarke or yell at her. I liked her and some of the secondary characters and have already checked out the sequel.
If you're a fan of the genre, I think this one is worth a gander. Especially if you have KU.
rachelellyn's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable light read. Maybe not a solid 4 stars, but close enough.