Christina Estes writes a grand mysterious tale with Off the Air

In Off the Air, the reader is introduced to Jolene, a local reporter that is always looking for the interesting story to tell, what takes time to research, and find all the answers before reporting it. I haven't read anything by this author before, and what a hidden gem. I enjoyed it so much, that I have now followed the author and look for more books to read. Jolene is very tenacious, and when a talk show host is murdered, Jolene is on the case. She is determined to find out whodunnit in order to report it, so she can have the option to reporting the stories she wants to report. The story and investigation, but her in the middle of the case, as she has had a small connection to the deceased. It's A grand suspenseful story. A very unpredictable story, my favorite kind! I have fast become a big fan of Christina Estes. The story is well-written, and paints a great portrait of the victim, and Jolene. The characters have a lot of depth, and the story has many different layers, keeping the reader engaged. Off the Air is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.

This mystery was slow-paced, even for a cozy. The concept was super intriguing, but I struggled to connect with Jolene a bit - she was so focused on her story that I was missing some additional depth and personality.

I did enjoy learning about journalism - clearly Estes knows that world and we were given a TON of information. But that is a double-edged sword. So much of the book was just being told things - lots of tangents/history anecdotes throughout, i.e. the history of how a highway got its name or how a local law came to be. While it gave us some insight into Jolene's character (a critical, overthinking mind), it did become distracting and slowed down the overall pacing, which took away from the story. It was cool to see so many Phoenix-specific references and learn more about the local culture, but beyond that it was a bit much.

The pacing did pick up about 80% of the way in and the conclusion was exciting! The ending was unexpected, which is ultimately why I chose 3 stars. But I wish the story overall moved along faster and we got more character development for Jolene and some of our other key players. Larry Lemmon was truly a despicable character and his thoughts/controversies definitely felt relevant. Props to Estes for creating something timely and political without being overkill.

Thank you for my copy!!

When the controversial, right wing radio host at KFRK dies a suspicious death, Jolene is one of the first reporters on the scene. She finds herself up against some stiff competition as everyone is jostling to get the story first.
Good pacing, but flat one dimensional characters. I felt like all we really learned about Jolene was that she was named after Dolly Parton’s famous song and that she is obsessed with out scooping her fellow journalists and advancing her career. I liked that she was driven, but wanted more details about her. None of the other characters appealed to me either. The story’s redeeming qualities are a good plot twist and that it highlights the difficulties journalists are facing today. If you’re interested in learning more about what goes on in the life of a journalist and you like crime fiction you might enjoy this.

Thank you Netgalley, Christina Estes, and St. Martin's Press for the ebook! This was a great read that really put you on the heart of a journalist in today's day and age. The cut throat tenacity and grit of Jolene was really inspiring. How far would you be willing to go for the story that could make or break you?!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a free copy of the e-book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Thoughts
The Characters
I didn’t find myself getting vested in any of the characters. There are a lot—her co-workers, the murder victim’s co-workers, the murder victim’s ex-wives, a nosey neighbor, a stalker-ish friend of the nosey neighbor, and her arch-rival at another Phoenix station.

The Mystery
Off the Air, for me, wasn’t a murder mystery. It was a take on the current state of affairs in a newsroom. Jolene doesn’t spend her time investigating a murder, but instead spends more time trying to track down facts she can talk about on air. The overriding mystery comes across as—can Jolene come up with an angle on this high profile murder that will leave all the other stations scrambling to keep up-both on the air and on social media. At times I forgot there was a murder.

Final Thoughts
This wasn’t the book for me. Politics dominate the story, which I didn’t like. I read cozy mysteries to get away from divisive politics. A lot of Phoenix history is also included in the book, and I found myself skipping those sections because they didn’t add to the primary mystery. Even though this book wasn’t for me, it may be for you. Read the excerpt on the publisher’s website and see.

I had so much fun reading Off the Air by Christina Estes! Jolene, a TV reporter, as our amateur sleuth brought a whole new angle for a cozy mystery. The storyline felt so fresh! It brought in lots of behind the scenes info showing how a news story gets onto television. TV journalism seems much more cutthroat than I realized! Jolene is spunky and hardworking and it was a blast to follow along in her quest for a groundbreaking story. Really, really enjoyed this and I'm hoping it's a series so I can get more!!

Off the Air is out March 26th! Thank you so much to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for my e-arc! Love that Netgalley helps me discover new books just like this one!

I really want to enjoy this book, it’s just not my style! It’s giving a slow burn vibe, I kept feeling like something is about to happen, then it just doesn’t! At 70% I felt like there was no way all the loose ends would be tied up and the ending was just.. blah.

In Off the Air, you get a deep dive into the work centered life of Jolene, a news reporter waiting on that big break to relaunch her career that had been muddled by a past reporting error in judgement. This novel is a murder mystery, heavy on the newsroom politics. Jolene is not the most likable or unlikable character... just with tunnel vision that has the potential to ruin friendships. The stressors of journalism are very prevalent throughout the story. If you want a glimpse into life in the newsroom, then this is the story for you.

A fun, murder mystery that takes you around television news reporting. It does have a few references to touchy topics like racial tension, border issues, and animal cruelty (but nothing truly disturbing). Overall I enjoyed the book and recommend it to readers who enjoy a good story. There’s what might be considered a twist in there but nothing too crazy that it isn’t believable. I won’t post more because I don’t want to give it away.

I was hoping this would be a bit more entertaining but it was just an okay read. Being from Arizona, it was fun having the setting take place in Phoenix and being familiar with some of the places mentioned but other than that, the writing style didn't really work for me. It really didn't draw me in from the beginning. It was almost a DNF but I kept at it and have to say I skimmed through some of the chapters. It was only the last few chapters that it finally got a bit more interesting.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review

In this story you will be taken into the heart of the dog eat dog world of journalism. Jolene Garcia is an up and coming television reporter with a station In the beginning scenes, Jolene, as well as every other reporter in the area are gathered outside a radio station where a controversial talk show host, Larry Lemmon, holds court. They soon find out that he died under suspicious circumstances.

Jolene's television station is elated that she was the last reporter to speak with Larry. They feel this gives them a competitive edge. Jolene is determined to solve the murder mystery. She was a great character. She had tenacity that few possess, but which makes her a top notch reporter. It's a race to the finish to see who can solve it first. There are plenty of red herrings to make the mystery more interesting to read and try to solve.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Off the Air ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story follows Jolene a news report. She is following this case of a controversial talk show host, Larry Lemons, who died under suspicious circumstances at his office. Since Jolene conducted his final interview before this happened, she has an advantage. But that won’t last for long. As competition heats up, Jolene is determined to solve his murder. This could make or break her career. Only problem, she might be the next target.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. It took awhile for the action to start and by that time, I almost lost interest. This was more of a journalism experience and describing why you need them and how the job is, etc. which the author did a great of. However, I wanted more of the mystery/thriller aspect of this story. I think it could have been really interesting if that were the case. The murder mystery was solved and that part was good, it just got clouded over some with all the journalism info.

This book has already published. If you’re into journalism, then I think you’ll really like it! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced readers copy. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

This wasn't quite what I was expecting based on the summary of the book. Personally, I read to escape, relax, and decompress.

Based on my preferences, this was a generous 2.5, rounded up to three, star read. I felt it was overly political which did little to engage me and make me want to read more. I'm all for authors adding their own morals and values into their work but I'm also all for readers deciding they'd rather not be hit over the head with them. The overdone politics mixed with the often-excessively-pointed-out generational changes in reporting (whether good or bad) had me wanting to read quickly so I could be done with the book.

But again, a three star read for me means I acknowledge that the book wasn't for me but I can see where others may really enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Christina Estes for the opportunity to read this ahead of its release day which is today - March 26th.

OFF THE AIR is the debut novel by Christina Estes. It is a deep dive into the highly-competitive and pressure-packed world of television journalism, a topic the author is intimately familiar with having been a TV reporter in the Phoenix area for decades. In the book, Jolene Garcia is a local TV reporter in Phoenix that works on both general interest assignments and special projects. Her recent interview with Larry Lemmon, a controversial and highly-conservative radio talk show host, has garnered her some media attention. When Larry Lemmon is found dead in his studio under suspicious circumstances, Jolene and her bosses believe they will have a leg-up on their competitors by playing up the fact that Jolene conducted what will be the final interview with Lemmon. If only she can get the exclusive interviews that will help solve his murder. But things don’t necessarily go as planned. Jolene is thrust into a cut-throat race against time in a new world of journalism forced to perform on social media to succeed. What will Jolene risk to come out on top? Interestingly, there is a content advisory at the end of the book, including abandonment, animal cruelty, racism, sexism, child neglect, substance abuse and more. There was a lot of strong political perspectives presented that could have been pulled from current events. I would probably have enjoyed this story more if the emphasis was placed more on the mystery than it was. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

This was painful.

The story is that Jolene is a TV news reporter. A national radio host, who is very controversial, ends up dead after eating some cookies delivered to the radio station. Was it just his time or something more sinister?

This book is nothing but harping on and on about why we need journalist and we need them to do their jobs rather than worrying about the ratings. And while I totally agree with this, the book just harps on and on and on about this.

My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this eBook.

Unfortunately I had to DNF. The premise sounded really interesting, but nothing happened for several chapters. Instead it felt extremely info-dumpy with no plot even though a murder had happened. This might be more interesting to those interested learning about the field of journalism.

I had high hopes for Christina Estes' Off the Air. I was drawn in originally by the synopsis, but, ultimately, the writing style wasn't enough to engage me or to keep me interested. I couldn't develop a connection to the characters, and this was ultimately a DNF for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read early.

2.5 stars

The author sure knows her stuff when it comes to journalism! This was more like a book about journalism with a murder thrown in. I found some details/backstories to be overexplained and unnecessarily long, which made parts of it a slow read. I also didn’t really love our main character, Jolene, until the end, which I really enjoyed.

I both read and listened to this book, and preferred the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, and for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Off the Air is a delightfully fun, easy and entertaining read that takes you inside the world of tv journalism and the cutthroat battle to be number one when it comes to delivering a story.

Following a local journalist, Jolene, as she races to own the breaking headlines of a local controversial radio host found dead, the plot twists and turns with the mystery of who killed him and why. This is by no means a mind-boggling mystery, but it was a fun one to follow along, and gave cozy mystery vibes to Jolene's sincere attempts to solve the riddle while juggling her slightly deranged bosses and her relationships with her coworkers.

There are definitely a few oddities of this book - the beginning really plays up the fact that Jolene did the last ever interview with the host before he was killed, but then that storyline drops off almost immediately and without fanfare. And there are several near-sidebars of interesting Arizona area facts that don't seem to have any relevance to the storyline itself, but are interesting to read nonetheless. But overall nothing that was totally off putting.

In general, this is a great little popcorn mystery to pick up when you want to escape into some easy reading and some light entertainment. It delivers there and will be a great spring reading addition.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy.

I really like this author but this book misses the mark in a big way. There was to much focus on technical aspects and it over ran the story. I am sad to say this was a DNF for me.