It took me a bit to get into this one but after the first few chapters the suspense increases significantly. Stories about a news room have always intrigued me and this one did not disappoint. There are many suspects throughout and the characters were likable. Although the story didn't end how I hoped it might, it kept me interested and was very well written.

I continue with my feeling of not being thrilled by thrillers with this book BUT it was set in an interesting location I am not as familiar with as say, NYC. Also, POV from reporter as opposed to police officer or lawyer was a nice change. The daddy issues our female protagonist had seems to be superfluous and didn’t really serve to drive the plot forward, although I guess it may have been there to help the reader understand why she was struggling with male relationships? But, all in all, it was interesting, if not gripping, and would fill the bill for the beach or plane ride. Might be a nice start for a series.

A very impressive writing style. Best I've read in ages. Characters and their back stories are revealed in such a way that they are woven together into believable people in a very short period of time.
The plot unravels quickly with twists and turns you think you know are coming, but they aren't as you've expected.

In an era of cutbacks, keeping her own job as executive news producer, much less her whole team together to present nightly newscasts, is all consuming for Virginia Knightly.

Virginia's ability to remember photographic input draws her into the disappearance of young up-&-coming lawyer Evelyn Carney.

Sorting truth from lies in the world of law in this political city kept me up late reading.

If there as a 6/5 this would be it! For me, this is an author to follow.

I love a good mystery and this did not disappoint. I usually read police procedurals, so this was a different take for me.
Virginia Knightly is a producer of the evening news in Washington D.C. A photo comes across her desk of a missing women and the fun begins. There is not a lot of action per say, but lots of digging and investigating. There is a couple of love interests that was fun to follow. There is a lot of back stabbing at the station and lots of twists and turns. I did not figure this one out early on, which is good for me.
I really appreciate the author having a strong female lead that isn't swayed by a handsome man for her happily ever after. I also liked reading about the inner workings of a tv station and the underground world of D.C. This was over all a fun and fast paced read.

As a woman who has worked for 17 years as a TV producer of crime and political stories in the DC area, the author's novel reeks of authenticity. Bringing those skills to her new novel, she developed her own Virginia Nightly, a TV producer who becomes obsessed with the suspicious disappearance of a young woman in the Georgetown area. What appears obvious at first turns into a road of loops and curves wildly driving down a fast-paced lane. Although a quick read, I felt the writing begged for more substance. Highly plot driven, the characters could've been more fleshed out, but that is my own bias..Slower than a thriller ,better labeled as a mystery, this novel will find fans of beach reads and quickly read genres.

The Cutaway by Christina Kovac

"Being good at what you do is the closest thing to freedom a woman can find."

With a Washington D.C. setting and a passionate quest for the truth, Kovac's debut novel brings David Baldacci's early books to mind. Virginia Knightly, a broadcast news producer, and real journalist, is determined to find out what happened to a young lawyer working for one of top legal firms in the capital, who walked out of a restaurant after quarreling with her husband and disappeared. Virginia has a memory for images and knows she's seen the missing woman before. Her investigation leads her into conflict with politicians, the police, and even her own news team.

Smart, strong, well drawn women characters add an extra dimension to this page-turning thriller, looking at the greed and power of the politically connected through a feminist lens.

Find it at your book store in March. Published by Atria 9781501141690

Virginia Knightly, a television news producer, is drawn to a missing person report that comes across her desk. The photograph, of a young woman, is grainy and difficult to see clearly, and Virginia is curious why this woman, among the many others who disappear in Washington, DC, has captured her attention.

Evelyn Carney was last seen leaving a Georgetown restaurant, where she had been with her husband. Her employment at a prestigious law firm seemed secure, her husband was concerned, and her co-workers knew nothing of her disappearance. As Virginia learns more about the story, she enlists the help of her news anchor, Ben, and their camera operator, Nelson, to follow up seemingly unrelated clues amidst the secretive nature of Washington politics.

I really, really liked this book. Virginia’s determination to get the story while learning the truth keeps things interesting, and her personal vulnerabilities make her easy to relate to. Her news team is also smart, strong, and focused; despite upper management’s interference in their reporting, they get their stories on air. This was an exciting read, and I’ll admit I had the wrong suspect throughout most of the story.

The Cutaway is a solid debut novel by author Christina Kovac. What makes this so? I became genuinely interested in the plot and finding out what happened. Even better, this book is as fast paced as they come and reading it in close to one sitting is an easy feat. Some may wonder then, why the three star rating? First and foremost, a 3 star rating for ME means that the book was good. And, while I may not read it again in the future, I am glad that I did read it. Also, a three star rating means that YES, I would recommend it. While it may not be MY favorite, I can definitely see it topping many readers "favorite" list.

With that being said, while the plot is extremely intriguing, I found it hard to connect with the narrator/heroine. She was simply a bit bland for my taste. Although I will admit that I cannot pinpoint exactly what is is about her that turned me off. Once again, that's on me and my taste and not for readers as a whole.

For those enjoy fast paced reads with added mystery and thrills, this would be the perfect book to take on. Even if this is not your typical genre, I would certainly say to take a chance on a new author because you may find yourself fan-girling over Kovac's debut novel.

This was something you could hook into and read right through. The idea of using a TV News producer getting hooked on a story no one wants her to follow worked. Throw in a new boss, station politics and American Politics and this worked.

A satisfying "whodunnit" with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing till the end.

The Cutaway by Christine Kovac is about the cutthroat world of news broadcast and the author is quite familiar with this world as she has worked in it for a number of years. Virginia Knightly is a news broadcast director who becomes absorbed into the case of a missing woman. As she digs deeper into the story she becomes suspicious of people she has known for years. Soon everyone she encounters is a suspect in her eyes but who does she really need to fear as she investigates this case? Read and enjoy this tale full of twists and surprises.

A fairly solid book, which particularly shines in the depiction of the newsroom. Serviceable prose, decent characters, okay mystery.

The Cutaway is an entertaining, escapist mystery/suspense novel with solid writing and an enjoyable premise. 3.5 stars.

Virginia Knightly is a television news producer who receives a flyer about a missing woman containing the photo of a beautiful DC attorney, whose face haunts her. Virginia has seen her before. On the news. And she can't help but investigate, even though it gets her nowhere at first. Yet Virginia is determined to do whatever it takes to find out everything she can about Evelyn Carney, investigate the crime and get the exclusive story; even when it puts her life in jeopardy.

The Cutaway is an entertaining, fun and fast-paced suspense novel. It kept my interest even when I guessed parts of the ending. More could have been done in the way of character development, as we didn't learn much about Virginia, who she was and what drove her, till the second half of the story (which is the reason for the 3.5 stars) but all in all it was an quick, enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria and Christina Kovacs for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 1/29/17.

**Will be published on Amazon on 3/21/17.

Whether you enjoy this book or not, I think, will depend on what you value in a story. I prefer character-driven fiction, and this book is largely plot-driven.

Here's what I liked: The author has a professional background in journalism, and her knowledge gives authenticity to the story. We're in the newsroom with Virginia, seeing what it's like behind the scenes. We pursue leads, track down witnesses, and race to outdo the other TV networks. The plot revolves around this newsroom and their big story, and the details the author gives provide unique perspective and realism.

Something to be aware of: As I write this, the book is being marketed as a "psychological thriller". It's not. This is a strong mystery and crime novel. There isn't much of a psychological component, and the pacing is far too slow to be a thriller. I've seen this issue a lot these days. Publishers need to be more careful with their genre and marketing labels, as the expectations being set do not fit with the content of the book.

Now on to what I didn't like: There is no character development at all. I was about a third into the book and still had no clear grasp of who Virginia is, aside from a news producer. At about the halfway point, the author throws in some backstory meant to give us history on Virginia, but it does little to clarify her emotions, passion, or overall personality. Her relationships with her coworkers are superficial, with deeper emotions alluded to but never clarified. We have this intense love (lust?) relationship with one coworker that seems to have history, despite popping up out of the blue, as if the buildup had been a long time coming but I missed it somewhere. I felt like I'd stepped into the midst of a series. In fact, I even checked to be sure I hadn't missed earlier books. Because I had no connection to the characters, I found it difficult to care what happened to any of them.

Overall, the mystery held my interest enough to keep me reading, but the characters didn't make me feel anything.

I never thought I’d be spending Inauguration Day reading a book set in Washington, D.C. However, The Cutaway is more of a novel that happens to be set in Washington than it is a “Washington novel.” There is a brief scene set during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but otherwise, it’s safe to pick up even if you’re suffering from political overload.

The Cutaway tells the story of Virginia Knightly, a TV news producer investigating the disappearance of Evelyn Carney, a young attorney working at a prestigious D.C. law firm. Evelyn had been dining with her husband, who had recently returned from a lengthy military deployment, when she abruptly stormed out—and vanished. Virginia feels that the lawyer’s mysterious disappearance from affluent Georgetown will make a killer story, and decides to pursue it.

Complicating matters for Virginia is her station’s new news director, who seems to have it out for her, and is intent on slashing the budget, possibly breaking up Virginia’s loyal team of behind-the-scenes and on-air talent. There’s also the fact that Virginia has a rocky romantic history with the new commander of Criminal Investigations, who is actively involved in the missing-persons case.

Christina Kovac herself has a long history in TV news, so she brings an insider’s perspective to her first novel. There are also some very nicely written passages about Virginia’s fraught relationship with her dying father. However, Kovac does fall into the trap of sending her heroine into a deserted and dangerous place to search for clues—anyone who has read a zillion mysteries, as I have, will be tempted to shout “NOOOO!” at that point in the book. There are a couple other places where I felt I was a step ahead of Virginia (particularly one involving a bugged cell phone), but Kovac’s strengths as a prose stylist and plotter are enough to outweigh the rookie missteps.

Note: The Cutaway will be published on March 21, 2017. Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the review copy.

This one is a tough one to rate for me, I give it a 3.5 rating.
For me, this book started out slow… almost painfully slow, and didn’t seem to get going until I was almost 50 percent into the book! The build up of the characters was super slow and boring, especially for a book that is labeled as a thriller. I almost gave up on this book a few times.
But alas, I am glad I didn’t give up because once the pace picked up half way through, it became a pretty decent mystery/suspense book. There were many different suspects, a whole lot of deception, and many interesting characters. It was an original story and the ending turned out decent, even if I wished for a different ending for the main character.
*I’d Like to give a special “thank you” to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book. It was interesting and kept me guessing.

The ending was pretty predictable. It reminded me of the show Notorious in terms of some of the characters. It was an easy read and a decent way to pass the time.

Very good book especially taking into account it is
Christina Kovac' s first book. Enjoyed the characters, plot and especially the setting in a tv station in DC.

I enjoyed The Cutaway. I think it's a great debut novel. At first, I thought it was a little slow paced but as I continued to read, it definitely picked up and I realize all the small details are essential to the story line. While reading, I thought I had it all figured out, then a new twist came into play, then another twist. Needless to say, I was completely wrong on my assumptions! I will definitely be reading Christina Kovac's future books.