Saturday, January 8, 2011

Silencing Sam - Julie Kramer



Title: Silencing Sam

Author: Julie Kramer

Publisher: New York : Atria Books, 2010.

ISBN: 9781439177990

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 339


Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: I loved the other two.


Where I Obtained the Book: Bought this at a book signing.

Synopsis: When a widely despised gossip columnist is found shot to death, TV reporter Riley Spartz must secretly investigate a case in which she becomes the prime suspect. Amid murder, our heroine discovers news and gossip have more in common than she ever imagined.
Trouble begins when Riley publicly clashes with newspaper gossip writer Sam Pierce, throwing a drink in his face, after he implies in his 'Piercing Eyes' column that she cheated on her dead husband. When clues to the rumormonger's homicide lead to her, Riley is charged with the crime. The police seem unwilling to look any further for perpetrators though numerous local news makers have reason for revenge - even motive for murder.

Meanwhile, competition between journalists increases with newsrooms facing financial meltdowns. While Riley struggles to interest her boss in a story about rural wind farm bombings and dead bats, a new Channel 3 reporter spikes the

station ratings with exclusive stories about the headless homicide of an unknown woman whose decapitated body is found in a city park.

Riley must fight to stay out of jail, ahead in the ratings, and even alive in a killer showdown not fit for television audiences.


Review: Great story and the mystery with the bats and the windmills were interesting. I love that the book was set in southern Minnesota and Riley parents are hilarious. Who else would attend the funeral of someone they didn’t know, be
cause their daughter was being accused of their murder. Funny parents and the camera man, I love him. Read this book, and of course the other two.

The fight at the end can happen, I talked to Julie about that when we met her in Rose Creek this fall. I love the Minnesota nice.

Author Biography: Julie Kramer is a freelance news producer for NBC's Today show, Nightly News, and Dateline. Prior to that she was a national award-winning investigative producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.

Julie grew up along the Minnesota-Iowa state line, fourth generation of a family who raised cattle and farmed corn for 130 years. Her favorite childhood days were spent waiting for the bookmobile to bring her another Phyllis A. Whitney novel. An avid reader, she tired of fictional TV reporters always being portrayed as obnoxious secondary characters who could be killed off whenever the plot started dragging. So her debut thriller,STALKING SUSAN, features a TV reporter as the heroine and takes readers inside the world of television news. She lives with her husband and sons in White Bear Lake, MN.


Other Reviews:

Reading Minnesota
Star Tribune

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