Publisher: William Morrow
Published: October 26, 2021
Source: Netgalley via Publisher
Summary:
The first in a thrilling new series from Emmy Award–winning journalist Tamron Hall, in which a reporter unravels the disturbing mystery around the deaths of two black girls, the work of a serial killer terrorizing Chicago.
When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her a dream: a coveted anchor chair on a national network.
Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has thus far been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving voice to the voiceless.
From her time reporting in Texas, she’s sure she has covered the vilest of human behaviors, but nothing has prepared her for Chicago. You see, Jordan is that rare breed of journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. Again and again, she is called to cover the murders of black females, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten.
All until Masey James—the story that Jordan just can’t shake, try as she might. A fifteen-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot, Masey has come to represent for Jordan all of the frustration that her job—with its required distance—often forces her to repress. Putting the rest of her workload and her (fraying) personal life aside, Jordan does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that a missing black child would so rarely get. Three young boys are eventually charged with Masey’s murder, but Jordan remains unconvinced.
There’s a serial killer on the loose, Jordan believes, and he’s hiding in plain sight.
My thoughts:
When I heard that Tamron Hall from The Today Show was writing a book, I knew I had to read it. And the fact that this new book was not only a crime novel but the start of a new series just made it all the more appealing.
As an introduction to a new series, I think this was a pretty good one. We get a good feel for who Jordan is and I loved that this book was all told from Jordan’s perspective. She is clearly a very ambitious journalist, and I appreciated her dedication to her job. I loved the idea that this journalist was not willing to take the police not doing enough about a missing black girl and so she does her own investigating.
The story shines a light on how racism exists not only in the media but also in investigating. I thought this was well done and while the story was at times hard to read, it was real and therefore believable. It had a gritty, raw feel to it that I’m sure comes from the author’s many years of reporting herself.
I will say at times the pacing of this one is a bit slower than I would have liked. It felt like it dragged in some spots and was a little repetitive, but then would pick up. That being said, I definitely plan to read the next book in the series because I thought Jordan Manning was an engaging, interesting character and I’m curious enough that I need to know what she gets up to next!
Books in this series:
- As the Wicked Watch
- ???
