The Other Woman (edition 2012)

The book jacket says "first in a series.". I think it can be a good one. Boston locale. Print journalism and police cooperation. Plenty of excitement, twists and turns. Good characters. Waiting for the next one. ( )

[a:Hank Philippi Ryan] is a television investigative reporter in Boston and knows the journalism and political worlds there very well. In [b:The Other Woman|22686|The Other Woman|Jane Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309197805s/22686.jpg|2714838] she has used her knowledge and a fertile imagination to keep the reader guessing almost to the last page. Set during a Massachusetts Senatorial campaign, [b:The Other Woman|22686|The Other Woman|Jane Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309197805s/22686.jpg|2714838] follows reporter Jane Ryland – once a television star, now disgraced as a result of protecting her source through a libel suit – as, grateful for a chance at a newspaper job, she follows a hunch about a beautiful woman she keeps seeing in campaign rally photos. Meanwhile, her friend and would-be lover Detective Jake Brogan, Boston PD, is investigating a series of murders that may or may not be the work of a serial killer. The amateur sleuth-cop boyfriend duo is a common one in mystery fiction, but seldom do such a pair consider the ethical and career consequences of their actions as carefully as Jake and Jane do, which I find quite refreshing.

I’d recommend this book very highly in any format. I listened to it as an audiobook, and thought it was read quite well, but for one thing. [b:The Other Woman|22686|The Other Woman|Jane Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309197805s/22686.jpg|2714838] has a lot of chapters, but even within each chapter, points of view and locations change frequently. I would have liked a little more aural “white space” between segments to avoid confusion about who’s saying or doing what. I’m happy to hear that Ms. Ryan is working on a second book in this series and if she continues to use this technique, perhaps the audiobook producers might be induced to add those few beats of silence as a buffer between characters. Other than that one quibble, a stellar job by both author and reader.
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The premise of The Other Woman is that a disgraced television reporter from a Boston news station tries her hand at journalism and tries to redeem herself by investigating a scandal involving a candidate in an upcoming election. Throw in a serial killer investigation that may or may not be connected to the scandal and Hank Phillippi Ryan delivers a novel that keeps the reader guessing up until the last chapter.
Jane Ryland is the disgraced television reporter. She takes a job as a journalist at a local Boston newspaper after she is forced out of her career as television reporter because she wouldn’t reveal a source. The job at the newspaper is a step down but Jane tries to look at it as an opportunity to redeem herself and her name. Jane uses the investigative reporting skills she’s famous for to figure out who the players are in the scandal. She’s in search of “the other woman” but what that exactly means, and who is involved, is not clear.
Jake Brogan is the detective working on the serial killer case. The “Bridge Killer” has struck again and the media and the public are starting to panic. Jake doesn’t want to believe there’s a serial killer on the loose so he works to prove the cases are unrelated and not the work of one killer. As Jake and Jane work together more, they start to see events and people their cases have in common. They need to work fast to make sure no more women are murdered and before the election results are final.
Being an investigative reporter, Ms. Ryan definitely knows her way around a case and a newsroom. Between the scandal and the murders, she packs a lot of action into the short chapters. I got a little confused about who was who because there are so many of different characters and obviously, not everyone is who they seem. In the end, though, I’m glad I stuck with The Other Woman because the ending was satisfying and I’m looking forward to seeing what else Ms. Ryan has in store for Jane and Jake.
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Jane Ryland was a rising star in television reporting until she refused to reveal a source and found herself on the wrong side of a million dollar lawsuit. Forced to leave her high profile job, Jane turns to investigative newspaper reporting where she is assigned to a fluff piece about a Senate candidate’s wife. But what starts as fluff soon morphs into a potential scandal when Jane uncovers a possible extramarital affair between the candidate and a stunning woman who shows up at political rallies in a bright red coat and inserts herself into the campaign.

Meanwhile, woman are dying, murdered by what appears to be a serial killer stalking the streets of Boston and Jake Brogan is the detective working to solve the cases. Jake and Jane’s lives are intimately entangled…and now it seems that their professional lives are also linked. Could Jane’s “other woman” be somehow connected to the murdered women? And is Jane herself in danger?

Hank Phillippi Ryan’s newest novel is the first in a planned series of thrillers, and it was intriguing enough to keep me turning the pages to unravel the twisty plot. Ryan has created a strong, interesting female character in Jane Ryland. Jane’s ambition is only surpassed by her tendency to get dragged into complicated and potentially career-ending situations. Ryan creates a bit of sexual tension between Jane and detective Brogan who may have some competition with Jane’s boss, “hot” Alex.

Narrated in multiple points of view, the novel keeps the reader guessing until the end. Tightly plotted and filled with political and romantic intrigue, this is a book which will appeal to readers who like the suspense-thriller genre. It is a quick read and was good enough to make me look forward to the next installment of Jane Ryland’s adventures. ( )