Park Avenue Summer - A Novel by Renee Rosen

Park Avenue Summer.  Renee Rosen. Penguin Publishing Group.  April 2019; pb, 368 pp.; ISBN #: 9781101991145.

Alice Weiss fulfills her dream by leaving the Midwest to live in New York City.  She has few skills and only one connection, a friend of her mother, who connects Alice to become the secretary of the now legendary Helen Gurley Brown.  At the time of this novel’s account, the magazine Cosmopolitan is massively failing and Helen Gurley Brown is hired to revive it before it dies.  Connected to the Hearst family, Helen gets the job but is expected to fail.  However, no one realizes how vastly talented is this new Editor-in-Chief, no matter how crazy her ideas sound!

Gurley envisions a new post-WWII woman, a woman who can work, have ideas and has unspoken thoughts about sex and fashion that are shocking and elicit rejection from all men and quite a few women as well.  Imagine wondering, at that time in the 1960s, how one could improve one’s sex life, look sexier, stand out as powerful and capable women, and so much more.

Staff on the magazine are quitting by droves and there are those who leak to the public Gurley’s ideas which in one sense gets attention, both negative and positive.  Alice meanwhile learns the hard way not to trust fellow employees, both male and female.  Sex seems to be a tool but Alice is too much of a strong woman, although horrified and intimidated at first, to become part of the manipulative betrayals happening throughout the office.  She herself has apprentice-like skills as a photographer and meets Christopher, who mentors her and never goes beyond a professional and friendly stance, with a hint of something more looming in the future.

When the July issue finally emerges, it has rave sales but Gurley still has to fight to have her ideas for the future emerge unscathed by the Hearst family.

Park Avenue Summer is a delightful read, both for depicting the historical changes happening in a society wanting “more” in the personal and professional worlds.  Nice job, Renee Rosen! 

A Stone's Throw: An Ellie Stone Mystery #6 by James W. Ziskin

A Stone’s Throw: An Ellie Stone Mystery #6 by James W. Ziskin. Prometheus Books. Copyright June 2018.; pb. 299 pp.; ISBN: 9781633884199.

Ellie Stone is a spunky, curious journalist who’s unafraid to explore any idea she gets in her head about a case.  Before one can flip a few pages, she notices smoke in the distance of the beautiful Saratoga Springs area of upstate New York in the 1960s.  It’s the Tempesta Stud Farm, that had once seen better days and is now burning to the ground.  For those who love the world of horse racing, this is a huge loss, even if it is no longer a flourishing business.  However, the whole situation turns grim when two bodies burned beyond recognition are found. It’s Ellie, after the fire has smoldered and gone out, who discovers a singed length of gold and black diamond patterned silk wrapped around the neck of one of the victims.

A bullet through the head of one victim clearly indicates that this is murder and perhaps arson.  Ellie refuses to let it rest there and begins exploring who the silk belonged to, believing it belonged to a jockey named Johnny Dornan.  It also turns out he hasn’t been seen in days.  No one is overly concerned since Dornan didn’t have the nicest reputation and wasn’t trusted or friendly with the ordinary crew working the racetrack scene. 

Ellie’s friend, Fadge, fills Ellie in on missing information about the races.  He’s a funny guy who spends hours and days reading racing sheets but loses as often as he wins bets at the track.  He’s rather fond of Ellie but their relationship never gets beyond fondness.  And he adds some information for readers not familiar with the betting on races process.

No spoilers here but suffice to say that several woman and gamers are involved in Johnny Dornan’s life.  There are several characters who don’t like to lose and resent anyone out of their circle asking too many questions.  But that doesn’t stop Ellie; if anything, it spurs her on, always with Fadge by her side or not far behind her.  Unfortunately, others will die before all the gaps have been filled in the mystery.

The sixth mystery of James Ziskin is as good, if not better, than his previous novels.  One knows the troubles and crimes will all sort themselves out, but one still can’t predict how that will happen, and that is the enjoyable process for the reader.  Nicely done, James Ziskin!!!

The Candidate: A Newsmakers Novel by Lisa Wiehl

The Candidate: A Newsmakers Novel.  Lis Wiehl with Sebastian Stuart. Thomas Nelson, Inc. October 2016. 352 pp.  ISBN#: 9780718037680.

News anchorwoman Erica Sparks is at the top of her game with her snappy reporting that engages the public.  That is, she thought she was at the top but her boss calls her in to tell her that ratings for her show on GNN are slipping, a fact that restores her fears from the past and a life she wishes would never appear in memory.  Add to that she knows she’s neglecting her daughter Jennie for the job and they are beginning to drift apart.  The first problem will change and the second demands some immediate action but certainly not what Erica envisioned for their family.

Erica is covering the appearance of the candidates, Senator Mike Ortiz and Fred Buchanan, when a bomb rips through the crowd outside the venue for the appearance.  Fred and Judy Buchanan, among numerous others, are instantly killed.  But Erica is not only struck by the horrendous tragedy.  She notices that before Senator Mike Ortiz makes any comment, he seems to look at his wife, Celeste Pierce Ortiz, for approval before continuing.  Worse yet, he seems to smile at inappropriate times and otherwise has no affect regarding the circumstance that is tragic to say the least. As times goes by, including a personal interview with Ortiz, Erica begins to delve further into his background, believing something is very wrong with this man.

This then is the story of Erica’s tendency to be in the right place at the right (or wrong depending on one’s point of view) time and a powerful intuitive skill in being able to sniff out a potentially explosive story.

Add to that the too perfect image of Celeste Pierce Ortiz and her association with Lily Lau.  But readers will never be able to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes that has pathologically dangerous elements that Erica is investigating, actions that will put her own life at risk. 

Add to that a choice Erika makes for her daughter will turn out to be very dangerous for Erika and Jenny.  Even the savviest of journalists can’t always be sharp about all looming dangers.

The Candidate: A Newsmakers Novel is a sharp novel about outside efforts to control the democratic process of elections in America.  Those plans are designed to change the American government and are all more frightening for the viable possibility that comes too close for comfort!  Fast, exciting, nerve wracking plot that provides a great read!  Superbly done, Lisa Wiehl and Sebastian Stuart!