Review -- The Newsmakers by Lis Wiehl

 When Erica Sparks lands a dream job as a reporter for Global News Network in New York City, she’s ecstatic. It’s a chance for her to turn her life around, make a success out of an almost-scuttled career and perhaps even get shared custody of her daughter Jenny.

Ready to make her mark in the cable news game, Erica is on her first assignment for GNN when a horrific ferry accident occurs. Erica’s skills are highlighted as she reports live from the scene, scooping every other news service. Another incident occurs when she’s interviewing a top political candidate live on-air. Once more, Erica is spotlighted and she’s soon offered her own show­­­—a real coup in the cable news business.

But is it coincidence that these things have happened, or is there a sinister plot afoot to create the news…and a news star?

From humble beginnings to the top of the cable news business, Erica Sparks has the brains, beauty and talent to succeed. But can she get beyond her own past and how it haunts her? Can she discover the truth behind her biggest news stories? Can she survive the journey? Will she find love with Greg Underwood, the handsome former war photographer, now her on-air producer?

Author Lis Wiehl ratchets up the tension and suspense page by page as Erica Sparks digs in with her outstanding investigative reporter instincts to find out what the real story is.

An addictive read! Five stars. 

Overlapping

How many of us read both mysteries and thrillers with equal enjoyment? What’s the difference? Well, according to International Thriller Writers, a thriller is characterized by "the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace."

From www.who-dunnit.com a mystery, in books, is defined as “mysterious, unresolved and unexplainable circumstances with which the hero or heroine comes in contact. This can be anything from the occult realms, strange disappearances, unexplainable sudden affluence or sudden monetary loss, psychological distortions, property destroyed or desecrated without known reason, suicide when no suicide seemed feasible, and of course, murder.”

Those may, at first, seem very disparate, but any of the circumstances in a mystery can result in a thriller’s “sudden rush of emotions” and, while some cozy mysteries may not proceed at a “constant, breakneck pace,” most mysteries have a sense of apprehension and suspense. Without it, why would we worry about who dunnit?
Who are your favourite mystery and thriller writers – and who would you consider a crossover author?