Long back I had read Evening News by Arthur Hailey, and loved that book. So when I saw Mark Sullivan’s Hard News available on Kindle Unlimited, I downloaded it. This book is unlike the other Mark Sullivan books – Beneath a Scarlet Sky or The Last Green Valley which are true stories retold. This is purely a fictional tale.
Hard News – Plot
Hard News is a story revolving around a California newspaper (The Beacon) office. It starts off with a down and out reporter Gideon McCarthy dealing with three crises’ in his life – Unable to move on after his wife’s death, trying to get custody of his wife’s children legally and staying on track of the big story about the murder of a high-priced prostitute shortly after she testifies in a case involving police corruption. Gideon is down in the dumps because he plagiarized an article.
First off, at the Newspaper office, EVERYONE seems to have a nickname !! That just made it so difficult to keep my head straight about who is who. Almost every character and their lives are described in detail. Some of them are straight, some gay, some heavy drinkers, and some trying to climb the ladder of success by doing favours :(.
Then there is the competition between Newspapers – The Post and The Beacon. The story ofcourse is set in the Beacon’s office but you also get to meet many journalists from The Post.
The reporters dig out various leads, particularly linking a real estate development and an escort service. Couldn’t understand why the escort service provider has to act as an interior designer no one has heard of. That would have been suspicious to a lay person and wasn’t suspicious in the longest time for the reporters. Very strange.
There are scared street walkers who take care of their boyfriend’s insane mother but refuse to give details about the corrupt cops to a journalist.
Also the brutal killing of a reporter, who was Gideon’s friend just didn’t make any sense. He seems to have figured out the real killer of the high-priced prostitute, and all the players in the murky corruption game. Finally Gideon figures out for himself but as a reader, am still not sure I know who the killer is.
Mark Sullivan, the author does a great job of retelling true stories but this book of pure fiction is an average read. My rating is a 3 out of 5. Read it if you don’t have a more interesting book.