From Kirkus Reviews:
A go-getting TV reporter crosses paths, twice, with a megalomaniac white-supremacist in TV news exec Friedman's supremely silly debut novel. Everybody knows workaholic San Francisco newsperson Mary Reed is a comer; she's ``not unkind, only a little selfish'' in her exclusive attention to her career (snubbed friends, neglected boyfriend, etc.). But little does she know how much that career will depend on right- wing messiah Jerry Radamacker's New Brotherhood, which moves smartly from paramilitary training in the desert to grand theft, counterfeiting, and terrorism without the slightest nod toward plausibility. When the New Brotherhood's people inside the Presidio turn an FBI sting operation into a raging inferno that Mary's lucky enough to cover live, and when she parlays a series of swaggering phone calls from Radamacker into an exclusive on-camera interview (Radamacker's masked, but will she recognize him if they meet again?) and ends up in the slammer for keeping her sources confidential, her name-recognition skyrockets: she's wined and dined by a high-powered L.A. agent, wooed by the big-time L.A. outlet, and launched on her way to four Emmys and an unheard-of co-anchor slot on the 6:00 L.A. news. Meanwhile, distantly pursued by dogged Bakersfield homicide dick Eddie Martinez, Radamacker and his racist buddies plot the end of American civilization. The burning question: What impact will their nefarious plans--botulism, anthrax, cyanide, phony $100 bills--have on Mary's career when they storm the studio for the story of her life? Tediously irrelevant (though presumably authentic) tidbits about news broadcasting alternate with novelettish descriptions of people you don't care about, cluttered and unconvincing action sequences, and limp parallels between Armageddon and a bad-hair day. Keep the remote handy. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly:
Friedman, an NBC Nightly News executive, and Ford, a PR specialist, make network news look like tabloid TV in this glitzy, cartoonish first novel. Do-or-die San Francisco reporter Mary Reed, 25, grabs national attention when she scores an exclusive televised interview with Jerry Radamacker, the lunatic leader of a well-armed white supremacist organization. Radamacker subsequently entertains fond thoughts of the savvy blond journalist as he and his despicable henchmen, who spout racial epithets and prayers in the same breath, plot a Nazi uprising. Meanwhile, Reed signs with a bigtime agent and leaves the Bay Area for Los Angeles, where she wins four Emmys in her first year and never realizes the threat Radamacker still poses. Friedman and Ford display their media expertise in detailed, realistic newsroom sequences, but their narrative, like hastily edited footage, is often choppy. The unkindest cut of all occurs when Mary forsakes her career to pursue a love affair, effectively denying readers a strong--or, indeed, any--female heroine. Despite all this, the authors are on the right track: their transparent melodrama will make a perfect movie-of-the-week.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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