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A review by saltygalreads
The Trade Off by Sandie Jones
3.0
Summary: Jess has just accepted a job at a British tabloid called The Globe, notorious for breaking the usual celebrity and political scandals of the day. Jess, bless her heart, has wholesome dreams of helping to clean up the scandal sheet and wants to advocate for a more fair-handed way of reporting the stories. However, this dream is quashed when she observes the ruthless tactics that Max, the editor, and Stella, the assistant editor, will employ to get the headlines they need to satisfy their owner, Peter Kingsley. Moreover, they rule the newsroom with an iron fist, and it is risky to oppose their approach. Needless to say, The Globe has made a few enemies in its day, and now one of them is about to be released from prison, claiming that he was set up by The Globe and vowing to get his revenge. Not only Jess’s morals and ethics are in peril; now her life is in danger as well.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed tabloid publishing as the setting and the base for this novel. I haven’t read another thriller based around this subject matter and it made an interesting change. The focus in this novel is on the action rather than on character development, and therefore I found the characters fairly one-dimensional. Jess is a little too wide-eyed and innocent, whereas Stella is basically the Cruella de Vil of news publishing.
As other reviewers have noted, there were quite a few characters introduced in the book. I understand why the author did this, as it helped to demonstrate the tabloid’s typical strategy of using and victimizing the interviewees for its monetary gain. A trade off is Max’s term for the offer he makes to seal the deal with a potential interviewee. It is nothing more than blackmail, consisting of an offer to withhold potentially embarrassing or ruinous information so the individual will cooperate with the paper and provide the interview they want.
The pacing is a little inconsistent, with the first ¾ of the book being somewhat slow and then the remaining quarter hurtling toward the conclusion. I was not dissatisfied with the ending, just a little under-whelmed as it seemed a little tame. It is a good summer thriller, just not an amazing one. Thanks to Minotaur Books for the copy to read.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed tabloid publishing as the setting and the base for this novel. I haven’t read another thriller based around this subject matter and it made an interesting change. The focus in this novel is on the action rather than on character development, and therefore I found the characters fairly one-dimensional. Jess is a little too wide-eyed and innocent, whereas Stella is basically the Cruella de Vil of news publishing.
As other reviewers have noted, there were quite a few characters introduced in the book. I understand why the author did this, as it helped to demonstrate the tabloid’s typical strategy of using and victimizing the interviewees for its monetary gain. A trade off is Max’s term for the offer he makes to seal the deal with a potential interviewee. It is nothing more than blackmail, consisting of an offer to withhold potentially embarrassing or ruinous information so the individual will cooperate with the paper and provide the interview they want.
The pacing is a little inconsistent, with the first ¾ of the book being somewhat slow and then the remaining quarter hurtling toward the conclusion. I was not dissatisfied with the ending, just a little under-whelmed as it seemed a little tame. It is a good summer thriller, just not an amazing one. Thanks to Minotaur Books for the copy to read.