Shunning Sarah by Julie Kramer

 Reviewed by Jeanne

Riley Spartz is a TV news reporter working for a station in Minneapolis, trying to scoop the other stations in a very competitive market.  The station has just taken on a new manager after a horrific incident, meaning that Riley doesn’t yet have a good sense of how things will be run.  Still, when she gets a tip from her mother about a child trapped in a sinkhole, Riley figures that’s a no-brainer and probably a ratings bonanza. As it turns out, there’s much more to it than that: not only was the boy trapped in a sinkhole, but he was sharing it with the corpse of a murdered woman.

What doesn’t play out as expected is the new boss’s reaction:  he takes a dim view of covering events outside of the immediate market area.  He also has some other ideas about station economics that make life miserable for anyone actually trying to cover news. Riley stubbornly pursues the story, discovering that the deceased was a member of the close-knit Amish community.  Close-knit also means closed mouthed, especially to English (i.e., non-Amish) television reporters.  Soon Riley realizes that her investigations may not only be jeopardizing her job, but her life as well.

This is the fifth in Julie Kramer's popular Riley Spartz series, but the first one I’ve read. I noticed a blurb from James Patterson on the front cover, and the structure of the book did remind me of his work:  short, punchy chapters designed to keep the reader turning pages.  The plot has enough twists and turns to surprise, and there are some strong action scenes.  One in particular is a standout. There’s even a bit of romance in the background as Riley tries to decide whether or not to rekindle the flame with an ex-boyfriend or to move on. If there’s a weak point for me, it’s the characters don’t seem to have a lot of depth. I enjoyed the book but didn’t feel compelled to find the others immediately and catch up get any background I might have missed. There’s also one part of the book I had a quibble with but I can’t discuss it without giving away a part of the plot that I definitely don’t want to spoil.

My favorite parts of the book had to do with the insider’s view of how television news: not just the reporter’s tricks of getting the good shots, but what determines the stories that are covered and the ones that aren’t. There’s no sugar-coating about the public’s need to know; for the most part it all comes down to advertisers and money.

Shunning Sarah is a good solid thriller which I’ll be recommending to our readers who like well-written action-oriented books.