When greed and corruption invade the airways, the truth isn’t the only thing that suffers. Yellow, by Jeanne Charters, is a suspense-filled, cautionary tale that underscores the importance — and the misunderstood vulnerabilities — of a free press.
Yellow skillfully takes readers into a newsroom of the 1980s at the highest-rated television station in Pennsylvania. Finley Smith is its principled news director. When she learns from her top reporter that the Pennsylvania Governor has hired a mob-owned construction company to repair a bridge in Pittsburgh, she plans to report it.
Her unscrupulous station manager orders her to “leave it alone.” But when a reporter’s probe reveals dangerous truths about the construction company’s shoddy work, Finley opts to buck the system and run the stories. This sets in motion a deadly dispute.
Although Finley’s reputation is irreproachable, making it difficult to fire her, the station manager and corporate president conspire to have her eliminated.
Between the covers of Yellow, Charters expertly weaves a suspenseful web of ambition-fueled deceit, financial desperation, and corruption that ultimately culminates in a grisly crime.
Will Finley Smith emerge with the truth — and her life — intact?
Reading “Yellow” reminded me of a Lifetime Movie, moving from one scene to the next following several interesting characters through their personal and professional lives. The author is a very good writer and provides vivid descriptions of both the characters and the surroundings as they move through Pennsylvania and New York.
It’s an interesting read with a few intriguing and suspenseful moments, but I found it more of a love story than an adventure novel. Jeanne Charters’s real-life experience working in television shows can put you right in the middle of the TV news business environment. I recommend Yellow if you are looking for an escape from your reality with an entertaining light read.
Born in small-town Ohio, author Jeanne Charters is a veteran of the broadcast television industry. The former Vice President of Marketing for Viacom TV began her career in radio and TV marketing, where she proved to be an expert at writing and producing effective television campaigns. Her talents caught the eye of Viacom Television, and when they approached her for the position of Vice President of Marketing, she jumped at the opportunity.
She would later open her broadcast ad agency, Charters Marketing. For years, she traveled to television stations from New York to Hawaii, producing and placing television and radio campaigns for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. At the same time, Charters worked with select local retailers on their campaigns.
Yellow is Charters’s third novel. The first two, Shanty Gold and Lace Curtain are historical novels dealing with the struggles of Irish immigrants in the 19th century.
To learn more, please connect with her on Facebook at Shanty Gold or Jeanne Charters, or on Twitter at Write that Story. Buy the book here: http://www.jeannecharters.com
