American Outrage

When Sam Carlson asks his adoptive father to find his real mother, trash TV reporter Jake Carlson sees the chance to improve his career. But once Carlson starts on the investigation, he finds that the story behind his adopted son is more fascinating--and more dangerous--than he ever thought. Jesse Bernstein reads more often than he performs, but he gets the job done. As it stands, Tim Green's novel maintains interest on the strength of his writing. Bernstein sounds young enough for most of the roles, and he plays a convincing a street-tough television producer. However, he falls short on the older characters, such as the elder antagonist, who may or may not be Sam's grandfather. M.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

February 5, 2007
Bestseller Green (Kingdom Come
) introduces a tough, appealing hero in his action-packed 12th thriller. Jake Carlson, a correspondent for the tabloid TV news show American Outrage
, based in New York City, has softened his hard line a bit after his wife's recent death, but is still capable of going for the jugular when necessary for a hot story. On the home front, to help his preteen adopted son, Sam, get over his grief, Jake agrees to try and track down Sam's biological mother. This simple request goes from bad to worse once pseudo-celebrity Jake starts asking questions about the boy's supposed Albanian roots. After Jake is drugged and shot at, his personal life becomes tabloid fodder as his own colleagues ruthlessly chase down the story. When Sam disappears, Jake gets serious and sets out to do whatever it takes to bring his son back, regardless of who pays the price. Green's tale is ripe with irony and full of barbs.