I once asked a travel writer if there are stories she wouldn’t cover. Her response was, “I don’t write about Asia because I don’t know Asia.”
It’s apparent in Lis Wiehl’s The Newsmakers that she knows the news business, criminal law and the haunts of New Yorkers. In The Newsmakers (the first novel in her newswire, following those featuring Mia Quinn), she tells the story of a beautiful, ambitious news reporter with the Global News Network (GNN) – sound familiar!
The novel’s protagonist is Erica Sparks, a Yalie who is constantly intimidated by the fact that not only did she not attend the right prep school but instead attended the local public high school in the small Maine town where she grew up. But Wiehl gives more to Erica’s character than just brains and beauty. She creates a character with a troubled past: an ex-husband, a darling daughter whom she’s lost custody of and a deep secret. This is certainly enough to grab a reader’s attention. Lis Wiehl’s experience as a federal prosecutor is apparent as she weaves the story.
In addition to creating some interesting characters including a handsome producer and a jealous colleague, Wiehl throws in current events ranging from a Kate Middleton visit to New York to the latest shenanigans of Russian president, Vladimir Putin. If this isn’t enough excitement, Erica Sparks also witnesses two horrific tragedies while out reporting news stories. The key question becomes: Why was Erica Sparks the eyewitness to these disturbing events?
I won’t give the story away but suffice it to say that Wiehl adds drama, tragedy, romance and even shopping trips to local New York haunts like Whole Foods to make for good vacation reading – hopefully someplace warm and blizzard- free.
The Newsmakers
Lis Wiehl With Sebastian Stuart
