When the murder of a “nobody” triggers an avalanche.Every human life is supposed to be important. Everyone should matter. But that’s not the case in the cutthroat TV news-rating world where Clare Carlson works. Sex, money, and power sell. Only murder victims of the right social strata are considered worth covering. Not the murder of a “nobody.” So, when the battered body of a homeless woman named … battered body of a homeless woman named Dora Gayle is found on the streets of New York City, her murder barely gets a mention in the media. But Clare—a TV news director who still has a reporter’s instincts—decides to dig deeper into the seemingly meaningless death. She uncovers mysterious links between Gayle and a number of wealthy and influential figures. There is a prominent female defense attorney; a scandal-ridden ex-congressman; a decorated NYPD detective; and—most shocking of all—a wealthy media mogul who owns the TV station where Clare works. Soon there are more murders, more victims, more questions. As the bodies pile up, Clare realizes that her job, her career, and maybe even her life are at stake as she chases after her biggest story ever.
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Below the Fold is the perfect choice for those of us who love our mysteries. But are very particular about authenticity, protagonists that we really care about, and plots that are original and twisty. Clare Carlson in Below the Fold is a winner on all fronts. She runs a NYC TV newsroom, she cannot tolerate idiots, and she pursues her agenda relentlessly when it’s about finding truth. This time, she’s the lone advocate for a homeless woman found dead in NYC. And what she discovers is explosive. Mystery/thriller readers–meet Clare Carlson, that strong, feisty female protagonist that we’ve all be waiting for!
“Below The Fold” by R. G. Belsky, is the second in the Clare Carlson Mystery” series. Some events from book one were left unsettled, but the details are included as part of the current narrative, and the past storyline is seamlessly entwined with the current story. Every reader, both new and old, will enjoy this media-based story.
The prologue tantalizes and tempts readers. “She was always smarter than anyone else. She believed that right up until the… ‘My God, I’m going to die,’ she thought as the blows rained down upon her. Then there was just darkness.”
The book is a first person narrative by Clare Carlson, former Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper reporter and now a TV news director. The structure takes the form of a post-event recap session, an evaluation meeting between Clare and the reader. She talks directly to readers, “Now let me tell you something else.” She prepares readers for the story to follow, “Every human life is supposed to be important … But it’s not true … certainly not in the world of TV news where I work. Not all murders are equal in news worthiness … Especially when it comes to murder.” She compels readers to turn the page.
In a casual conversational style, readers hear what people say to Clare, what she says back, and how she feels about what is being said. “But it was a secret I couldn’t tell to anyone.” She shares her past, “A lifetime ago, when I was a nineteen-year-old college freshman.” She evaluates her life, “Hard to believe my marriages didn’t work out, huh?” She is a stubborn and dedicated journalist who must get the story, must follow it to the end, whatever that might be.
Clare finds a perfect story; a homeless woman was murdered on the streets of New York City. Who was she? How did she end up on the street? Who killed her? It becomes a much bigger story when another woman is murdered, and beside that victim is a list of names that includes prominent New Yorkers and the homeless woman. Readers trudge right along with Clare through a tangled web of political misbehavior, blackmail, money secrets, public meltdowns, and social-media justice.
Readers follow the process, make the connections, and decipher clues along with Clare, hoping that no hints are missed or no clues left unresolved. The plot is a roller-coaster ride, slow climb up, gradual acceleration, fast turn on the curves, a deceptive straightaway, and then a plummet to the bottom at breakneck speed. Just as the pieces start to make some kind of sense, the case falls apart, goes a different direction.
“Below The Fold” is a realistic look behind the scenes in the high-stakes world of news media. Readers feel Clare’s pressure to get the story to the air first. I was given a review copy of “Below The Fold” by R. G. Belsky, and Oceanview Publishing. It is a spellbinding book; the tension is palpable; the ending is surprising.
Meet Clare Carlson. She has 3 failed marriages, uncertain about her role as a mother, and her personal life is in constant confusion. She’s also a terrific reporter, having won the Pulitzer Prize some years ago. She is now a TV News Director.
BELOW THE FOLD — ‘below the fold’ was coined when there was an actual physical fold in the middle of the newspaper. ‘Above the fold’ was anything on the top half, and ‘below the fold’ was anything underneath. The content that was deemed less important was traditionally placed below the fold, since it was mostly invisible when displayed on a newsstand.
It all starts with the beating death of a homeless woman who called herself Cinderella. Her real name was Dora Gayle. Although her death was meaningless to most, Clare’s gut instincts told her to dig deeper. What she finds are strange links to very prominent people …. a female defense attorney, a scandal-ridden ex-Congressman, a NYPD Detective (one of Clare’s ex-husbands), a stockbroker, and the man who owns the TV station where Clare works.
Book Blurb — Soon there are more murders, more victims, more questions. As the bodies pile up, Clare realizes that her career, and maybe even her life are at stake as she chases after her biggest story ever.
What a sensational novel! The author’s background ensures this story, these characters are indeed, credible. Clare and her colleagues are fascinating to watch as they begin their investigation by questioning and filming the people who knew the dead woman. Their promotion of this death brings it to the forefront of the news.
It’s captivating, leaving me riveted to each and every well-written page. Although this is Book 2 of this series, it is easily read as a stand alone. However, I do recommend starting at the beginning and that’s just what I’m going to do.
Many thanks to the author / Oceanview Publishing / Edelweiss for the digital copy of BELOW THE FOLD. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
I was gifted this book with the understanding that I would leave an honest review.
Below the Fold is the second book in the Clare Carlson series. I have not read the first book or any other books written by R.G. Belsky before. I also usually like the main character in the books I am reading. Not this time but that didn’t stop me from liking the book. The narration was done by Chris Kenworthy and he does a wonderful job. The story has many twists and turns and keeps you on your toes.
Dick Belsky is the Gayle Sayers of the sudden plot twist, a master of the literary limp leg, hip fake and juke as he takes readers on a juddering broken-field run with his latest Clare Carlson mystery, Below The Fold.
Belsky’s at the top of his game with this one, deftly reversing field with one surprise after another. Just about the time you think you have him cornered and the mystery solved — boom, another magic spin move of words that leave you grabbing air and rushing to catch up.
You really don’t mind, though, because the copy’s fast, the patter’s snappy and it’s a kick to get faked out by a crime fiction Hall of Famer. You also get an insider’s view of the television news business that only a former big-time journalist like Belsky can deliver in a manner that’s integral to the story instead of a sideshow distraction.
That’s because Carlson, who is unraveling this mystery, is a New York TV news exec who, like Belsky, made her bones as an ink-stained wretch — a print journalist, to those who don’t belong to this tribe.
The title is an old-school newspaper put-down term for a story that might be important enough for the front page, but not hot enough to claim prime real estate above where the paper is folded to place for display in the sales rack. As in: “Put that story below the fold.”
That arcane and antiquated term is important because it points to a deliberate decision by Carlson and her news team to go against the grain of journalistic convention and dive deep into a story that would normally play below the fold — the murder of a homeless woman named Dora Gayle.
They play it up big and get a minor ratings splash — then move to the next day’s rush of events to “feed the beast,” another term for the insatiable daily demand for fresh, hot stories to sell papers and keep eyeballs glued to your station instead of clicking to a competitor’s channel. Dora Gayle fades to black.
The beast demands fresh meat, every day. Like the murder of a beautiful blonde stockbroker, savagely beaten to death in her apartment, her face a bloody pulp. Grace Mancuso, an amoral carnal and monetary predator, is the stuff front page murders are made of. She’s sexy, up to her eyeballs in an elaborate scheme at her investment firm to rip off hundreds of customers, willing to sell out her partners to the cops to save her own hide — and dead.
Carlson’s ex-husband, a detective named Sam, calls to give her a heads-up about a note the killer left at the crime scene. Five names are listed in the note — the billionaire boss who owns her station; a defense attorney who represents mob bosses and drug dealers; a suspended homicide detective suspected of launching a suspect out of an upper story window; a college president and ex-Congressman notorious for sleeping with women who aren’t his wife.
And Dora Gayle.
Boom. The first of many plot twists Belsky delivers as Carlson and the cops chase this bewildering clue to connect the names on this list to Mancuso’s murder. Is the murderer named on that list? Or is it a lineup of past and future victims?
Belsky keeps you guessing with his storytelling jukes and hip fakes and richly entertained with Carlson’s smart-ass patter.
A word about that patter. The story is told from Carlson’s point of view. But it’s got the lemme-tell-ya tone of a guy sitting in the semi-dark at the short end of a long bar with an adult beverage in hand, spinning a yarn.
The image is forties-era black and white. And the guy is wearing a snap-brim fedora with a press card stuck in the hat band.
The author provide an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Jim Nesbitt is the author of three hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers, The Right Wrong Number, The Last Second Chance and The Best Lousy Choice. All three are available in paperback or Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/author/jimnesbitt
I won this on a Goodreads Giveaway. The author and publisher were nice enough to send me a copy. All opinions are my own.
I have got to stop finding series to read. I loved this book. You can tell by reading it that R. G. Belsky knows the inside of a newsroom. He wrote in away that made me feel like I was right there.
Clare Carlson is a news executive in a NYC TV station. She decides to do an in-depth report on a dead homeless woman. This sets off a series of events that being an investigative reporter, Carlson can’t ignore.
A Scandalized Senator, a Billionaire, a Homicide Detective, a Criminal Lawyer and a dead homeless woman. What could these 5 people have in common with a murdered Financial Advisor none of them know?
Now I have to go buy the first book in the series.
Every human life is supposed to be important. R. G. Belsky’s latest Clare Carlson mystery, Below the Fold, begins with the death of “a nobody,” the kind of news that falls “below the fold.” Carlson is a veteran TV news reporter, and she knows all about the deaths that matter…and those that don’t.
But Carlson—a TV news director who still has a reporter’s instincts—decides to dig deeper into this seemingly meaningless death. She uncovers mysterious links between the murdered “nobody” and a number of wealthy and influential New York figures. Their names, together with that of the murdered homeless woman, turn up on a list left at a second murder scene. There’s no obvious connection between any of the prominent citizens, but soon there are more murders, and more questions.
Along with a being a compelling murder mystery, Belsky’s novel successfully describes the large and small effects people have on one another, like ripples in a pond, radiating outward, colliding and intersecting with the ripples other lives produce. Those resonances prove key to solving the mystery, so I won’t say more here.
Readers who like an engaging, well-crafted mystery with fascinating twists will love Below the Fold. The writing is crisp and economical, and I felt pulled forward, deeper into the story as it delved deeper into the mystery. It’s the second in the Clare Carson series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone. Along with Clare herself, the most engaging character is the policeman-with-a-past Scott Manning.
In less skillful hands, murder mystery victims can often feel like mere plot points; but Below the Fold adeptly gives the dead back their humanity. Every life, and every passing, has its meaning.
Highly recommended.
Just like the first instalment, “Yesterday’s News”, “Below the Fold” is character driven. The first person narrative gives us a retrospective view of events through the eyes of its protagonist, Clare Carlson, taking us through the painstaking and twisting process of investigative journalism and the demands of live news broadcasts, with great gritty insights into both.
Clare is also an interesting character with compromising secrets and many flaws, which are revealed and explored alongside her professional endeavours throughout the series. For this reason, although “Below the Fold” can be read as a stand-alone mystery novel, I would strongly recommend reading “Yesterday’s News” first as, in order to progress Clare’s personal story, this new book contains many spoilers which will affect your enjoyment of the first – and that would be a real shame as “Yesterday’s News” was an edge-of-your-seat, take-your-breath-away page turner.
Interestingly, “Yesterday’s News” was originally intended as a stand-alone novel, however, the publishers wanted more Clare and, thankfully Mr Belsky had more to give; without a doubt the setting does allow for a long and exciting series. Clare is the kind of journalist who does not go for the easy story, she likes to dig deep and challenge the status-quo, which also prompts the reader to regularly question the morality and values of our current society.
Generally the writing is so good that you completely forget about it and just become immersed in the story, which, although complex, is clear and easy to follow. In our interview with Mr Belsky last year he told us that he tries “to write the same kind of mystery novel that I like to read myself. That means a good story; taut, fast-paced writing; and – most of all – an interesting lead character.” He has certainly achieved his goal with this series, and fully delivers on each aspect. My one criticism about this novel is that I didn’t fully understand why Cinderella (Dora Gayle) felt so strong and that she had beaten NYC, but maybe I am just looking too hard into it.
Finally, as you may have spotted, the main protagonist Clare Carlson is a female character written by a male author; fear not, Mr Belsky does an excellent job of writing from a strong, modern female perspective thanks to his experience in this field (which he explored for our blog earlier this month), and Clare feels wholly genuine and fully female!
Although not as strong as “Yesterday’s News” which completely surprised me, whereas in “Below the Fold” I actually correctly identified one of the culprits, I pretty much devoured this book in one sitting and I cannot wait for the the third book in this series, “The Last Scoop”, which will be out next year and will see Clare “on the trail of a serial killer even scarier than Son of Sam or Ted Bundy or the Zodiac”.
[ARC received via Edelweiss]
Originally published on BooksChatter.blogspot.com https://bookschatter.blogspot.com/2019/05/rv-fold.html
Below the Fold by R.G. Belsky starts off with a murder, and the fast-paced action never stops. Every life is important, until it is time to broadcast the daily news. Murdered homeless people rarely make the top news slot, but when Channel 10 News Director Clare Carlson agrees to run a story about a woman murdered while sleeping in a bank vestibule, she gets more than she bargained for. The victim is Dora Gayle, seemingly just one of many living and dying on the streets. But nothing is ever as it seems, and it appears that Dora is connected to a web of intrigue, greed, and lies.
With each passing chapter, Clare finds herself embedded deeper and deeper into this web. But as she unravels the clues and gets closer to the truth, the danger becomes a little too real and a little too deadly.
The overall tone of Beneath the Fold is journalistic, reminiscent of the old-fashioned gumshoe stories, where the investigator doggedly pursues the clues and stirs up a nest of hornets eager for revenge and dead set on silencing that nosy reporter. But Clare is in too deep, and like any good journalist, she is committed to finding out the truth, no matter the cost. Belsky’s writing style is quite snappy and quick, and he expertly builds the tension and danger to a fever pitch. Figuring things out is difficult with this one, so be prepared to stay riveted and on your toes until the very end.
An interesting aspect in Below the Fold is that sex, money, and sensationalism sell stories, but we all know that. We only have to turn on the nightly news to see that. And a high-profile murder will make the headlines for sure, but when a ‘nobody’ is murdered, no one notices or even cares. The idea that all humans are created equal flies right out the window when it comes to TV ratings, yet that forgotten life was still important. The homeless people we pass every day have interesting, heartbreaking, and lovely stories to tell anyone willing to listen, but even in death, their stories often remain untold.
While the overall mystery is thrilling and well written, with dynamic characterization, this idea that a person’s story isn’t always headline worthy unless they are connected to something or someone more important leaves quite the lasting impression.
Clare Carlson is a character that gets under your skin. Not always in the best way. She’s not exactly loveable but she is compelling. She can’t let things go. It’s a great quality for a reporter and for a mystery character. News that is below the fold is the news that won’t sell the paper. Body of a homeless woman found, that’s below the fold. Until Clare Carlson, News Director for a television station follows her instincts. She is right. The small story becomes her next BIG STORY as it entangles several prominent people including her boss.
Leads, clues, tips, drive the story through twists and wrong turns until… That’s the hard part of reviewing a mystery. I want to tell you what happens but honestly I’m a little afraid of Clare. Read this one. See for yourself. The author, R.G. Belsky, is a reporter himself. It shows. His genuine experience brings the Clare Carlson books, and the news business, to life.