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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Third Book to the Series, September 1, 2009
This review is from: Air Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Author Hank Phillippi Ryan is an award-winning investigative reporter at Boston's NBC affiliate. She has twenty-six Emmy's and ten Edward R. Murrow Awards, along with dozens of other national and international journalism honors. Her work has resulted in new laws, homes removed from foreclosure, criminals sent to prison, and millions of dollars in restitution. Before her reporting career, she was a proofreader, a radio reporter, an Editorial Assistant at Rolling Stone, and a legislative aide in the US Senate. Other titles include: Face Time (August 2009) and Prime Time (coming July 2009.) She resides just outside of Boston, MA, with her husband.
Hot on the trail of her next story, veteran TV reporter Charlotte McNally is thrown into the glamorous world of high fashion. Going undercover in an attempt to infiltrate a ring of counterfeit designers, Charlie soon discovers there's much more at stake than fake purses and rip-off's. The lies and deception run deep, taking her on a whirlwind through airports, the FBI, and even her own backyard. No one can be trusted and the danger is very real. Even with the danger to her own heart, Charlie must struggle to answer a life-altering question from her handsome professor boyfriend, hoping it's not the last decision she makes.
This is book three, the last in the Charlotte McNally Mystery series. As stated before in the two other reviews, these are cozy mysteries with romantic elements. In book one, Charlotte meets Josh. In book two, they continue the relationship with his daughter struggling to accept Charlotte. In book three, they are forced to evaluate their relationship when her job begins to come between them. I don't want to put up a spoiler alert, so I'll be vague in saying that the only issue I had with the book was the seemingly swift acceptance regarding the relationship at the end. I would have liked a little more bend on both ends as a buffer for compromise.
In saying that, I'll reverse T.S. Elliot's quote to say that this book ended with a bang and not a whimper. The action was edge-of-your-seat and fast-paced. The secondary characters, Franklin and Penny, were adorable and added nicely to the story. The investigation, as with the two other books, was spot-on and intriguing. This book was not as laugh-out-loud humorous as the first two, and that's not a reprimand, because it flowed smoothly with the relationship, her decision, and story at the time. Not that there wasn't `any' humor, I recall laughing several times, just not `as' humorous.
The entire series is a recommended read!
CORRECTION NOTE: This is the third book in the series, but not the last. DRIVE TIME to be released soon.
Kelly Moran,
Author and Reviewer
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
exiting investigative thriller, September 6, 2009
This review is from: Air Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
TV reporter Charlotte McNally is with her producer Franklin on a plane on the tarmac in Charlotte when she realizes an incident occurred at the airport, but it turned out to be nothing except that the nothing caused her to miss her flight to Boston where she is to meet the Prada P.I. However, she helps some young woman in gigantic heals lug her luggage off the conveyor belt. Regine gives Charlie a business card for Double Designers. Charlie thanks the Gods for now she has a lead.
Charlie goes undercover attending a party thrown by Double Designers. Her work upsets her boyfriend English professor Josh Gelston, as they spend no time together so he implies he should move in with her so they can spend some time together. Meanwhile those selling the fakes do not appreciate investigative reporters.
The third Charlie McNally investigative thriller (see PRIME TIME and AIR TIME) is a terrific action-packed tale as the heroine provides her unique often humorous and biting commentary to the reader. Fans will enjoy her adventures as her undercover work is dangerous in terms of the sham makers and her relationship with the professor. Once again Charlie turns the latest "Time" suspense into an enjoyable read.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fake Fashion!, September 25, 2009
This review is from: Air Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Back in the 1980s one could travel to parts of the Far East and buy copycat handbags, wallets, suitcases and more at phenomenal savings, albeit with a pretty hefty flight fee for the romp! But now Hank Phillippi Ryan tackles another side of this sinister traffic in fake couture with famous labels ascribed to each purchase stemming from Paris and sold anywhere in the world. Only the added costs are higher than any reader could imagine!
Charlie McNally is at it again, hooked into another award-winning undercover story that will perhaps stymie her insecurities for another year but which are forcing her to face even greater personal and career hurdles!
Charlie and Franklin are on their way to have an initial interview with a woman who is willing to talk about the Prada look-alike pocketbooks that are making famous companies lose a substantial chunk of change in their profit margins. But after she meets another woman in the airport, she begins to realize this scamming goes quite deeper. For there are those who sell fake copies at home show and will commit any crime to keep these sales moving. The only way to get the scoop is to go undercover, an opportunity Charlie just can't resist.
How deep is one's career drive that one would risk losing one's life and one's only meaningful love? Is Charlie just driven by the competition in her TV journalistic field or is there more to an addiction to suspense and danger? While the pace in this third and last Charlotte McNally series drives along at breakneck speed, the reader is forced to realize he or she doesn't want Charlie to lose her Josh and begins to get annoyed at Charlie for having her priorities rather skewed! But the conclusion of this mystery overrides those reactions by miles as the central, secret criminals in this high-drama cast are uncovered.
Air Time is a little bit more on the serious side but it still manages to rivet the reader on a controversial issue, the rage for "brands" that will drive some to mayhem and murder! Kudos to Ms. Ryan for an exhilarating, interesting, mysterious and romantic read!
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on September 25, 2009
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