Customer Reviews

Air Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries)

5 star:		(5)
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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

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

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

Thank you thank you thank you.....I will buy from you again and again...just as described and I apologize it has taken me this long to review...I thought I had done it already!! DUH!!! Thanks again. AAAAAAAAAAA+++++++++++++++++++ Pat

Investigative Reporter Charlie McNally is working on her next big story. Despite some politics at the news stations, she is going ahead with her investigation into the world of fake fashion, specifically purses. Unfortunately, their best lead cancels a meeting and then vanishes. Is this lead in danger?

Meanwhile, Charlie has just gotten a...well actually, she doesn't know quite what her boyfriend just did. Did he ask her to move in or did he propose? And independent Charlie isn't sure she would accept if that was a proposal. Does she even have time for a love life?

It's been too long since I got to spend time with Charlie, and it was great to be back in her presence. As always, I found her and the rest of the cast great. I especially love her boyfriend and her producer.

On the other hand, the plot was a little weak. Part of the problem could be that I just didn't connect with the investigation. I mean, I always go for function over fashion, and I don't have a purse, so what do I care? That's not to say the plot wasn't moving forward, it just took me a long time to connect with it. The last 100 pages absolutely grabbed me, however, and I was pulled in for the final twists. The sub-plot about Charlie's relationship was more interesting to me, so I was disappointed to see it get squeezed out a little as it neared the end.

All told, this is another fun book with a fun character. I'm glad to see Charlie back and am looking forward to more adventure with her.

Charlie is on a story about fashion knock-offs, a big business that really costs everyone involved in the market, including the consumer, in the end. She and Franklin encounter a problem with the flight to Boston, putting Charlie's nose for news into high gear; especially when the airline tries to pawn off a flimsy excuse. Things like that don't happen without a reason. Though she's not sure what's going on, Charlie's instincts tell her someone is deliberately hiding something.

In this third book, Charlie goes undercover, a new twist for the McNally series. Unfortunately, her relationship with Josh is once again strained and Josh wants to move in with her so he can spend more time with her. Charlie is torn between her job and feelings for Josh. He knew what her life was about when they met. Doesn't Josh understand how important her job is to her? Surely he knows her feelings for him. Why wasn't that enough?

Filled with Charlie's unique humor and to-the-point dialogue, she manages to find herself amidst the danger once again as she probes for answers. She's really putting her life on the line this time and someone is not happy about her questions. Someone is aware that she's getting too close. And that someone can't afford to let that happen!

There's more at stake than Charlie is aware of when she first begins her investigation, including her own personal life. But Charlie will risk anything and everything to get a story. She's not going down without a fight.

Hank Ryan's done it again in yet another suspenseful, romantic story combined with her expertise in the field of news reporting. She knows how to take you behind the scenes in getting a story, including the camaraderie between Charlie and her producer/friend, Franklin, the hectic, fast-paced life of a reporter and the inside view into Charlie`s personal life, which adds even more realism to the piece.

Ryan planted her hook in early when I read Prime Time, kept me turning the pages in Face Time and had me on the edge of my seat in Air Time. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Charlie gets into in the next installment in this series, Drive Time.

A highly recommended read for anyone who loves reading and mind-boggling storylines.

Reviewed by Cindy Bauer for Bookpleasures.com
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Cindy Bauer is the author of the Memory Box Trilogy, Chasing Memories (2006 & 2008), Shades of Blue (2007 & 2008)and Crystal Clear (2009), an Inspirational Fiction series. She is an avid reader, a freelance writer and editor, and reviews books for Bookpleasures and New Leaf Press. She recently joined the staff at Visual Arts Junction and contributes articles on writing, publishing and marketing works. With the completion of her Inspirational series, Cindy plans to write in the mystery/suspense genre, which is her favorite to read and review. Visit Cindy Bauer Books to learn more!

The third installment of the Charlie McNally Mystery series does not disappoint. This book is fun and riveting as you follow this seasoned reporter and her side-kick, Franklin, through another adventure. This time it's into the deep, dark, and lucrative world of knock-off designer bags. It's serious business, and just as the stakes of getting a good TV News investigative story are raised, her relationship with Josh also escalates. But can she have it all? Charlie's character is so wonderfully human. That quality, along with great writing and a pulsing plot, allows readers to fully engage this book so easily. However successful Charlie is on the outside, she has fears, worries, and desires that are ever challenging, just like the rest of us. It's another great read and I'm looking forward to the next one. Stay tuned. That's for sure.

I've enjoyed the Charlotte McNally series by Hank Phillippi Ryan, a look at life for a television news journalist the wrong side of forty who finds herself solving crime whilst catching herself a rather nice chap.

Air Time, the third in this series, was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment.

There was nothing intrinsically wrong with the story, except perhaps that I found the central mystery, that of knockoff handbags, one to get my head around (I'm not into handbags, or purses as they're called in the US). But I felt less engaged in this story as in the other two and it took me a couple of weeks to read off and on.

Charlotte is still an appealing character, although her disagreements with Josh about their relationship in this book made me feel she was a bit unrealistic and he had right on his side. After all, should work be the most important thing in life? I think not.

As usual she is assisted by Franklin and there are other characters from the previous books who make another appearance. I liked some of the amusing dialogue with Susannah, for example. But overall I found this book a bit of a disappointment; it was definitely not up to the standard of the first two.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2011

AIR TIME by Hank Phillippi Ryan has the fluff of a suspense thriller except suitable material. Charlie McNally finds herself undercover to expose a ring of purse snatchers. Yep, the criminals are housewives who are selling at private showings copies of Paris originals--designer purses.
I had fun reading this novel even if I no longer carry a purse--gave up the extra baggage when I retired, that was freedom for me.
The subject is very serious for the designer whose living is being diluted as someone uses their work for their own profit. AIR TIME will not strike cords of indignation in the breast of the reader, but then again maybe everyone should take a hard look at what they consider theft. Little pilferings is where big things begin.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalist WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

The whole world of fashion seems to me to be so pinned to false values that the idea of copycat fashions as a crime sure doesn't rank with the dirty deeds that were the subject matter of the two earlier novels. Theefore, I had little feeling of suspense and little interest in the characters. Those who are more concerned and interested in high fashion will quite enjoy this, but those like me who consider the importance being given to certain fashion labels absolutely ridiculous may find the whole deal trivial. There is a neat little deal at the end as to who's the bad guy that I do find worth complimenting. Otherwise, this is one I would recommend only to fashion fanatics.