The Evening News [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Arthur Hailey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 1990

Cold-blooded politics, naked power, and raw  terror behind the scenes. Murder in New York, terror  in South America, bloody riots in Eastern Europe.  That's the evening news as calmly reported by top  TV anchorman Crawford Sloane. . .until his own  life is torn apart in one dramatic moment. For when  terrorists snatch his family, no one knows better  than Sloane how slim are the chances of getting  them back alive. Now their fate depends on Sloane's  rival, ace reporter Harry Partridge; on a  beautiful and ruthless network CEO, and on Sloane's  determination to track the kidnappers down--from New  York to Columbia to the Peruvian Andes and a final  heart-stopping climax of danger and  death.


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his first book in six years, Hailey ( Airport ; Hotel ; etc.) links the infamous Medellin drug cartel with the violent revolutionaries of Sendero Luminoso --"the Shining Path"--a Maoist terrorist group that in this scorcher kidnaps the family of CBA-TV news anchor Crawford Sloane. After a slow, creaky start, and despite a pasteboard cast of guerillas who shoot off more stilted phrases than bullets, the story moves with speed and heat as Crawford's valiant wife Jessica, her young son Nicky and flinty father-in-law are smuggled in coffins to Peru, then marched to a steaming, remote jungle village. Back in the States, heavy-weight correspondent Harry Partridge, Jessica's old lover, spearheads an investigation that the network's slimy parent company, Globanic Industries, tries to hamper. Gripping behind-the-scenes action at CBA-TV and a vivid primer on terrorist tactics pepper the boiling pot. Credibility gaps in the final chapters are paved over by sheer, reckless drama. Literary Guild main selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Book Club selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

"We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special report. . . police . . . have reported the apparent kidnapping of the wife, young son, and father of CBA news anchorman Crawford Sloane" summarizes the plot of this exciting novel. Readers will feel a part of the team of CBA staffers who become detectives in the exciting race to rescue the family from ruthless Colombian terrorists rather than give into their demands for free air time. Readers also witness life with the captives--both the brutal and the kinder moments. In typical, well-researched Hailey fashion, the behind-the-scenes world in the news department of the network is realistically brought to life. Italicized flashbacks present background that develops the characters more fully. The length of the novel may prevent many students from picking it up, but those who do will find an action-filled adventure that's hard to put down. The novel may also appeal to students interested in electronic journalism as a career; in addition to depicting newsroom life, the book will open their eyes to both the close camaraderie and the bitter conflicts that can exist in a large organization. --Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 943 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 4 edition (March 5, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385413351
• ISBN-13: 978-0385413350
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,728,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment!, January 7, 2003

By 

"snowbb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evening News: A Novel (Paperback)

I wish I could give a better rating. This is by far one of the worst thrillers I have ever read. The story is predictable, plot too simple, characters too powerful. Imagine resuing someone of the huge jungle of Cuba. It took only a chat and a map to locate the hostages.

This is my first Hailey book and probably my last.

Perhaps Hailey is overrated.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still Real Hailey But Could Have Been Better, November 24, 2008

By 

R. L. MILLER (FT LAUDERDALE FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Evening News: A Novel (Paperback)

Okay, I guess I'm spoiled. I became an Arthur Hailey reader beginning with "Airport" and then doubled back to "Hotel", "Final Diagnosis" and "In High Places". This one's got a good premise--TV network news. An iconic anchorman and the veteran field reporter who's looming in his rear view mirror. Along with various other players, the way Hailey's always done it, never totally focusing on the big stars. The bad guys are a narcoterrorist group, which may seem dated given that America's current bete noir is based in religious extremism. It would be easy to forget Medellin and the Shining Path given the pervasiveness of the word "jihad". Also dated in the sense that no terrorism incident had yet struck America itself when this story was written. But one other thing occurred to me on re-reading this book. Whenever the TV Guide website hasn't gotten any data yet from the networks about whether a particular episode is first-run or a rerun, they'll say "a procedural drama which yadda yadda...". Which I guess outs me--I'm not into sitcoms, those doofy "reality" shows, "American Idol", whatever--I'm into cop shows, doc shows, lawyer shows. But the point is that TV has given us a generic term for fiction based on professions. Translate that concept into book fiction, that means the legal drama of Grisham and Patterson, the police drama of Wambaugh and Caunitz, the medical drama of Robin Cook. But Arthur Hailey has predated them all without having been a cop like Wambaugh or Caunitz, a lawyer like Grisham or Patterson or a physician like Cook. Which might very well make him the father of modern procedural fiction.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, November 19, 2002

By 

Malay Shah (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Evening News: A Novel (Paperback)

Well if you like Sidney Sheldon, you might be in the range of just liking it-but with a difference. You know what to expect when you pick up Sidney Sheldon - there's an entertainment value at the least. This is one of the worst books I've ever read. The book is highly predictable, when author first tells you story and then what follows is an investigation of what has already been told to you. You can't put the book down - simply because you won't like taking it up. This was my first Arthur Hailey book and boy, I swear this will be my last. Its bad to judge author from one book, but impressions lasts longer especially when you feel you wasted your time by reading a book that claims to be a best seller