R G Belsky’s The Mogul is about innocence, guilt and the meaning of loyalty in a gray, mutable world. Set in 2003, when print newspapers still ruled the media world, The Mogul looks back at the glory days of New York City tabloids during that era and earlier, where “truth” can mean many things, and it is often secondary to the kind of dramatic conjecture that sells newspapers. Knowing that Belsky lived through this time as a reporter himself, much of story reads like two things at once–nostalgic and unsentimental. Much like his main characters.
The book is as well-paced and keenly plotted as readers of RG Belsky have come to expect, but The Mogul reads and feels as very personal, which makes it a must-read for fans of Belsky’s work.
The sensational murder of a young woman outside a hip Manhattan club has all the ingredients for a tabloid media feeding frenzy. That the murdered woman, Carrie Anne Cody, was herself a tabloid reporter adds potent spice. And makes it personal.
Nick Marston, editor of the fictional tabloid The Sentinel, whose reporter the murdered woman was finds himself at the heart of it all, questioning not only evidence and witnesses but who he has become as the right-hand man of Billy Blaine, the publisher and owner of The Sentinel, and the mogul of the title. Following the facts, Marston must confront who he has become and whether the game he and Blaine have played so well, and profitably, is worth the toll it has taken on himself and those around him. As he and the police dig deeper, his editor’s instincts keep him one step ahead, but events on the night of the murder may end up pointing back at him.
No one in this media shark tank is wholly truthful or without blame, and revelations from the story of the murder of Carrie Anne Cody will lead to the downfall of a legendary newspaper mogul and his publishing empire. To give out much more would be to steal the fun of discovery. But I will say, as Marston tells one of the policemen investigating the murder, “It’s not what you think.”
Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from Level Best Books, and this is my honest review.
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James McCrone writes upmarket thrillers that raise questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn.
He is the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network , and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His current novel is Witness Tree, where a newly sober ex-con is trapped at the center of a white supremacist plot when he is the only witness to an execution, turning his hopes for a new life into a fight for survival. Set in Oregon’s wine country, it’s a (pinot) noir tale of murder and corruption.
All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon. eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.
He’s a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He lives in Philadelphia. James has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle.
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