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The Other Woman

Review

The Other Woman

Everyone in the news business knows that a reporter is only as good as his or her source. Unfortunately for TV journalist Jane Ryland, her source --- Sellica Darden, a call girl who was involved with seedy, high-profile businessman Arthur Vick --- must remain anonymous. When Jane refuses to name Sellica as her informant in open court, Arthur wins his court case against Jane and Boston's Channel 11, effectively ending her career in television.

After wallowing in self-pity following her legal defeat and the destruction of her career, Jane pulls herself together and accepts a job as a print reporter with the Boston Register. Knowing that she's been hired on a six-month trial basis, Jane vows to work hard on the stories assigned to her, even though they're nothing like the hard-hitting news stories she is used to pursuing.

"With Washington, D.C. currently in the spotlight due to the presidential election, readers will especially love gaining an inside glimpse at this fictional account of the dirty games that frequently accompany a life in politics."

As Jane struggles with rebuilding her career from scratch, she also battles a terminal case of the hots for Boston PD detective Jake Brogan. Although Jane and Jake are wildly attracted to one another, they made the mutual decision to forgo a relationship because of their conflicting career paths. That doesn't mean Jane can stop her pulse from racing or her breath from quickening each time she encounters Jake during the course of endeavors.

Just as Jane is about to embark on her first assignment --- an interview with Moira Lassiter, the dignified wife of political candidate Owen Lassiter --- the bodies of murdered females start turning up all over town. As each woman is left near a river bridge, the press quickly jumps on the notion of a serial killer and dubs the perpetrator "the Bridge Killer."

With the Bridge Killer story assigned to a fellow reporter, Jane begins to follow up on a mysterious woman who's constantly photographed in near proximity to Owen Lassiter at each of his political appearances. Is she the woman Moira suspects her husband of having an affair with? If not, what is the woman's interest in the rising Senatorial candidate?

As Jane follows leads and second guesses her story, the pressure is on to get it right. One more questionable report that can't be substantiated will ensure that she never works as a reporter again. As more women turn up dead and the danger escalates, Jane finds her path crossing more frequently with Jake as he investigates the murders. Will Jane be able to salvage her career with the story of a lifetime and find a way to indulge her heart with the man she's crazy about? Or will she end up lonely, outcast and unemployed? Only time will tell.

In THE OTHER WOMAN, Hank Phillippi Ryan, a former Washington insider, crafts a story of political intrigue that is woven with the threads of deceit. Everyone has secrets that they would rather stay hidden, and they'll do what's necessary to see that they stay that way. With Washington, D.C. currently in the spotlight due to the presidential election, readers will especially love gaining an inside glimpse at this fictional account of the dirty games that frequently accompany a life in politics.

Reviewed by Amie Taylor on September 7, 2012

The Other Woman
by Hank Phillippi Ryan

  • Publication Date: September 4, 2012
  • Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Forge Books
  • ISBN-10: 0765332574
  • ISBN-13: 9780765332578