Talk is cheap, but when this radio host takes action, she may pay the ultimate price. An outspoken, brash, native New Yorker, Sammy Greene isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers at Ellsford University, her ultraconservative New England college. Host of The Hot Line, a talk-radio show on campus station WELL, Sammy tackles the toughest, most controversial issues facing Ellsford's students. When Sammy discovers the body of Dr. Burton Conrad, one of Ellsford's most esteemed professors, her journalistic drive kicks in and she sets out to discover what happened to the beloved professor. But when several Ellsford students mysteriously disappear, Sammy realizes she's uncovered the seamy, terrifying underbelly of this prestigious institute of higher education. With the entire campus in peril, and demons from her past close behind, Sammy Greene must race to find answers. Along the way, she'll discover some unlikely allies-and even more unlikely enemies. If Sammy isn't careful, someone is going to make sure that she signs off-for good.
Deborah Shlian a physician, medical consultant, and author of non-fiction and fiction (medical mystery/thrillers). She practices medicine and often co-writes with her husband Joel Shlian.
Sammy Greene is a student at Ellford College in New England where she hosts her own radio show on the campus station WELL. She does not mind tacking controversial topics and ruffling feathers along the way.
This story centers around several suicides on campus that Sammy thinks are suspicious. One was her professor Dr. Conrad who she had visited the night before the suicide to get an interview. She returned as she left something at the house and found him dead. She is suspicious and being a journalist, she sets out to find some answers to her questions. She also wants to provide some information on WELL about suicide and gets her boyfriend, Ryan who is a medical student to go on air with her and provide some advice to the student body.
The more Sammy gets involved the more she realizes there is more to the story and the more danger she is in. There was another professor who also committed suicide and a student also. Are all these suicides somehow related? She comes to head with several people as she investigates – Reverend Taft, who wants to shut down the experimental program using animals and Chief Papajohn who thinks Sammy shows up too much at the wrong places, hindering his own investigation.
However, none of this stops Sammy. Part of her motivation is that her own mother committed suicide and she goes to Dr. Osbourne to find some answers. Once a deadly fire happens at the campus radio station, she thinks it is not an accident and though she is in danger that does not stop her.
Will she solve the mystery before there are other deaths? Moreover, who can she really trust? Read this compelling mystery written by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid to find out. I have read other books written by teams and this one is seamless. Though Sammy Greene is a college student this is not just a book for young adults. I found her to be a likable and intellectual new female sleuth who I hope the authors bring back in more stories.
My book group just read this- we'd already read Rabbit in the Moon last year and enjoyed the author's work. This one was very different- a fast-paced medical thriller with amateur sleuth and radio talk show host, Sammy Greene solving the mystery of why fellow students are suddenly dying and disappearing on her college campus. The book kept me up at night and made me think. I can't wait for the next book in what I understand is a new series. Sammy is my kind of heroine.
This is a university student adventure. A medical thriller. The 90s era is very attractive. I liked this mystery a lot. Read it in 3-4 days. A good read. I liked the basic character Sammy the reporter, I loved the Pappajohn character -campus police- with Greek roots. Really nice! Thank you
A rash of student suicides has hit the campus of Ellsford University! What can be the cause? Sammy Greene is determined to get to the bottom of things as a reporter and talk-show host for W.E.L.L., the campus radio station. She is tough, dedicated, and prone to exclamations in Yiddish, a result of being raised by her traditional grandmother. She plans a Memorial show for the most recent, a young man with a great future ahead, a talented musician and composer, and homosexual.
Interviews with professors, students, and friends trigger some questions as to whether these suicides are what they seem. A fanatical religious group, with an overly zealous leader preaching, anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-corporate funding of research, she begins to investigate the group as possibly responsible for the "suicides".
Having left her purse at the home of her biology professor during an interview, she returns the next morning to retrieve it, and the tape from her interview. When she arrives, Sammy discovers Professor Conrad is dead from a self-inflicted bullet. Another seemingly unrelated suicide? But why then did his mentor commit suicide in the same manner with the same gun 3 years before? Retrieving her purse, she realizes that it was running until it ran out, and possibly there will be some evidence on it.
Thus begins Sammy's thrill-ride as she battles against all comers including the police chief, her boyfriend, the Dean, other professors, and the Reverend Taft. No one will listen to her, and all warn her to leave it alone, they are satisfied with the suicide theory. Even Professor Conrad had tried to warn her off. If he was going to commit suicide, why the warning?
This story is fast-paced, factual in many ways, researched thoroughly by the authors who are well-versed in their subject. The suspense is high and the action continuous with little snippets of humor to ease the tension. Suspicions take sidetracks throwing Sammy and Campus Police Chief Pappajohn off course several times. Danger lurks everywhere. She is not even sure she trusts Pappajohn. Now, two students are missing. What is the connection?
A strong story and very current, the dangers in the world of today as we lose control of who owns what in business, what conglomerate is supporting life-saving research, this is a medical thriller that satisfies. When Sammy's missing tape is located after a suspicious fire destroys the radio station, answers start flowing thick and fast and in several directions. Everyone seems to suspect the wrong person(s). The race heats up all through the book, to a heart-stopping climax.
Both authors have written thrillers before. Both are in the field of health care and research. This is the first collaborative story by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid, and the first introduction of Sammy Greene, which appears to me to be the beginning of a series. If so, I will be watching for the next episode!
Dead Air is a thrilling murder mystery set in a slice of life at a fictional university in Vermont during the early days of research on a vaccine for the growing AIDS epidemic. The heroine is a spunky student at the university who hosts a weekly talk show on the campus radio station, and has a courageous drive to investigate a series of suspicious suicides of students and faculty. Her name is Sammy Greene, a well-rounded and sympathetic character with admirable virtues of wit, a strong sense of the necessity to expose injustice and criminality as an aspiring professional journalist, and human weaknesses that make the reader care about her and her cause. And that cause is a struggle to uncover corruption of university leaders, AIDS researchers, and a crusading fanatical church minister, all of which are somehow entangled.
The authors are gifted with descriptive power that makes the scenes realistic in the mind's eye, and with detailed knowledge of police procedures, journalistic investigative methods, computer hacking techniques, and the rhythms of academic life and politics. They weave a complex, multi-threaded narrative of how money can corrupt research ethics and create biohazard threats to the society that was supposed to be protected by advanced immunology. The biohazard is described with enough scientific plausibility to satisfy a science fiction reader, and Sammy's investigation has the right mix of technical accuracy and danger of threatening her own survival to finish it.
A word is in order, too, about the pleasure of reading this novel that comes from the portraits of major and minor characters. People who appear in this story are described with a level of authorial craft that "rings true," in that they have backgrounds and mannerisms that make sense as a whole to bring them to life on the page. Characters become memorable, but also can surprise each other and the reader when we learn more about them and, along with Sammy, we realize that a fearsome person has a warm heart, while one who made a show of trustworthiness was not. This book shows how good human beings can be, as well as plumbing the depths of criminality. The story achieves a reflection of the intricacies of real life as good as the best of novels I have read, and keeps the reader engaged eagerly in Sammy's dangerous journey to solve the many mysteries, until they are revealed in the climactic ending.
Sammy Greene acquits herself admirably in the events in Dead Air, more than justifying a second novel about her that has also been published (Devil Wind).
I recommend this richly detailed novel to any reader who likes a good mystery, and give it 5 stars out of five! Readers may also want to visit the authors' web site http://www.sammygreene.com/
This audiobook kept me company in the hospital until I got to disc 4. If I had downloaded this for pay I would have been furious; but this was checked out online from the library. You see, disc 4 got steadily faster and faster and no adjustments to my playback speed on my iPod could make a difference. Halfway through, I was listening to a chipmunk on speed. Much past that it wasn't understandable at all so I had to skip the rest of that disc. Whether or not that affected my enjoyment of the book and the plot I'm not certain, but I felt it best to disclose that I missed a big chunk of the middle of the book.
This mystery is a bit outdated, though it takes place on a college campus in the era during which I was in college, so I enjoyed it. I didn't realize at first that this was an older book, so I was a bit confused as to why things had to be so complicated for the main character. Couldn't she just look X up on the net? Get on Wikipedia for pete's sake! Why are you so unreachable for your boyfriend, can't he call your cell? Why is the hospital using such an outdated paging system? Hah! Once I figured it out it made much more sense. Sheesh but it was harder to solve mysteries before modern technology existed.
All in all it's a serviceable mystery with a decent plot and some good characters. That said I had the big baddie figured out from his first appearance and kind of thought the main character was a little dim for not making the connections herself. I like mysteries better when I'm surprised and this was a tad predictable. It does, however, serve up some decent entertainment as a middle of the road read. Good to kill some time with when you're bored silly.
I've been staying close by my husband while he's been ill. While doing that, I read a book I downloaded free to my Kindle from Oceanview Publishers called Dead Air.
I had no idea what to expect from this book since I didn't know the authors, the series, or anything about it. However, I'm glad I tried it because I like the gutsy, caring heroine and the writing style of the authors. It served to keep my mind from wandering to my worries, which is a great recommendation under the circumstances.
The heroine, Sammy (Samantha) Greene, is a student at a private college in New England who is a reporter for the school radio station. Her boyfriend is a med student who frequently gets very put out that she gets so wrapped up in her stories that she forgets to meet him or call him. He doesn't understand that in this book at least, she is researching a story with deadly consequences.
The plot involves a research institute at the college, a new vaccine for AIDS, professors vying for tenure, and murder among other issues. The story is very well told and only difficult to figure out because of the motives of the people involved. It's easy to follow, not so easy to see how it will end, and bad for the fingernails because Sammy is in danger.
I don't dare tell you any more except that the characters are well-drawn and the plot is a dandy. I do recommend this mystery novel highly and I'm going to look for more books in this series.
When Sammy Greene, Ellsford University communications major and host of the talk show "The Hot Line," finds the body of professor Barton Conrad at his home, her investigative skills kick in. Conrad's death is considered a suicide, but Sammy is not convinced.
Sammy learns that students and faculty at Ellsford University are committing suicide at an alarming rate and she means to find out why. Sammy's mother also committed suicide so this cause is personal. Raised by her Jewish grandmother in New York, Sammy's language reflects her upbringing.
Authors Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid create an intriguing cast of characters including university police chief Gus Pappajohn, radio program director Larry Dupree, and the Reverend Taft, among others.
Fighting demons from her past and those who want her to sign off the air for good, brave and head-strong Sammy takes readers on an exciting ride. "Dead Air" is the perfect prescription for readers looking for a good medical mystery with a little Yiddish and Greek mixed in for good measure. I highly recommend it and hope more Sammy Greene thrillers will be out soon.
"Dead Air" by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid tests your knowledge in how to connect prior facts to events that happen later in the book.
What happens is that in the beginning of the book they tell you something happened and they gradually give you facts about that event later and you have to draw a conclusion to see if you get it right. The authors do this because they want to keep your attention in the book and they want to reveal as little at possible to keep you reading to find out whats going to happen next. throughout the book since it is a murder mystery the authors are going to carry the story out so through the book the story is a bit boring but as soon as the story gets going again they start giving you more and more details about whats going on and why.
In the beginning of the book the theme seems to be that you have to get to know your friends/ people before you start hanging around them. Its that way because in the book it always seems that throughout the book you get to know a person but then they end up passing away or become bad. in the end i think the theme gets more clear.
"Dead Air: A Sammy Greene Thriller" is the book's full name.
This would be 6 on a 7 point scale (or 4.5 on a 5 point scale). A little overboard on the religious group and two dumb blondes in a row--come on. We've had dumb blonde stereotype for a long time (research dumb blond and you'll see it's been centuries--there's even two correct ways of spelling blond/blonde). I'm tired of them. Let's move on . . . (No, I'm not blond--never have been.)
It moved quickly and coherently. The Kindle version had many grammar/typo errors. If it wasn't such a good book, that probably would have bothered me a lot more than it did. By the end I was reasonably sure I knew everyone's allegiance, but it still kept me enough off balance the author could have pulled the rug out from under my "knowing who." The protagonist had her problems and strengths, making her relateable (I'm sure that isn't a word). The supporting cast worked well.
There is a sequel, Devil Wind: A Sammy Greene Thriller. I plan on reading it.
College can be murder, but it shouldn't be literally. I'm still wired after reading this awesome thriller--enough to tell my teens that they'll have to live at home and go to school. Young healthy students are being murdered at an Ivy League University, and an appealing fellow student, Sammy Greene, who hosts a campus radio talk show plays investigative reporter to find out why. She stumbles on the "suicide" of a professor, locks horns with a grumpy police chief, rattles the money-hungry administration, faces down an activist evangelist and his flock, and undermines a ground-breaking research initiative. It's no surprise that she soon becomes a target herself. Someone's out to silence her microphone--"Dead Air".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The prologue captures your attention, something sinister is happening to the students on this quaint New England campus. In Chapter One all the threads are laid out for Sammy Greene to unravel. This medical mystery reads like a made for TV movie-fast paced and well developed characters. Sammy Greene is in over her head. Can anyone be trusted? Enjoyable read.
I read this book because it was free on my kindle. The story line has the typical twists and turns of a detective novel which I am a sucker for. However as a scientist I was a bit offended at the journalist as hero and scientist as enemy construct. I was also a bit put off by the constant reprisal of AIDS being a world-ending epidemic, but maybe that's because now its basically cured.
Received as a GoodReads Giveaway book. Interesting story, but Sammy, the main character, isn't quite my cup of tea. As a college radio journalist/amateur sleuth, she just did WAY too many things that were dangerous, foolhardy, illegal and flat-out stupid for my taste.
Maybe I liked it so much because I'm tired of romance novels. This was a great mystery with a surprise ending. I'd like to find more of the Sammy Greene thrillers and add them to my work library. I think they would be a great asset.
This is a university student adventure. A medical thriller. The 90s era is very attractive. I liked this mystery a lot. Read it in 3-4 days. A good read. I liked the basic character Sammy the reporter, I loved the Pappajohn character -campus police- with Greek roots. Really nice! Thank you