Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish are like a Hollywood buddy flick come to former college roommates turned lifelong best friends who always have each other's backs. So when Angel offers Curt the chance to leave his job at a failing newspaper and take a lucrative position as head of corporate communications at Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company, Curt takes the leap.
Nothing bad can happen with Angel at his side.
That illusion is shattered on Curt's first day at Balco, when he learns that Angel was killed the night before during a carjacking. Tasked with writing a press release about the crime, Curt quickly discovers the carjacking wasn't random—it was a targeted attack by professional killers.
Who would murder Angel? And why? The Oakland Police don't have any answers. Neither does the FBI. As Curt is drawn into the mystery of his best friend's death, he discovers there are many possible suspects—and that there's a lot more danger swirling around his new employer than he could have ever imagined.
International bestseller author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction's most prestigious prizes. His books have been translated into 16 languages and have earned starred reviews from every major pre-publication journal.
A father of two terrific kids, Brad runs slowly, is bad at yoga, and occasionally performs as a very semi-professional singer. He's grateful for his readers, because otherwise he'd just be a guy who has a lot of conversations with himself in his own head.
For more information -- or to sign up for the newsletter written by his impertinent interns -- visit his website at www.bradparksbooks.com.
Curt Hinson and his best friend Angel Reddish shared the kind of friendship that is so special, they felt more like brothers than friends. Curt is working in journalism but he’s not very happy anymore. So when Angel offers him a job at the firm where he is currently working, BALCO (Bay Area Logistics Company), he jumps at the opportunity. Little did he know that the day before he starts in his new job, Angel is the victim of a car jacking – or so it seems. Curt is tasked with writing a press release about the crime and dealing with the press. Soon he discovers that the car jacking was not at all random. But why? Why target Angel? And then we’re off to a high paced complicated plot with many surprises. Curt is shown a short video of a gruesome attack on an unsuspecting woman, apparently by a trucker working for BALCO, and next to that there is a lot going on with an upcoming vote for thousands of BALCO-employees to decide whether they will join a big trade union. Filled with some colourful characters this story builds up in tension until the satisfying end. Highly recommended! Thanks to Oceanview Publishing and Edelweiss for this review copy.
Journalists existed to search for and tell the truth. PR people existed to manipulate and obfuscate it. They were paid mouthpieces, spin masters, shills. Old school reporters referred to them as flacks.
Curt Hinton was a journalist and he saw the writing on the wall.He was becoming obsolete. Angel offered him an out, to come to work for the same company he worked for, Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company. Curt’s first day on the job, he finds out his best friend, Angel, was killed. Curt wants answers.
I love a good vigilante story. Of course, in real life, we can’t all seek justice for ourselves. It would be the Wild West all over again. That doesn’t stop me from loving a character that sees wrong and calls out the wrongdoers.
The Flack went to a place I didn’t see coming. Dark and dangerous, Curt doesn’t shy away from doing the right thing. Of course, that puts a target on his back. Curt is naive and I had a little problem with that, but I can’t really talk about it. You’ll have to learn what I’m talking about by reading The Flack yourself.
I loved The Flack. I was drawn into the story early and, as the mystery grew, so did my curiosity. The more I read, the more involved I became. I wondered how Brad Parks would wrap it up. Great job.
Angel Reddish texts his wife to disappear and prepares another partial message to lifelong friend Curt Hinton. He dies from stab wounds as his thumb hovers over the Send tab: “Don’t take the job. Just run. They are…”
Curt struggles as a print journalist, with yesterday’s news losing the battle against digital. Angel wears $4,000 suits purchased by Bay Area Logistics Company, aka Balco, which is based in Oakland. He recruits his Best Buddy to join Balco and head the Office of Corporate Communications. A $350,000 salary may have influenced the decision. Curt's first day is a bummer as he learns that Angel is dead. As the flack, Curt must put a positive spin on his friend’s suspicious death, which he finds out was not from a carjacking as Balco’s executives imply.
Curt’s nose for news retains a journalistic olfactory sense. He learns that Balco is shipping more than manufactured goods to and from Mexico at an astounding 80 percent profit margin. When a video of a migrant being raped appears on social media, the man wearing a Balco cap is identified by AI facial recognition. The only way to put that into the spin cycle is for Balco to spearhead efforts to find the assaulted woman and accelerate citizenship eligibility.
Brad Parks poignantly brings the plight of human trafficking to light, yet through a slightly myopic lens. A migrant voluntarily pays $8,000 to subversively cross into Mexico to attend a family event, as well as the same amount to be smuggled back into the States.
As more dead Balco employees pile up and Curt is summoned to the CEO’s office, a slew of thugs approaches him in the deserted parking garage. An acrobatic stunt from the third level puts him on the run --- without a car or cell phone.
Not for Curt, but readers are introduced to “the quiet woman,” La Tranquila, several unidentified people in “the windowless room,” and a union boss who “could get a hundred guys with baseball bats to show up anywhere in a heartbeat.” They all thicken the suspense soup.
Parks solidifies his thriller track record with THE FLACK, following 2024’s impressive THE BOUNDARIES WE CROSS. He is the only writer to have taken home the Shamus, Nero and Lefty awards, a metaphoric Triple Crown.
Reviewer’s note: In journalism, flack is slang for a publicist, public relations or press agent. It is often used with a slight derogatory tone by reporters who deal with them to get stories or deflect criticism. The term “flack” originated in the 1930s, possibly named after famous publicist Gene Flack.
The Flack by Brad Parks is a very highly recommended thriller/suspense novel following a reporter turned corporate PR representative.
Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish have been best friends since college, so when Angel encourages Curt to leave his job as reporter at a dying newspaper and apply for the job as head of corporate communications at Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company, where Angel is chief operations officer, Curt applies. With Angel's backing, he gets the very lucrative job and he and his pregnant wife Page move to a company-supplied dream house. When he arrives at Balco headquarters for his first day he discovers Angel was killed in a carjacking.
Curt with his new team is now responsible for writing the various press releases about Angel's death. When he talks to the Oakland PD he discovers Angel's death was a murder disguised to look like a carjacking, which leaves him reeling as Angel was not only his best friend, but a gregarious man that everyone liked. As he begins to integrate into the Balco corporate leadership handling the various crises, he begins to recognize that there is more going on behind the scenes than he realizes and he may be in danger.
This is an intriguing, well-written thriller that will pull you into the plot immediately. The opening scene is Angel's last minutes where, as dying, he tries to text Curt "Don’t take the job. Just run." but the text does not get sent. While you may have to set some disbelief aside, many of the plot points seem based on headlines you could encounter today, including corporate corruption and coverups. On the job Curt has to handle a variety of problems, including the threat of unionization and a scandalous video. There are other things as well.
Curt is a realistic, well-developed, intelligent character with both strengths and weaknesses. As head of communications, his background as a reporter becomes very useful, sometimes in unexpected ways. Curt seemingly makes some enemies along the way. There are antagonists embedded in the corporation or it's allies that are incredibly evil and predatory.
The Flack is a great choice for those who enjoy thrillers that read like a movie. Thanks to Oceanview Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
International bestselling author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction's most prestigious prizes, and his work has been translated into 16 languages-
So how can this book only have TEN reviews on Goodreads?
Just before he was killed in a car-jacking, Angel Reddish typed out two texts on his cell phone. The first was to his wife, telling her he was sorry, that he loved her and to take their son and run!
He was unable to hit “send” on the second text-the one to his best friend Curt Hinson-“Don’t take the job! Just Run!” succumbing to his injuries just after composing those last words.
The lucrative job that Angel was referring to was as one that he had gotten for his friend Curt-head of Corporate Communications at Balco-a Logistics firm in Oakland, Ca.
As a journalist, Curt viewed the PR field with skepticism as he called these “Spin Doctors” who manipulated or buried the facts “ Flacks” while he has spent his career searching for the TRUTH.
But it’s a job that would allow his pregnant wife, Page to stay home with the baby, and allow him to live closer to Angel again so he accepted the job.
Curt hears about the car-jacking that killed his friend on his FIRST day on the job-when he is asked to write the Press Release about the killing. And, when he finds out it wasn’t random-and was a Professional Hit-he has to wonder who would want his always likable friend dead?
Was it someone high up within the corporation? Someone from the Union or for the Union attempting to quiet the respected voice who was speaking out against Unionization?
Or something far more sinister?
Turns out that Balco is moving a lot more than Electronics in their trucks-and Curt will be kept pretty busy churning out those Press Releases as his own life becomes threatened the closer he gets to the shocking truth.
This is the FOURTH book by Brad Parks that I have read-and he hasn’t disappointed yet! That is high praise considering that had I known some of content, relevant in today’s Politically Charged World, I probably wouldn’t have chosen it.
If you haven’t read one of his books yet-but prefer a different premise-try one of these!
🌟🌟🌟💫 The job of a lifetime just dropped into Curt’s lap! The head of Corporate Communications for a billion-dollar logistics company in the San Francisco area. His background as a reporter should serve him well. It’s time to pack up his belongings and make the big move with his wife to the west coast! And the icing on the cake…he’ll be working with his best friend Angel.
But of course, things don’t quite go as planned. Well, it never does, right?
Anyhoo, on Curt’s first day at his dream job he discovers Angel was killed the night before. But this is a corporate business. No time to grieve his friend. It’s all hands on deck! And now it seems Angel isn’t the only employee to meet an untimely death!
I wanted to love this book! I’d been so looking forward to it as I’ve enjoyed all of Brad Parks’ previous books I’ve read. Unfortunately, this book had a completely different feel.
I had such a hard time keeping everything and everyone straight, with too many characters and so many moving parts.
I also struggled to connect to our main character, Curt. For a veteran reporter he came off as very naive.💁🏻♀️
While this latest may not have worked out for me, there are some glowing reviews so, please take a peek at those. Meanwhile, I’ll be queuing up for his next!
✍️ Brad Parks 📄 417 pages 🗓️ Anticipated release date: February 3 2026 📈 3.5/5🌟🌟🌟💫 👉 Thriller
Thanks to Oceanview publishing for the advance review copy.
This is my second exposure to Brad Parks' work. I loved the first "boundaries.." which was also sent as an advance review copy. The Flack does not disappoint. In fact I think I loved it more than the previous book.
The story is fast paced and gets you hooked with the first few pages. The strange title (which gets clarified some pages in), also keeps the suspense. I love his storytelling style - one thread is first person of the protagonist and the second is a third person observor perspective. The plot was weaved very well and there were some surprises in store towards the end.
There seemed to be some tiny plot holes which I will not put here due to spoilers. But I can excuse those minor inconsistencies!
Highly recommend this novel to those who love fast paced thrillers. I finished it in two days - it was that good for me! Hope it is for you too
Curt Hinson is struggling in his journalism career when his best friend, Angel Reddish, lures him to California to become the head of the corporate communications department of BALCO (Bay Area Logistics Company). When he arrives at work on his first day, his world is shattered when he learns that Angel was killed in a carjacking the night before. But Curt quickly discovers that it was not a random crime - Angel was targeted and killed by professional criminals. But why? And who? The local police and the FBI are not getting anywhere. He won’t let it drop, however, and when another of the company’s employees is involved in another serious crime, he sets out to discover the truth.
The action is pretty much nonstop, the characters well developed (and you have no problem deciding who to like and who not to like), the plot is complex with plenty of twists and turns, and the suspense is tangible. My thanks to Oceanview Publishing and Edelweiss for the ARC of this novel.
Because I believe in self-compassion, I always give myself five stars.
But, darnit, every time I read this novel I just . . . like it. It sucks me in. Curt Hinton is a protagonist I really identify with. He's a former newspaper reporter who has been displaced by the economic forces that have overwhelmed newspapers, and now he's trying to make his way in a new career (just like me!). But he still brings those journalistic sensibilities to everything he does (just like me!).
The Port of Oakland is a great setting--filled with dark corners and shady operations. And there are some really timely themes that I can't divulge--because, y'know, spoiler--but this is definitely a book with a very "now" feel to it. I hope you enjoy it!
That said, my comments are: -how is the first review by the author? -how is seasoned journalist Curt sucked in by a job that seems too good to be true? -why is Curt's wife so mad about his working so much? This is what they wanted, lots of $$, nice house, car etc. It all comes with a price. - how is Curt sucked in by the characters (Logan/Rig/fake FBI etc) and not more wary of being monitored once he finds shady things going on at the company?
It was just ok for me, barely a 3 rating and was a bit of a drag to get through cause Curt & his wife just not likeable for me.
I’ve been a longtime fan of Brad Parks’ books, all the way back to his Carter Ross series, so when I received a copy of The Flack as part of a Goodreads giveaway, I did a happy dance. It quickly went from my WANT to READ to my READ list. I’m looking forward to the next book. Curt was a likable guy, and I hope we’ll see him again.
College roommates Curt and Angel have always been best buds, so when Angel learns Curt’s days at a failing newspaper are numbered, he offers him a lucrative spokesperson position in the logistics company he works for. Eager to make a good impression, Curt arrives early only to learn that Angel is dead and his first job will be to write the company’s statement about his passing. Soon it’s obvious that someone is hiding secrets that got Angel killed, but will Curt be able to use his reporter instincts to save himself before he becomes the next victim?
Brad never disappoints! Thank you Oceanview Press for an early review copy.