Shooting for the Stars

Gil Malloy #2

by R.G. Belsky

Some thirty years ago, movie star Laura Marlowe was shot to death by a crazed fan in New York City, who then killed himself. The police ruled it a murder-suicide, the case was closed, and the beloved starlet faded away into history. But when New York Daily News reporter Gil Malloy re-investigates Marlowe’s death, long-buried secrets emerge and he begins to uncover the trail of a new serial killer. And more people are dying. Now, before he can solve the current crimes, Gil must find out what really happened to Laura Marlowe all those years ago.

Genres: Mystery

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Co-author with Bonnie Traymore of Swipe (2025);Author of Broadcast Blues (Oceanview - 2024); It's News to Me (Oceanview - 2022); Beyond The Headlines (Oceanview 2021); The Last Scoop (Oceanview-2020) Below The Fold (Oceanview - 2019) Yesterday's News (Oceanview - 2018) Blonde Ice (Atria - 2016; Shooting for the Stars (2015); and The Kennedy Connection (2014).

Also writes thrillers under the pen name of Dana Perry.

Former Managing Editor of NBCNews.com

Worked as Managing Editor of NY Daily News; News Editor of Star magazine; Metropolitan Editor of NY Post.

Author of numerous other mystery novels including Loverboy and Playing Dead.

Contributing Writer for The Big Thrill magazine and BookTrib.

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

R.G. Belsky's Shooting for the Stars is one of those books where it seems that everything connects, but there are still a few loose ends. Gil Malloy, a print reporter, is assigned to work with a TV journalist who is doing a story on Laura Marlow, a dead star who was murdered by a fan thirty years ago. But before Gil finds out where Abbie was going with the story, she is killed. The dead star from 30 years ago turns out to be related to the TV journalist, and may have even been the victim of a serial killer. There is also a cult angle and some mafia involvement. Other connections include husbands, lovers, and agents. Once you are comfortable with the possibilities Gil suggests to explain Marlow's death, one remaining possibility is that, instead of murder or suicide, Marlow could be alive somewhere. This book was written in 2015. I read it in April 2021 and again this year. Since 2015 escapist fiction has certainly become more twisted and unbelievable and perhaps readers have become more skeptical, but the connections and surprises here remain believable.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review for Shooting for the Starts: A Gil Malloy novel by R.G. Belsky will be linked back here in the near future. Stay Tuned!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder cold cases are notoriously difficult to solve, especially if the murder happened 30 years ago and the victim was a very popular movie star. Laura Marlowe was gunned down by a crazed fan who later committed suicide so case closed, right? Not so fast. Enter investigative journalist Gil Malloy in his second outing in this delightful series. The pieces of the puzzle do not fit as neatly for Gil, so he decides to take on this mystery and make those pieces fit.
What he uncovers will keep readers interested and rooting for this hero who has personal issues that drive him to bring the story to its proper and truthful conclusion. Along the way there are plenty of surprises and startling secrets with an ending that will keep you wondering long after the book is finished.

Looking forward to the next one. Enjoy!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit that this mystery pulled me in with lots of twists and turns and plenty of suspects like a good 4 or 5 star mystery, but I found myself pulled out of the story enough times to finally settle on 3 stars ("liked it"). Gil Malloy is a reporter hoping to break a big story about a 30 year old celebrity murder. Some of the informants/suspects seem to change personalities just as Gil thinks he is getting close to figuring out who was responsible for multiple murders over a course of 30 years. As facts are revealed, Gil keeps going to one on one meetings in private settings with the person he most suspects at the moment and asks them if they are a murderer. I suppose the author does this to raise the tension level, but it seems so stupid that it kept popping me out of the story.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a captivating and remarkable novel. Gil Malloy, the hero, is a print reporter who has had better days. He is told by his editor to meet with a TV journalist who is doing a "big story" about the thirty year old murder of a movie star. The two of them become friends and shortly thereafter she is murdered. The tale involves the Hollywood of thirty years ago, Mafia kingpins, a cult similar to Manson's and a cast of interesting characters some of whom are quite sympathetic even when they shouldn't be. This was my first GIL Malloy book. It won't be the last.

Thanks to Net Galley and Atria for the ARC for an honest review.

[G Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

by G. Robert Frazier

One of the most common pieces of advice for authors is to write what you know.

R.G. Belsky knows journalism.

A former managing editor for NBCNews.com and the New York Daily News, Belsky has used that career of skill sets to create a thoroughly authentic investigative reporter in Gil Malloy. In his second adventure, Shooting for the Stars (Atria, 2015), the tenacious and oft-times cynical Malloy is convinced the murder of a local television personality is intrinsically linked to the thirty-year-old unsolved murder of Hollywood movie diva Laura Marlowe.

Malloy is perhaps more akin to Mike Hammer, James Rockford, or Jake Gittes with a nose for news and a knack for getting in trouble. You just don’t see many reporters of his ilk anymore.

His tenacity soon rankles his editor, an assortment of suspects, and even a local mob boss. With each new interview, Malloy uncovers a new name or a long buried secret leading to a whole new line of questioning and ample plot twists. More than enough to keep readers rapidly flipping pages.
While the thickly layered mystery is riveting in itself, Belsky heaps on a healthy dose of sharp-tongued dialogue and shrewd wit. But at the same time, he reveals a more vulnerable side to Malloy, who suffers from occasional anxiety attacks and a troubled love life.

Shooting for the Stars is the followup to The Kennedy Connection, but readers don’t have to read the first book to enjoy this outing. Malloy’s next mystery, Blonde Ice, is already drawing rave reviews across the internet.

A winner of the 2016 Claymore Award presented by the Killer Nashville writer’s conference, Belsky is an author to watch.

[Lelia Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something that really appeals to me about investigative journalists, maybe because I admire their unwavering drive to find the truth. That liking for nosy reporters ;-) carries over to the fictional types and I was glad to discover that Gil Malloy can be added to the roster of those I like to follow.

Gil is an interesting guy, really into what some would call snooping but what I call having a true enthusiasm for following one lead after another until the facts add up. He also has a burning desire to hold onto his job at a time when print journalism is fading away and more and more emphasis is being put on TV and online venues and their natural inclination towards short clips of news. It doesn't help his outlook when he's assigned to do a promotional piece on a hotshot TV reporter who's about to break a big story regarding a movie star who was murdered by a fan years earlier.

When Gil meets Abbie Kincaid, though, he's in for more than one surprise, including the revelations that she's been dating a Mafia boss's son and she's packing. He's even more blown away when she tells him what her big exclusive is all about but the real shock is still to come.

Shooting for the Stars is a quick read and the pacing is nearly ideal. Mr. Belsky is sure-handed in his characterizations and plot development and I'm just sorry I haven't encountered his work before now. Many good things have been said about Gil's first adventure, The Kennedy Connection, and I'm looking forward to picking that up while I wait for the next one.

[Randall Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gil Malloy is quickly becoming one of my favorite literary characters, and Belsky one of my favorite authors. I have read each of the other books in the series, and none of them disappoint. I had won the first in a Goodreads giveaway, and consider myself considerably lucky, as I may have missed this tremendous series otherwise. The writing is superb and the plots are entirely engrossing. This one is about a modern tv personality who is investigating a 30 year Hollywood murder. Malloy becomes involved and must seek out the truth to the story. The characters really come off the page and you start to believe the events truly happened. In fact, several times during the reading, I tried searching for Laura Marlowe, Hollywood actress, because I wanted to see if she was real. That is Belsky's gift. There are several twists and turns along the way, and you never quite know what to think until the final denouement. If you haven't given Belsky a read, then you are truly missing out. He is great at pacing and Malloy's banter is both full of sarcasm and humor. I am forever a fan of this series and look forward to the next entry when it becomes available. This is truly something I recommend to all.

[John Oswald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gil Malloy is back and RG Belsky has done it again. "Shooting for the Stars" had me asking a lot of questions in the end, the mark of a great 'Whodunit' that doesn't necessarily wrap things up neatly like the old Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan mysteries. That's because Belsky's crotchety Daily News has-been has on his hands a 'WasItEvenDone.' Once Malloy believes he's on the trail of a potential blockbuster front-page story, the pitbull newsman that he is at his heart is unleashed on a 30-year-old murder mystery involving a knockout Hollywood starlet named Laura Marlowe. Belsky cleverly name drops throughout his second book in the engaging Gil Malloy series, weaving reality into fiction so much so that you almost forget this is even a novel. The book is told through the eyes and voice of Malloy and it's like sitting with an old friend at the bar and hanging onto every word of his war stories. The biggest question I had at the end: When does this get made into a movie?!

[Dianne Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series but there is no need to read the first one to enjoy it and enjoy it I did.

Gil Malloy is an old-fashioned print reporter working in a new world. Suddenly his new editor, a 20 something, technogeek assigns him to cover a story associated with a 20/20 style show. The anchor, a beautiful woman named Abbie, is doing a story on the murder of a famous movie star, Laura Marlowe, thirty years earlier. Toss in a crazy cult, some mobsters and an over-the-top stage mother and it is a great story. Only problem, Abbie gets killed and Gil was one of the last people she was close to.

As he goes about trying to solve the original murder and tie it in to Abbie's some interesting storylines unfold.

I found the ending to be a bit of a surprise (Laura's ending, not Abbie's) but I have to say I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the fist in the series and any others that Mr. Belsky plans to write.

[Randy Mahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Most avid readers,are always looking for a new author to follow. Well here he is. Why his books are not featured in the windows of B&N is beyond me. Good main character, someone you can relate to, believe in and want to follow where he goes. I am particularly enamored with the dry wit and sarcasm the character shows. Always a winner. The plot covers murders present and past, as well as story lines carefully crafted both past and present, with just enough 'real' history thrown in to make you go hmm. Very interesting story development riding these parallel story lines. Here's all you need to know, it's a book, that when complete, you are looking for the next installment. Get the book, but be prepared to blow a Saturday, or a Sunday, or a couple 3 late nights, because you will want to finish.

[Jere Hester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ink-and-scandal-stained newspaper reporter Gil Molloy can't seem to escape the past – his own or others'. Malloy, who first made a splash in R.G. Belsky's "The Kennedy Connection," delves into another chilling story of past and present colliding with deadly results in "Shooting for the Stars." Malloy finds himself unwillingly drawn to the seemingly long-solved 1980s slaying of a young superstar actress. Dizzying twists abound as Malloy unravels a tale intertwining the mob, a Manson-like cult, a glamorous TV newswoman and just maybe a serial killer. Belsky succeeds again in sending the pages flying and the pulse pounding as Malloy searches for the truth and what's left of his soul.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this didn't hold my attention as well as the first book in the Gil Malloy series (The Kennedy Connection), I enjoyed it. Gil is still relentless in his pursuit of the truth. This time, he's investigating the long-ago death of a film star and manages to connect all the dots satisfactorily.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won "Shooting For The Stars" by R> G> Belsky free from a drawing on Goodreads. I loved it. The story grabbed my interest from the beginning, it had many twists and turns with very interesting characters. The story flowed at a good rate. Mr. Belsky is a very skilled writer. I plan to go back and read his other book "The Kennedy Connection" .Sincerely, Alice Boni

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery, strong protagonist, twist at the end was a bit of a surprise. Liked how all of the characters came together at the end.

[Scott Butki · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a fun book.
i interviewed the author here:
https://mysterypeople.wordpress.com/2...

[Kayla Anderson]

I picked this up from the library and really enjoyed it. I like suspense without the gore, and I enjoyed the story line.

[Shannon E · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely a different ending than I anticipated.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great Gil Malloy detective novel. I was actually thrown for a bit - we went where? Didn’t expect this development. It reminded me of this one place we used to go for ice cream. It was bright white, and spotless, and they put this substance on a freezing cold counter and added things to it - molded it together with this odd spatula - then scooped it up and put it in a bowl. It was amazing! A delight in every taste.
I picked this book up before getting on a plane and read the entire thing before landing.

[⛧ X ⛧ add on tumblr Wattpad I'm working on a big novel lol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got 48 pages in and gave up. I simply can't finish a book written like an elementary school report by a perpetual boy who stares at every afab teacher's tits. Zero showing, zero character development, zero interesting elements. R.G Belsky shouldn't be a murder-mystery writer let alone a writer in general.

[JC Roadman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great book in this series I'm really enjoying these Gil Malloy novels by R.G. Belsky.

[Narmeen Shaban · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting book, got me hocked from the first page!

[Tim Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book in a Goodreads giveaway. This is a novel that is both classy and classic. It combines a 'hard bitten' journalistic context, elements of noir & celebrity culture in an entertaining and engaging way. It's the sort of book I wouldn't always pick up - and that would have been my loss. Interesting characters, tight plotting and a 'satisfying' ending.

[Greg Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed this mystery, a lot going on in this tale, lots of characters. Gil who is a journalist, is working to solve current and age old crimes. He digs up a lot of dirt while doing this. It was a goo fast paced read.

[Mary Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good for any young girl thinking of becoming a star. Not easy.