Christina Kovac | The Cutaway

I finished Christina Kovac's novel "The Cutaway" last night...well, by last night, I mean I stayed up until 2AM! Yeah, it was that good. 

Plot: 

It began with someone else's story. In the beginning, a woman went out to meet a man, and on her long walk, she disappeared . . . 

When brilliant TV news producer Virginia Knightly receives a disturbing “MISSING” notice on her desk related to the disappearance of a beautiful young attorney, she can’t seem to shake the image from her head. Despite skepticism from her colleagues, Knightly suspects this ambitious young lawyer may be at the heart of something far more sinister, especially since she was last seen leaving an upscale restaurant after a domestic dispute. Yet, as the only woman of power at her station, Knightly quickly finds herself investigating on her own.

Risking her career, her life, and perhaps even her own sanity, Knightly dives deep into the dark underbelly of Washington, DC business and politics in an investigation that will drag her mercilessly through the inextricable webs of corruption that bind the press, the police, and politics in our nation’s capital.

Review:

I loved how this started off with Virginia receiving the information about this missing woman, Evelyn. Just like the rest of us, there's something ominous and addicting in a missing persons case. We all want the answers. Especially Virginia.

The plot was there and it was strong. Really, really strong. This was the perfect thriller to set itself apart from all of the others. Yes, it had the "missing woman" storyline with a TON of red herrings and information about this woman's life that made you wonder if even she knew who she was. What I really liked about this was that it also added that media perspective to the story that we don't often to get to see or hear about. Mix that with a little criminal procedure element, and a dash of some political thriller and you have yourself the perfect (murder) mystery.

Let me just add that so many characters were in this, that I was dumbfounded with how Kovac kept track, but also how she wrote this amazingly believable characters so that I was also able to keep track. I loved them all. Even the ones I wasn't supposed to. Oh, and Ben...call me!

So, without giving too much away, I LOVED this. It was twisty, dark, murder mystery fun with a fantastic plot, three-dimensional characters, and a very satisfying ending that had multiple twists and turns. And the last line in the book was purely the best and only way to end this novel.

Sadly, not all books are perfect. The reason I am giving this a 4.5/5 is because as much as I loved Virginia, I didn't really care for the backstory of her childhood. I didn't feel like it was necessary and it kind of dragged me away from the actual plot. I loved Virginia with or without this aspect. 

Rating: 4.5/5