Mirkat Always Reading
...this will appeal to readers who enjoy (Paula) Hawkins and (Gillian) Flynn, though Kovac has her own voice.
Eve Messenger’s OtherWORDly Endeavors
...a fast-paced, engrossing adult mystery whose biggest strengths are its top-notch writing, a noble protagonist, and the many fascinating insights Kovac shares about the world of television journalism.
PAULDALEANDERSON
A great story that has romance, intrigue, and great dialogue. It is also a walking tour of the nation’s capital and a peek behind the scenes of politics, justice, and the news business.
E.P. Clarke
"A fast-paced and exciting story set in the glitz, glamour, and danger of DC.
Booklist
Former D.C. newsroom manager Kovac knows her milieu and portrays it vividly in this smart, absorbing mix of media, politics, and mystery, with twists and turns to the end.
Neely Tucker
"THE CUTAWAY" is as clever as its title, a smart, fast-paced thriller that rolls through the murky waters of D.C. media and politics that Christina Kovac knows so well. Virginia Knightly, the television news producer at the heart of this story, makes her debut with all the panache and style you wish the evening news still had."
Thomas Mullen
"A smart, highly satisfying story of crime, politics, the media, and ruthless ambition. With an insider’s knowledge of how to do everything from produce a live TV shoot, trade tips with cops during an investigation, or navigate the complex dynamics of gender in the modern workplace, Kovac brings intelligence and breathless plotting to The Cutaway. The result is sensational, in the best sense of the word."
Joseph Finder
"An insider's look at TV news and the real workings of Washington DC, The Cutaway combines relentless pace, a compelling story, and a truly memorable protagonist. Terrific."
Cosmopolitan
The Newsroom meets Gone Girl
Kirkus Reviews
2016-12-26
A TV news producer trails a missing woman into Washington, D.C.'s dark regions.Kovac, herself a TV news producer, writes informatively and convincingly about newsroom procedures, conflicts, and subterfuges in this debut thriller. Away from the studio, however, her hand is less steady. Virginia Knightly has a memory for images, and a photo of a missing woman recalls a video cutaway she has seen. Troubled by the disappearance, Knightly unearths the video and sets out to discover what has become of the woman. Complications, some relevant, beset her. In a power play disguised as a cost-cutting move, she is demoted (this frees her to follow the missing person story) and the dreadful news director brings in a bimbo. A former lover, who may be manipulating her to cover for someone, leads the police investigation; her absent father reappears after 20 years, mortally ill. An assistant U.S. attorney is implicated, then cleared, and eventually the trail leads to a pot of dark money intended to fund shady PACs. Not a bad premise, but incomplete plotting—the dying father, for example, is never revisited; it seems he appears only to provide a mechanism to explain a lost phone—and inconsistent characterization weaken the effort. And while any exploration of power and greed in Washington offers opportunities to reflect on feminist concerns, Knightly's late assertion that she wanted to help "all the lost women who are flung into a world vaguely hostile to them" isn't convincing. Not without some strengths, but it takes more than a good newsroom to produce a good story.
