MACK 1 Red vs. Blue by Jim Kearney

MACK 1 Red vs. Blue is a fast paced, topical mystery thriller.

A SNIPER FIRES … CEO DOWN!

MEDIA MAVERICK MURDERED

A New York power couple is shot at their engagement party. The victims are two ambitious conservatives out to seize a mainstream media empire. The attacker is a skilled and relentless sniper-for-hire. America’s vicious political divide may have finally escalated to murder.

CHASING THE ASSASSIN

For NYPD Detective Mack McCormick, this case is personal. When he was a child, his mother was murdered by political radicals. Now, violent extremism may have now returned. Mack and his team track the assassin, and the CEO Sniper continues his attacks in Manhattan.

POLITICAL SNIPING

The Red vs. Blue political battle has moved from the talk shows to the streets. The media are in a frenzy. Everyone is taking sides, and the controversial case impacts everything from the love life of Detective McCormick to the safety of his beloved, adventurous grandmother.

A FINALE WITH A TWIST

Finally, at a midtown landmark, Mack must foil a plan to hunt down and kill the new hope of the conservative movement. Even after the shooting is ends, his work is just beginning. The action switches to the interrogation room, where Mack tries to piece together the conspiracy. He and his team from the Park East Detective Squad must take to the streets one more time to gather conclusive evidence and close the case.

THE CONSERVATIVE DETECTIVE

Detective Mack McCormick is a sympathetic hero, one who relies on smarts more than brawn. He is college educated, saavy and streetwise, a product of the Giuliani era NYPD policing reforms. A political conservative, Mack is a fish out of water in liberal Manhattan, and his politics do impact his love life. Mack also has his hands full looking out for his fashionable, sophisticated ninety year old liberal grandmother Francesca, still living on her own and loving every minute of it.

TONE AND THEME

While this novel features the short chapters popular among thriller readers, it is not excessively violent or grotesque in its imagery. Several scenes offer comic relief, and there’s also time given to exploring provocative political what ifs.
What if renegade elements on the political Left went beyond the mere rhetoric of class struggle, and turned to the violence advocated back in the nineteen sixties?
What if conservatives realize that they will never achieve true political success until they learn from liberals the value of mainstream media ownership?

Mack 1 Red vs. Blue takes you into the world of the Upper East Side of New York, with side visits to upscale metropolitan area summer resorts. You will visit the offices of midtown media power players, see legal gladiators battle in the Criminal Courts building, and sit in police interrogation rooms where cameras are rolling, but nevertheless so are the suspects.

MACK 1 RED VS. BLUE is available from Amazon.

*****

“Loved the book. Thrilling murder/mystery” – Rhea, Los Angeles

“Simply marvelous! The story moves fast, like a James Patterson” – Faye S., Boca Raton

“I couldn’t put it down, but when I did, I couldn’t find it” – Jo, New York (age 94)

“I liked the way he weaved the sub-plots into the action scenes” – Francois M. on Amazon.com ☆☆☆☆☆

“Exciting and engaging. This was a great page turner — and also an interesting and educational look at a number of topics: politics, behind the scenes of the TV industry, New York City, and the list goes on.” – Deborah P. on Amazon.com ☆☆☆☆☆

 *****

Author Jim Kearney is a former television executive, critic, and educator. MACK 1 Red vs. Blue, a topical mystery-thriller, draws on his professional expertise and his longtime interest in the relationship between politics and media.

If Jim’s name is familiar, you may have heard him on the radio in Los Angeles. Throughout the 1990s Jim conducted weekly in-depth radio interviews with many leading TV writer-producers and executives. Noted guests also visited the graduate classes where Jim taught a generation of students about creative technique, and how to entertain large audiences.

No surprise, therefore, that MACK 1 Red vs. Blue reaches out to a broad audience. An identifiable hero battles a relentless opponent in a high stakes story. The pacing is swift. Jim’s breezy narrative style incorporates comic relief, and a sympathetic family of characters.

A fresh take on today’s “Red vs. Blue” political conflict gives the book topicality. A romantic subplot takes on the “fish out of water” quandary of an unattached conservative character living and working near the center of the liberal establishment, in New York City.

The backdrop of the novel is the communications industry, which Jim knows well. Those who sought his advice professionally made defining contributions over the years in syndication, network primetime, and cable originals. Jim served in executive positions in comedy development, cable programming, and media research, and has done production and writing work in sports, game shows, and public broadcasting.

A former student of Professor Marshall McLuhan, Jim most recently reviewed television for PJMedia.com. He’s a native New Yorker, now married and living in Los Angeles.