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    Missing Mark
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    Missing Mark
    Unavailable
    Missing Mark
    Audiobook8 hours

    Missing Mark

    Written by Julie Kramer

    Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In this page-turning sequel to Stalking Susan, TV reporter Riley Spartz pursues a curious story of a bride left at the altar and finds herself caught in a dangerous missing-person case.

    When Riley Spartz sees a want ad reading "Wedding Dress for Sale: Never Worn," her news instincts tell her that the backstory might make an intriguing television sweeps piece.

    The groom, Mark, last seen at the rehearsal dinner, never showed up for the wedding, humiliating his bride, Madeline-and her high-strung, high-society mother-in front of 300 guests. His own mother, eager to spare him further embarrassment, waited weeks before filing a missing-person report and then learned how difficult it is to get police, or the media, interested in missing men.

    Now Riley is up against a boss who thinks that finding a famed missing fish will net the station higher ratings, a meth cartel trying to assassinate a K-9 dog because of his powerful nose for drugs, and a neighbor who holds perpetual garage sales that attract traffic at odd hours.

    When her missing-person case leads to a murder investigation, Riley discovers a startling motive for Mark's disappearance-and a TV exclusive guaranteed to win the ratings . . . if she lives to report it.


    www.juliekramerbooks.com

    www.doubleday.com


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 14, 2009
    ISBN9780307714510
    Unavailable
    Missing Mark
    Author

    Julie Kramer

    Julie Kramer is a journalist turned novelist. She writes a series of thrillers set in the desperate world of TV news. Julie has won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Mainstream Mystery/Suspense, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best First Mystery, as well as the Minnesota Book Award. Her work has also been nominated for the Anthony, Barry, Shamus, Mary Higgins Clark, and RT Best Amateur Sleuth Awards. She formerly ran WCCO-TV’s investigative unit before becoming a freelance network news producer for NBC and CBS. She lives with her family in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

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    Reviews for Missing Mark

    3.5/5

    58 ratings9 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Second in series featuring Riley Spartz, an investigative reporter for a tv station in Minneapolis. Story a bit lame but kept my interest. Author spends a lot of time explaining about how a newsroom works . . . boring.
    • 4/5
      I didn't like this one as well as the first one, but it is still a first rate mystery. Riley gets caught up in about three big stories, the missing bridegroom, the missing big mouth bass, and drug dealing in her neighborhood.The main story is the bridegroom and the reason he disappeared. The bass and the drugs are secondary stories but keep it more real. Very few journalists are working on only one story at a time!I learned a lot about face-blindness, which was interesting but very hard to believe. It is a true disorder.I will keep reading this series, Kramer has a way with telling a tale that keeps you reading.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Stalking Susan, so I had high hopes for this one. Thankfully, it delivered! Riley Spartz is nothing if not persistent. Sweeps are coming up again, and she’s under pressure, as usual. TV news is changing, and the chances of her ending up with a story as big as the last one are low. When the ad for a never worn wedding dress shows up in the paper, she hopes she can find a story there. Along the way we get to visit with some of our favorite characters from the first book.I think Kramer takes this story in some interesting directions. At least one aspect of it was totally unexpected, and something I’ve never seen anywhere else. This surprises me, because it was a very interesting medical condition. Also, we see Riley still struggling with her personal life as she continues to recover from the death of her husband. She doesn’t always make the best decisions, but she does get her story.This is a series I continue to enjoy!
    • 5/5
      I got tired of bloody murders and heartless killers and I found the perfect antidote in Julie Kramer. Missing Mark is the story of a journalist interested in the story of a bride abandoned by the groom. The groom has not used is credit card or social since the wedding day. This book is like reading champagne. It is humorous in a very discrete way (now you see it, now you don't), well informed on a variety of subjects and I love that in a mystery book. We are introduced to bass fishing, interesting places in Minneapolis, a rare plant, the profits of grocery stores, all kinds of delightful tidbits that do not slow down the action. As a bonus, the author appears to be a nice person: you would invite Julie Kramer at your home, together with Alexander McCall Smith or Colin Cotterill. Many good authors I would not like to meet at all: I got a long list of people I read because I like their books but I would not dream of meeting them: it is like good actors: some are great people, some are despicable.
    • 3/5
      Riley number two and it was great. The bride was face blind and that is an interesting disorder(I can't imagine not being able to remember a face, names are bad for me but at least I recognize them). Loved the Minnesota ties. Great mystery and slight romance.Her writing is easy to follow and fun to read. She spins a great mystery that keeps you interested right up to the last page. Riley is a character with feeling and depth. A new writer who I will be following, now I just wish she could write a bit faster.
    • 4/5
      Minneapolis investigative reporter Riley Spartz is intrigued by a want ad in local paper. Why do people try to sell unworn wedding gowns? With sweeps coming up and news director Noreen wants Riley to come up with a big hit for the hot female ad age group. Riley pursues Madeline's tale of being left at the alter six months earlier by her groom, Mark. I really enjoyed the twists and turns this mystery took and the insider view of the newsroom life. There is a lot of local flavor as well, I don't think it detracts from the tale any more than a book set in Chicago discusses the local papers and burbs. Luckily, the Mall of America is a big enough site to be known by all.
    • 4/5
      Riley Spartz is a TV reporter in Minnesota who keeps having crazy adventures while chasing her sweeps stories. The ad she spots about an unworn wedding dress plunges her into a missing person/murder mystery. Unfortunately, her news director isn’t big on the story and wants her to pursue a stolen fish. And while all that’s going on, Riley has been entrusted with the care of a police dog that has drug-ring assassins after him!I think I would’ve liked this book more if the main character didn’t work in the same industry as me. While some things can be (possibly) explained away because each station does things differently, I do feel there are some glaring inaccuracies. For example, Riley calls Malik in to shoot the note she gets and tells him that it’ll be overtime for him. Not a chance. Riley would have to make use of one of the photographers already at the station. Riley also mentions that the station has dropped its insurance on the equipment to save money. Again there’s no way this would happen. I was actually expecting the insurance thing to come into play as a plot point because it’s so absurd. Another gripe I have is that all the TV stuff seemed dumbed down; there’s no need to go into the explanations that Kramer does. If an explanation is needed, then it should be woven in better. Most of the explanations stopped the action. Overall, the plotting was good and I was kept guessing as to how each story would wrap.
    • 5/5
      Missing Mark by Julie KramerWhat do you get when you mix Mary Richards, female TV news reporter and icon of the 70’s with a TV news reporter of the new millennium? You get Riley Spartz, star of the new series by author Julie Kramer. In the series first book Stalking Susan, which came out last year and I had the pleasure of reading, you’ll again find Riley and her assorted cohorts at Channel 3 following those big stories. Because it’s all about the ratings dontcha know LOL! No, it’s not really necessary to read Stalking Susan first, but since you can’t go wrong with the first book, I highly recommend it since it gives you a much clearer picture of why Riley and her cohorts are the way they are. 90 The book opens with Riley pursuing a human interest story about a wedding dress that has never been worn and a groom that failed to show at the altar, which turns eventually and expertly into our murder mystery. During the course of her investigation Riley will also become involved with several other interesting stories; one which involves a large mouth bass and another which involves a ‘Meth’ cartel. Ms Kramer gives us plenty to chew on as we in reader land try to solve the who-done-it and to also figure out just where the next story will come from. Missing Mark is clever, fresh, funny, fast paced and a wonderful read for a summer day. I loved learning just how a news cast is produced and shot, yet the author never gets overly techie. The fully developed characters are a pleasure to read in this first person narrative. Some may be tempted to compare Ms Kramer’s books to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series and while I see how that can be, in my opinion you really shouldn’t try. We have book 2 and already you can see Riley grow to overcome some of her personal issues from Stalking Susan. Highly satisfying!I’ll leave you with a brief quote or as they say in TV land, a promo---” Exclusive! See Riley Spartz’s Big Bust Tonight At Ten.”
    • 5/5
      No sophomore slump for “Kramer the Namer”Julie Kramer's debut novel, Stalking Susan, involved Minnesota investigative journalist Riley Spartz pursuing a serial killer of women named Susan. Some marketing genius at Doubleday thought it would be a good idea to send a galley to every Susan on their mailing list. He must have been right; I couldn't resist reading it. And I found it to be an exceptionally entertaining debut.In Missing Mark, Kramer is sticking with what works--namely an appealing protagonist and a strong supporting cast. Aside from her considerable mystery solving abilities, Riley is a constant font of info on the TV news biz, and I, for one, find it as fascinating as the cases she investigates. Likewise, the series' supporting characters are uniformly interesting without being too quirky to be real.Good news, the entire gang is back this time around, including some characters I didn't necessarily expect to see again. The plot of this second novel involves a missing persons case. Specifically, it's Mark, a bridegroom who fails to show on his wedding day--or in the several months that have passed since. Riley's cases are never simple, and this investigation quickly grows convoluted, with any number of possible explanations, suspects, and motives. However, Riley's boss thinks a missing bigmouth bass will garner higher ratings for sweeps. She may be right.Two-thirds of the way through, I figured out who-done-it and why. I have no idea where that intuitive leap came from, but it was no fault of Kramer's plotting, which is tight and well-paced. I don't have a lot of time for mystery series, but I'm going to stick with Riley & Co. (For readers intrigued by this book, I'd suggest backing up and reading Stalking Susan first. Lucky you, it's just been released in paperback.) So far, the name books are a nice blend of light and dark entertainment. They're not terribly violent or graphic and the mysteries within feel fresh. In conclusion, I'm Recommending Riley and Judging Julie to be well worth your reading time.