Belsky - Shooting for the Stars

PRAISE FOR R. G. BELSKY and THE KENNEDY CONNECTION

Engrossing thriller... a terrific story.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Deserves to be short-listed for the year-end best of lists.

BookReporter

Fascinating character study... a roller coaster ride that veers back to 1963 and forward to the present.

The Huffington Post

Unexpectedly clever twists.

Library Journal

Must-read... a great tabloid yarn.

New York Post

Had me from the opening line.

The Star-Ledger

I loved The Kennedy Connection !

Jan Burke

Gil Malloy for President!

Donald Bain

This is a very clever murder mystery... could not put it down.

Men Reading Books

Intriguing... will appeal to those who just cant leave the grassy knoll alone.

Booklist

Shrewd doses of competition, conspiracy, and corruption fuel this intriguing media thriller.

Julie Kramer, national bestselling author of Delivering Death

Who better to tell the story of a newsman in disgracethan a man from the New York tabloids, where disgrace was a badge of honor. Belsky has the newsmans gift. He tells his story well.

Jimmy Breslin

If you love your mysteries with historical references and a modern twist, you are gonna love this page-turner!

Bless Their Hearts book blog

In Gil Malloy, Belsky has created a character who youll want to spend time with.

Matthew Klein, author of No Way Back

Great read.

Bill Reynolds, Providence Journal

The Kennedy Connection begs to be finished from the first page to the last. Be prepared to stay at home all day with this book in hand!

Briana Goodchild, reviewer, Killer Nashville Writers Conference

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For Laura Morganthe real Laura in my life who reads everything first and thinks Gil Malloy is a lot more interesting than me.

I wish my life was a non-stop Hollywood movie show

A fantasy world of celluloid villains and heroes

Because celluloid heroes never feel any pain

And celluloid heroes never really die

The Kinks, Celluloid Heroes

Its all make believe, isnt it?

Marilyn Monroe

PART ONE

CELLULOID HEROES

Chapter

T HE executive producer of The Prime Time Files had an office filled with pictures of him posing alongside famous people. George Clooney. Barbra Streisand. Bill and Hillary Clinton. Michael Jordan. Katie Couric. Ted Danson. The message was clear: this guy was plugged-in, powerful, a player with the celebrity elite. I wasnt sure whether to shake his hand or ask for his autograph.

Gary Lang, the executive producer, was telling me now in great detail about all his accomplishments, all the awards hed won and how much money hed made in the television and movie business. Id been listening to him since I walked into his office fifteen minutes earlier. I figured I could last maybe another minute, tops, until my head exploded.

Im sure you can understand my concern, Mr. Malloy, Lang said. I have a reputation to uphold. Abbie Kincaid is an extremely popular television personality and a highly respected journalist. So before I allow you to interview her, I need to make sure you understand that whatever you write about us has to be very classy.

Classy, I repeated.

Those are the ground rules we need to agree to before you talk to Abbie. I want to be sure that you or your newspaper wont indulge in any irresponsible journalism here. Abbies image is very important to me. Whatever you write about her must be done with style and with sophistication. Above all, it must be...

Classy?

Yes.

I can do classy, I smiled.

Gary Lang was in his midforties. Black curly hair, horn-rimmed glasses, very intense. He was wearing a three-piece pinstriped gray suit, blue shirt, and red tie. The vest and suit jacket were buttoned up and his tie unloosenedeven though it was mid-June. Definitely a power suit. Only problem was he had a bit of a paunch that was sticking out between the buttons of the vest and jacket. Hard to impress people when youre sporting a spare tire around your middle.

Me, I had on a pair of washed-out jeans, a blue linen blazer, and a T-shirt underneath with the name and number of third baseman David Wrightthe captain of the New York Mets and my favorite New York City athlete at the moment. I should point out that normally I wear the Mets T-shirt hanging out over my pants. But I tucked it in before going to meet Lang. Gil Malloy is the kind of reporter who goes that extra mile for a big story.

Do you have any questions, Mr. Malloy? Lang asked me.

Yeah, do you actually know all these celebrities? I said, looking around at the famous people in the pictures all around his office.

Of course I do.

I mean, youve met George Clooney?

Yes.

Michael Jordan? Bill and Hillary Clinton? Ted Danson... ?

I met them all. Why else would I be in the pictures?

I dont know... I thought maybe it was trick photography or something... like in Forrest Gump when they made it look like Tom Hanks was talking to dead presidents.

Thats ridiculous.

Actually, I find that easier to believe than you talking to Ted Danson.

I happen to know Ted Danson very well, Lang snapped. On my last trip to California, I sat in Ted Dansons living room. I swam in his pool...

Was he like... you know, home at the time?

Lang frowned.

I really dont care for your smart mouth, Malloy.

Yeah, well... I get a lot of complaints about it, Mr. Lang. They used to bother me too. I would stay up nights worrying about it. Not so much anymore. So are you going to let me talk to Abbie Kincaid at some point or are you just going to keep trying to dazzle me with your star-studded resume?

He glared at me. I was beginning to suspect that I had failed his classy criteria.

How much do you know about Abbie? Lang asked.

The highlights of her career, I said. She started out trying to be an actress, but she only had moderate success. Then, a few years ago, she became the star of a daytime TV talk show called Girl Talk . One of those programs where women tell how they slept with their lesbian sister-in-law or how they spy into their neighbors bedroom or how their husband likes to be spanked while wearing diapers. Now shes gone the serious route. Shes the host of The Prime Time Files . Shes now doing investigative reports, interviews with big names in show business and government, lifestyle features, and headline crime stuff. I remember the show starting off as a midseason replacement and now its on the regular schedule. It ranked number thirteen in the ratings last week.

Have you ever watched The Prime Time Files ? Lang asked.

Yeah, I caught it the other night.

What was your reaction?

I think Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters have done it all before, probably a little better too. But Abbies young, shes cuteshes got great demographics. Thats what really counts. Hell, I smiled at him, I think shell be a big star.

Lang did not smile back.

I spoke earlier with someone at your newspaper, he said.

Stacy Albright.

Stacy Albright was the city editor of the New York Daily News , the paper I worked for.