Death By Deadline

Message from the author Doug Drew PRAISE FOR "DEATH BY DEADLINE” "A page-turning and riveting morality play that may be a wake up call to some local news directors around the country." David Cohen, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation "Respected Author and legendary newsman Larry Kane has woven a complex and compelling tale of intrigue, betrayal and greed in his high voltage, high velocity, debut novel, Death By Deadline. Kane skillfully guides his readers through newsrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms, where they can share the dirty secrets of sex, politics and power that only a true insider , who has seen it all can expose. Against the canvas of a community gripped by the fear, Kane constructs a dazzling mosaic of media, money and murder. Death by Deadline is the story of what happens when journalists, police and government officials are compromised by they own passions and perversions, leaving the people they are supposed to protect in jeopardy. This is the most fascinating story you won't be able to see on the Six O'Clock News." Paul Gluck, two time major market News Director, Member of National Board of NATAS (emmys), Former VP-Station Manager of Public Television Station in Philadelphia, and currently associate Professor Temple University, and General Manager of Temple TV. "Kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish....it touched every emotion from deep despair and concern to absolute hilarity. I LOVED IT!! " Merrill Reese, Voice of the Philadelphia Eagles "I hope this novel makes everyone who watches the news, goes on-line, or picks up a newspaper – ask themselves one question - “Who should I trust”? Michelle Murray, Four-time TV News Director. Vice President, News, Comcast Sportsnet, Philadelphia "Can an esteemed journalist write a nail biting, page turner novel? Simply put, yes. Kane has mastered the art of blending roller coaster suspense with acute detail and Death by Deadline is an enthralling mix. And what a dazzling accomplishment that is. Run, don't walk to your nearest e-reader to read this book." Robert Traynham., Washington Bureau Chief, Comcast Network. Frequent contributor to MSNBC, CNN, and Fox.

From: Larry Kane To: Readers “Death by Deadline”, based in Philadelphia, is fiction. The characters are not real people. But the premise, the need for local news to be first, at whatever expense, is. This is a fly-on-the wall look at good and awful broadcast journalists, filled with betrayal, sexual tension, high hopes, heroes, and tragically, murder by newscast. It is a mystery thriller that traps a half million people.. Fiction? Yes. Reality? Maybe on some dark day in the future, if, indeed it is not too late.

Excerpts from Death By Deadline: NEWS DIRECTOR PASSES ON MURDER COVERAGE “Isn’t that a rundown, sh…ty neighborhood?” she says, her hands gesturing in the air, a conductor without form. “Yeah--but we’ve got two men critically wounded.” Pierce puts her hands on her hips and answers in her cigarette- scarred, gravelly voice, “Bag it. Nobody gives a f.. about that godforsaken, bombed-out neighborhood. Shootings there are a dime a dozen. It’s not worth a reporter. I’m not biased, mind you. I just know what sells tickets to TV in this town.” As the men on Cambria Street gasp their final breaths, Barb, a closet racist, knows that most viewers in the suburbs don’t care…the whites in the twenty- five to fifty-four age range that advertisers prefer, care little about the city, except for its theaters and swank restaurants. For suburbanites, the path is simple--drive in, have a valet park your car, eat and be entertained, and after you’re done, get the hell out of Dodge. Barb is first and foremost, she believes, a realist. Keith Byrne is sitting across from me at the meeting desk, and I can feel his impatience. His blue eyes are barely visible, staring as he does out the picture window, then turning as he gives Barb the big squint. He says, “Cover the damn story, Barbara. It’s a two-fer. Two may be dead. C’mon, Barb, let’s rock.” Righteous Anchor With A Problem After listening to the boss’s tirade, reporter Byrne opens the top drawer of the supply cabinet, grabs two pencils, and walks over to the electronic pencil sharpener bolted to the wall of the assignment desk next to the maps. I have to hold back a smile. Every time Byrne gets tense (usually about a story or when there’s a new sexy reported in the room) , he inserts a pencil in sharpener. He seems calmed by the sound of the machine slicing through the wood and the lead, the buzz of that little saw drilling in the narrow hole inside the machine. Go-to-guy is tall and handsome, with a dark head of hair so full he could be a model. His face is chiseled, dimples crease his cheeks every time he smiles, and he has the all-American blue eyes of a movie star and an Einstein brain. I hate him for his looks, but I love him for what’s between the ears. I mean, Keith is from central casting for women who like hunks. I am the reverse; I’m what they call ethnic. My nose is long; my hands wander in the air when I talk. My smile is crooked. So Byrne and I look different. But we have shared values. Keith knows the difference between news and bullshit. The day of Lakeview, he saved the day by being smart. After all, who knew what the Lakeview High trouble was until Keith cut through the bullshit? Even the cops were confused. My Continuing Narrative From ICU My arms and legs are confined close to my body. My body hurts so badly that my eyes keep closing.. The man in the fatigues has his weapon balanced against the wall. He’s talking on a cell phone. ”No way, that many?” he says. “No f…ing way. I have to call home. My God, I hope the kids made it back okay.” What is he talking about? And why is the United States Secretary of Homeland Security entering my room? Memorial Service For Victim Of Death By Deadline “I want to begin this address with a moment of silence for the family of Anthony Perez. He was not just a victim of mistaken identity, of a crime perpetrated by a gang of killers. He was also a victim of reckless journalists who wreak havoc with information. Who knows what catastrophes we could create with bad information? (The reader of the novel will soon see the trap set for the unthinkable.) RECKLESS ANCHOR CELEBRATES “Well, ’fess up, Danny, because we are walking a tightrope. You killed that kid…. “You are wrong. I’m the goddamned franchise anchor. I will live on, because I’m the best. Do you think anyone knows or cares about Ned Lemond, the man who insisted that we show the video? So the kid is dead. But we are also two days from the ratings. We hit the jackpot.” A TROUBLED COP WATCHING TV AND DREAMING The face belongs to the franchise anchor of the city’s number one station, Danny Caldwell, though the voice isn’t his. He stares at Perez with cold blue eyes. In his arms he carries a body draped in a cherry-and-white blanket, a blanket bearing the colors of Temple University. The blanket is wrapped carefully over the body . Caldwell is now shrouded in a gown with a halo around his head. He holds him out as an offering, then launches the boy on his ascension to heaven. Caldwell says to the cop, “We have secrets. You know mine, I know yours. And Perez, you moron, I don’t have one f---- regret.” Soon, Perez dreams, Caldwell will trip into a crevice in the ground. He will be sucked into the quicksand of inner earth on his tortuous descent into hell.

Feeding the 24/7 News Cycle