The Trade Off: A Novel

by Sandie Jones

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese's Book Club Pick The Other Woman comes The Trade Off, an electrifying new novel of suspense that begs the question: Would you tell a story, if you knew it was a lie? Or tell the truth and sleep at night?

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop—getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.

For Jess, The Globe’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.

And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.

Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

RISK or REWARD. JUSTICE or REVENGE. INNOCENCE or GUILT.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250836939
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	400,006
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including the Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, and Hello magazine. She lives in London with her husband and three children. The Other Woman was her debut novel and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

(she/her)

Editorial Reviews

Jones’ story is an eye-opening, harrowing intense read for fans of fast-paced thrillers.”—Booklist

“Jones unapologetically stares down the ugliness of the modern media and its coldblooded exploitation of celebrities to benefit those truly in power, as well as the rampages of fake news.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Jones devises a thrill ride filled with an abundance of twists… In The Trade Off — a novel that crackles with electricity and stands as a piercing work of scrutiny on tabloid journalism — she further escalates her authorial expertise and the breadth of her dexterity.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance Star

“The perfect summer (or anytime) read is one that is thrilling and so hard to put down that you want to finish it in one sitting. The Trade Off certainly fits that bill.”—Book Reporter

“A chilling journey into the dark and merciless world of today’s tabloid journalism, where truth is perverted and lives are destroyed. Gripping, thought-provoking, and shocking. You will think of this every time you are tempted to ‘click’ on a story.”—Liv Constantine, internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

From the Publisher

2023-07-13
A green reporter and her coldblooded editor go after a big, misogynistic fish in Jones’ #MeToo–era thriller.

Interviewing for a job at the powerful tabloid The Globe is a dream come true for Jess Townsend; she’s miles away from the local paper where she cut her journalistic teeth. After one uncomfortable moment with Max Forsythe, the editor, she learns that he's going to hire her because she seems to have a moral compass, and Max is looking to steer the paper out of its nasty-gossip–infested waters into the world of more serious journalism. This is news, however, to Stella Thorne, the deputy editor who ruthlessly sets up stings to catch celebrities in flagrante delicto, and to the owner, Peter Kingsley, who just wants the money to keep rolling in. When Jess is forced to help set up a young actress in a fake drug bust, she can hardly live with herself; then, a hot reality TV star becomes the target of the paper, and a false story about her having an affair leads to her death by suicide. As Jess begins to reckon with this tragedy and her own role in it, she stumbles onto a much bigger story about a wealthy tycoon who has been drugging and raping young women for years. It just so happens that Stella has personal reasons to believe Jess and the motive, therefore, to team up with her to take down the bastard once and for all. But the corruption at the paper runs deep, and Jess and Stella's quest for justice is mostly unfulfilled, though there's some hope in the end. Jones unapologetically stares down the ugliness of the modern media and its coldblooded exploitation of celebrities to benefit those truly in power, as well as the rampages of fake news. It’s a novel that couldn’t exist without #MeToo, but it falls short of its desired impact—it’s too busy prioritizing thrills over character development. Stella has the biggest awakening, “realiz[ing] that all she's ever done is what powerful men have wanted her to do”; Jess exists mainly to offer her a mirror but contributes little complexity or humanity to the narrative.

Jones reminds us that there’s a lot to be outraged about these days.

Kirkus Reviews