As the Wicked Watch: The First Jordan Manning Novel

Tamron Hall

Oct 2021 · Jordan Manning series Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

The first in a thrilling new series from Emmy Award-winning TV Host and Journalist Tamron Hall, As The Wicked Watch follows a reporter as she unravels the disturbing mystery around the deaths of two young Black women, the work of a serial killer terrorizing Chicago.

When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her dream: a coveted anchor chair on a national network.

Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving a voice to the voiceless.

From her time in Texas, she’s covered the vilest of human behaviors but nothing has prepared her for Chicago. Jordan is that rare breed of a journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. Again and again, she is called to cover the murders of Black women, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten.

All until Masey James—the story that Jordan just can’t shake, despite all efforts. A 15-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot, Masey has come to represent for Jordan all of the frustration and anger that her job often forces her to repress. Putting the rest of her work and her fraying personal life aside, Jordan does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that a missing Black child would so rarely get.

There’s a serial killer on the loose, Jordan believes, and he’s hiding in plain sight.

Ratings and reviews

There are rare occasions when a compelling novel can subtly expose the reader to a specific cause or examine social ills while avoiding being too didactic. Together they seamlessly combine so the effect appears natural, and the plot does not become just a mechanism to deliver the social commentary. It is difficult to maintain balance and focus when the novel itself does not seem to have a strong objective. As the Wicked Watch by Tamron Hall attempts to address too many issues with a plot that meanders away wherever her lectures are forcibly inserted. The main character is Jordan Manning, a newly transplanted, ambitious tv journalist who is driven to work harder as a woman and a person of color. When a murder occurs involving a young black girl, Jordan wants to ensure that the case is given equal attention by press and authorities. She becomes deeply embedded in the community and transgresses into potential ethics violations due to her obsession with the story. The premise is interesting and Hall provides a perspective that is often underrepresented. The protagonist is hindered by the heavy load of causes Hall places upon her. Misogyny and degradation, lack of social system support, police ineptitude, racial discrimination and exploitation of victim’s families are just a few of the issues Jordan is tasked to represent. Jordan has a plethora of convenient credentials and special skills to not only cover—but also solve—the case. Most of the action involves following the journalist as she runs between scenes and sources, commenting on the frustration and roadblocks she encounters. Far from integrating, the switch from plot progression to soap box is obvious and jarring. With As the Wicked Watch, Hall has too much to express and she interrupts herself while relaying her many messages.

Awesome

About the author

Tamron Hall is the Emmy Award–winning host and executive producer of the popular nationally syndicated talk show Tamron Hall. Formerly of the Today show, she has also hosted six seasons of Deadline: Crime on Investigation Discovery. While at NBC, she was a recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for her report on domestic abuse. Tamron currently serves as an advocate for domestic violence awareness.