Short Story Review: "News Flash" by Michael Bracken

Diane Chalmers likes to keep the temperature in her house cold. Maybe that is because she spends so much time in front of the powerful television lights on the 6 and 10pm newscasts. Waco, Texas is a step up or down market wise in a television anchor career. For Diane Chalmers both her career and her marriage seemed headed down and Private Investigator Morris Ronald Boyette does not have any real answers for her.

She isn’t alone as he won’t have any easy answers for his next client who has a very familiar problem. Some things just can’t be fixed no matter what he does.

 

Available from Untreed Reads Publishing this short story is a powerful read with a certain sad inevitability to it. The sexism evidenced in the television industry where male anchors are allowed to grow old on air while female anchors are not allowed the same luxury in most cases is a strong theme throughout the work. So too is the fact that pain confirmed though proof often can’t easily be fixed regardless of status or position. Rich in details, the approximately three thousand word story (14 pages print) isn’t exactly a fun light read considering everything, but it is a good one.

Material supplied quite some time ago by the author in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2012