cover image The Paris Correspondent

The Paris Correspondent

Alan S. Cowell. Overlook, $24.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-59020-671-3

Covering some of the same territory as Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists, Cowell's first novel is practically torn from the headlines. The newsmen of the Star, an American paper in Paris, struggle with the transformation from print to digital. Editor Ed Clancy is pleased when his old friend Joe Shelby, a peripatetic correspondent who's covered everything from Vietnam to Sarajevo, takes a job at the Star. Shelby clings to his old school ways while the more pragmatic Clancy tries to keep up with the times. Complicating matters is the arrival of Gibson Dullar, a rival of Shelby's in both romance and scoops. When the conflict between Shelby and Dullar turns potentially deadly, Clancy takes it upon himself to investigate their pasts in the hopes of discovering the source of their enmity. It all leads to a newsroom confrontation over a report on protests in Egypt that reveals the rift between bottom-line executives and journalistic integrity. Cowell, a New York Times reporter, does an excellent job of dramatically illustrating the impact of technology on the gathering and dissemination of news. Though at times melodrama intrudes and the conflicts are conveniently schematic, when these characters uncork a yarn about the past, the book snaps to life. (Oct.)