The Scoop

Van Der Meer’s sharp debut focuses on the travails of a 29-year-old magazine editor. Frankie Miller is reeling from a breakup with her boyfriend and still grieving the loss of her mother seven years earlier when she loses her coveted job at Marie Claire. Reluctantly, she accepts a position as a night editor for the Scoop, an online tabloid. Her uneasiness is tempered by the salary—it’s the most she’s ever earned—and a promise by her volatile boss, David Brown, to eventually transfer her to the prestigious Business Day, a thinly veiled Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by the Scoop’s parent company. Desperate to make the leap, Frankie abandons her integrity when she stumbles on tabloid pay dirt with unflattering photos of 1990s pop star Amanda Myles, who’s been out of the spotlight for decades, then digs up dirt on Amanda’s secret marriage and divorce. Her hit pieces keep coming despite Amanda’s attempts to reach a truce. Then tragedy strikes, forcing Frankie to reckon with her conscience. The author offers a clear-eyed view into the seedy side of the media world, showing how ethics can be cast aside in the pursuit of clicks, and the depiction of the condescending David is particularly bracing, as he berates Frankie one minute then praises her the next. By the end of this well-told story, everyone gets what they deserve. (Apr.)