Just the Truth by Gen LaGreca
About the Book
Just the Truth is a political thriller set in
Washington, DC, in the near future. It's the story of Laura Taninger, a
journalist who suspects foul play by President Ken Martin in his bid for
reelection. Laura is determined to find the truth, while the president's
administration is determined to silence her. The story reveals the many covert
ways in which unscrupulous public officials can stifle a free press, and how
one journalist risks her career, her reputation—and ultimately her life— to
uncover a plot to subvert free elections in America.
Laura Taninger is president of Taninger News, the
organization started by her grandfather, newspaper mogul Julius Taninger
(“JT”). Find the truth, wherever it hides
was JT’s slogan in the mid-20th century. Then, politicians feared his scathing
editorials. Now, 70 years later, with JT deceased and his four heirs running
the company, have the tables turned? Does today’s press still have the freedom
to criticize elected officials, or do those officials have the power to silence
their opponents?
The signature program of President Ken Martin’s first term
is called SafeVote, which puts control of national elections in the hands of
the federal government, rather than letting the states manage the voting in
their own jurisdictions. With claims that a federal voting system will better
insure fair, unbiased elections, as well as avoid fraud and voter
discrimination, SafeVote was passed and is scheduled to launch with the
upcoming presidential election in which Martin hopes to win a second term.
When SafeVote pays $400 million to an undisclosed contractor
for work it won't reveal, other journalists aren't concerned, but Laura is
suspicious. When she starts to investigate, Laura is faced with the crushing
retaliation of her political enemies and their media supporters against her,
her family, and their companies.
Laura has a source, James Spenser, who's a high-level person
within the administration. He has vital information for her, but just as he
meets her outside a restaurant to reveal it, he's gunned down before he can
speak and the killer gets away.
As
Spenser lay dying in Laura's arms, he whispers a curious, final word: “Fox…”
Laura
can't let Spenser die in vain. While the police and the media attribute
Spenser's death to a random street crime, Laura is convinced it's connected to
SafeVote.
As
Laura gets closer to uncovering the meaning of Spenser's dying word, the
identity of his killer, and the mystery surrounding the new voting system, she
realizes that the facts point to shocking revelations about someone
unforgettable in her life, a man who was her greatest business competitor and
her most passionate lover—until he betrayed her and the ideals they shared.
With Election Day looming and the country at a crossroads, and with intense
pressure from her family to give up her investigation, Laura is determined to
pursue the truth wherever it leads.
As
our actual presidential election of 2020 approaches and as questions mount
about the integrity of today’s journalism and our election process, Just the Truth couldn't be more timely.
About the Author
Genevieve (Gen) LaGreca writes novels with innovative plots, strong romance, and themes that glorify individual freedom and independence. She has written novels of all different genres including historical, mystery and romance fiction as well as short stories. She is one of the successful new indie authors whose novels have topped the charts in the popular ebook format. Her three previously published novels, Noble Vision, A Dream of Daring, and Fugitive From Asteron have been Amazon Kindle Best Sellers and won 11 book awards.
Q & A with Gen LaGreca
Tell us about your main character, Laura Taninger. Who is she and what makes her special?
Laura Taninger is a journalist who sees her profession as a
calling. She runs Taninger News by the motto of her deceased grandfather, the
company’s founder: Find the truth,
wherever it hides. She's forthright, quietly self-confident, passionate
about her work, and true to her ideals. When people try to smear, shame,
humiliate, and destroy her, she doesn’t buckle. At twenty-nine, she’s
intelligent and beautiful. There’s an honesty and openness in her expression
that gives others the sense that they’re seeing the real person without
pretensions.
Laura has one great hurt in her life. She loved Reed Miller,
the self-made man who built a corporate media empire that includes Miller News
Network, her biggest competitor. She and Reed once shared the same ideals about
speaking truth to power, but Reed betrayed them and walked out on Laura. Reed
is the most enigmatic character in the story, and we don't discover the truth
about him, his motives, and his feelings for Laura until the end.
Laura Taninger represents the essence of women's
independence. She thinks for herself. She stands up to everybody. Her judgment
matters to her above other people's views. She has incredible integrity to the
truth and trust in herself to see it. She's the role model of a strong woman,
who doesn't cave to the mainstream, to pressures, or to the mob. Laura is an
especially important heroine this year, which marks the 100th anniversary of
the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women
the right to vote throughout the United States.
What are some of the themes that weave through the story? And how do the characters conflict with each other on these themes?
One theme is: The importance of a
responsible and independent press.
Laura's friend is fellow-journalist Sean Browne. Unlike
Laura, Sean is an opportunistic journalist who’s obsequious and overly trusting
of the people in power in order to advance his career. In return for his
softball reporting on the president, he’s offered a prestigious post in the
Martin administration. Sean illustrates the danger of losing objectivity when a
newscaster has too cozy a relationship with the people he reports on. Because
Sean craves recognition and advancement, he fears taking stands that conflict
with the mainstream. Yet he’s drawn to Laura. He admires her passion and
integrity—and deep down he knows he’s betrayed his own ideals. When Laura
challenges him, he rationalizes his way of practicing journalism by saying that
idealism is an adolescent carryover from college, which can’t succeed in the
adult world.
So the theme interweaving Laura and Sean's friendship is: Do
ideals matter? Do truth and moral principles matter? Do they carry weight in
our lives, or is everything just pragmatic and expedient? As a journalist,
Laura considers it her duty to be a watchdog on the government and to have a
healthy skepticism about those in power. But Sean, on the other hand, wants to
keep in step with what his peers are reporting and not be an outlier and risk
disapproval. Sean cozies up to powerful politicians who can advance his career.
So the story raises the question: If journalists have incentives to ignore
abuses of power, then who's left to safeguard our freedoms?
A second theme is: Does the end
justify the means?
We hear this expression all the time. The villains of the
story—the president and his two top aides—claim that the reelection of Ken
Martin is so vital to the country that it justifies employing any means
necessary to achieve that end.
President Ken Martin is unprincipled, power-hungry, and
without a moral compass. He condones lying, smearing, cheating, and using
federal agencies to destroy his political enemies. After all, it's for a good
cause (his own reelection). He fears an investigative journalist like Laura,
who can shine a harsh light of truth on his hidden activities and cause his
downfall.
Darcy Egan is the chief advisor to President Martin and the
most evil character in the story. She pushes Martin to cross lines of
corruption never before crossed in the American presidency. Her own lust for
power will stop at nothing to ensure her place in history alongside the
president's. She's so drunk on power that she thinks she can manipulate people
into believing anything—and thereby create her own “truth.” She says, “The
truth is like clay, and we’re the sculptors. We knead it, we work it, we mold
it, we massage it to suit our ends." How many actual politicians think
this way? I'm afraid to say, quite a few. Darcy, of course, fears Laura's
investigation and will stop at nothing to destroy her.
Zack Walker is the
chief strategist to President Martin. He's part of the scheme to, shall we say,
"adjust" the voting in the president's favor. Zack's job is to
destroy Martin’s opponents through smear campaigns, so he constantly lies,
engages in character assassination, and plants false stories which his media
friends spread through the news cycles. But can Zack be pushed to do even
greater evil acts under the notion that the end justify the means? Darcy will
test him. She tells him, “Remember, the means are just the mechanics. We
mustn’t dwell on them because the end is so important, so great, so right. Just
stay fixed on our goal of getting Ken reelected!” Zack's main task is to
eviscerate Laura Taninger.
So an important theme
in Just the Truth is a moral issue:
Can the end ever justify lying, cheating, destroying good people, violating the
rights of others, and losing your own character?
A third theme is: The intimidation
of private citizens by public officials.
Just the Truth examines the danger of public
officials using their power to silence political opponents. This is what Laura
and her family experience.
Laura is in business with her father, older sister, and
brother. The children each run different companies within the Taninger
Enterprises corporate umbrella, with Laura running the news operation. Each
company faces retribution from the president's administration to pressure the
family to fire Laura. Irene's company loses a lucrative contract, Billie's
company is found to be in violation of an environmental regulation and forced
to incur substantial costs and a public relations nightmare to correct the situation,
and the parent corporation is threatened with a federal lawsuit accusing it of
being a monopoly that must be broken up.
Clark Taninger, Laura’s father, has long-ago abandoned the
dedication to truth of his father, the company's founder. Clark is pragmatic,
conciliatory, and compromising toward those in power in order to avoid
confrontations with them. He sees himself as a modern, effective businessman
who doesn’t stand on principles, which he views as rigid and outdated, but who
instead adjusts to changing times. As Taninger Enterprises’ CEO, Clark orders
Laura to end the investigation that's rattling the Martin administration.
Laura's brother and older sister side with their father. What will happen if
Laura defies his order?
Laura's only ally in
the family is her younger sister, Kate, a college student. Kate passionately
supports Laura’s investigation into corruption at the highest levels, and she
calls out her family for their timidity and cowardice. But even Kate gets
embroiled in Laura's controversy when her campus newspaper viciously attacks
Laura, claiming that she's racist, bigoted, and elitist for being a critic of
the new voting system. The attacks are launched by a partisan campus group that
backs the president. When Kate writes an editorial defending Laura, she becomes
the target of a squad of activist students, unstopped by an ineffective dean,
who try to force Kate to recant or be expelled. Will Kate give in? What will
happen if she defies the mob?
Just the Truth shows how the Martin administration is covertly
behind all of the attacks on Laura and her family. The novel is a cautionary
tale about how the tentacles of government, if left untrimmed, can spread to
reach all of us and strangle our freedoms.
The
themes in this novel hit on real issues occurring in America today. There are
reams of news stories questioning the integrity of today's journalists, the
veracity of the news we're getting, the flagrant overstepping of federal
agencies to stifle political opposition. There are also reports questioning the
accuracy of our elections with calls for the federal government to exert more
control over the states’ voting programs. Just
the Truth is a shocking, eye-opening tale that everyone should read in
order to understand better the times in which we live and the threats we face.
Does Just the Truth contain an underlying message? What do you hope your readers will take away from it?
The
broad message of all of my novels is that good people, who have courage and
passion, and who want to live to the fullest, can fight for their world and
win. I want to entertain people and leave them with hope. Although grim things
happen and there are villains in my novels to be sure, my focus is on the
heroes and the great potential of people in the exciting adventure of life. I
want to inspire and enlighten people.
Just the Truth is an entertaining murder mystery
that weaves wider social and moral issues into the story. Without mentioning
any actual political parties, persons, agencies, or events, this nonpartisan
drama is addressed to everyone concerned with these issues.
The underlying message of Just the Truth is: Independent thinking can't exist when the
government gets too big. There's always a new tax, or a regulation, or an
investigation that public officials can use to threaten anyone who speaks out
against them. It's the job of journalism to maintain objectivity and expose
corruption. If journalists are lured into favoring the bad players, as Sean
Browne is, then we’re doomed. Journalists must speak truth to power, and Laura
Taninger shows us the way.
What are you working on right now?
I
wrote a stage play adaptation of Just the
Truth. I hope to have it produced and to start a new trend, a theater of ideas, which entertains the
audience with suspenseful, well-crafted plays while shining a spotlight on
important issues that we need to be discussing.
Author Links
Email: genlagreca@hotmail.com
Website: www.wingedvictorypress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/genlagreca
Twitter: www.twitter.com/genlagreca
My Thoughts
Just the Truth by Gen LaGreca has
Laura Taninger investigating a story that will cause trouble for her
individually, for her family members, and for Taninger Enterprises. Laura was taught by her grandfather that
fighting for the truth is worth it. The
motto for Taninger Enterprises is “Find the Truth wherever it hides.” I thought Just the Truth was well-written
with developed characters. Laura Taninger
is an intelligent woman with a nose for news and a determination to uncover the
truth. Laura has discovered a
discrepancy in the Bureau of Elections budget regarding the new SafeVote system. Ken Martin, the current United States
President, is behind the new voter system and he does not appreciate Laura’s
digging for information. Laura searches
for the truth which is what all journalist should do. The role of a journalist is to report the
truth in an unbiased fashion. I thought
the author captured the scene in Washington, D.C. with the politicians and the
journalists. The story moves along at a
good pace and it kept my interest. Just
the Truth has lying, cheating, intimidation, sabotage, and murder. I loved the twist at the end and how the
story played out. I stayed up very late
to finish Just the Truth. I thought Just
the Truth was a timely novel as it reflects the what is currently happening in
politics. You will find yourself
cheering for Laura as she risks her career, her reputations, and her life in
her quest to uncover the truth and report it.
Just the Truth is an intriguing novel with a powerful politician, a
caring cohort, an unfeeling family, and a justified journalist.
Excerpt
His teacher had
told him to stop asking so many questions. They disrupted the class, she’d
said. Although he asked them in earnest, and she tried her best to reply, his
questions too often pushed the bounds of her knowledge. She squirmed, and the
children laughed. The little schoolhouse he attended in rural Virginia
eventually became like a shoe that no longer fit the growing footprint of
Julius Taninger’s intellectual curiosity. At age ten, he’d decided he’d had
enough of the place. Instead of going to school, he worked on his family’s
small farm.
On days when his chores were light, he walked the four miles of
dirt road to town, where he borrowed books from the library of a local lawyer
who took kindly to him. Julius devoured the titles he’d selected and returned
them promptly, without so much as a smudge on any page, never wearing out the
books—or his welcome. In 1948, with the country still recovering from the
Second World War and his family nearly destitute, he read the histories of
nations, the tomes of philosophers, and the classics in literature. These books
lured him away from the dull landscape in which he chopped wood, fed hogs, and
planted crops, toward a fresh canvas on which to paint his future.
At age
fifteen, his fascination with the printed word drew him to the office of the
town’s newspaper. He made himself useful by sweeping floors, emptying trash,
filing papers, and doing other odd jobs without asking for or receiving any
pay. The boss noticed his initiative and taught him how to set type and operate
the press, which earned him a small salary. Soon he was contributing articles
and making more money. After a hurricane struck the town, he set off another
storm with his investigative reporting into a no-bid contract approved by the
mayor for debris removal. He discovered that the contractor had a checkered
past and the mayor was getting a kickback to ignore it. He also found that the
mayor’s real talent lay in smearing anyone he perceived as an enemy. After the
mayor and his friends launched a campaign to discredit the young reporter—“He’s
a fool kid,” “He’s looking for attention,” “He just wants to make trouble,” “He
lies”—no one believed Julius’s story. When the town turned against Julius, the
editor pressured him to retract his accusations. When he refused, the editor
fired him.
Vindication came a year later when more evidence was uncovered, and
the mayor and others involved in the scheme were tried and sent to jail. This
experience spurred Julius’s drive to have his own paper—one that would never
compromise the truth. At age twenty, Julius Taninger’s footprint grew larger.
He moved to Washington, DC, where he obtained a loan to buy his first
newspaper, a struggling broadsheet named The Pulse of the People. He changed
the name to Taninger News. The owner had a motto, which he never stated to his
readers but shared with the young buyer: Capture the crowd at any price.
Remembering how his former community had formed a gang of sorts that tried to
crush him when he was a young reporter, he realized that his passions lay in
capturing something else. He changed the motto to: Find the truth wherever it
hides.
Instead of keeping his slogan to himself as a marketing scheme, he
printed it on the front page as a declaration. Within a decade, he had
increased the paper’s circulation to a national readership of millions,
transforming his modest local daily into one of the highest-ranking newspapers
in the country. He broadened the newspaper’s scope by adding top-notch
reporters and correspondents in key cities around the country and the world.
When he acquired thousands of acres of timberland in Canada, along with paper
mills, power plants, and a fleet of ships to transport megatons of newsprint to
his giant, never-still printing presses in Washington, DC, he developed a
corporate empire spanning two countries. In subsequent years, he ventured into
sports and entertainment and had a building erected to house his growing
company’s headquarters. His holdings expanded to include television stations
and a professional football team. Taninger News became part of a larger
corporation, Taninger Enterprises.
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Are you ready to read Just the Truth? Just the Truth can be obtained from Amazon*. You can find Gen LaGreca's other novels here. Thank you for joining me today. I am featuring Still Knife Painting by Cheryl Hollon tomorrow. It is the debut of A Paint & Shine Mystery series. I wanted to give you an update on my face mask project. I have multiple sewing machine in my house (despite my poor sewing skills) and I have encountered problems with all but one. I have yet to figure out how the presser foot disappeared off one machine. The one working machine is the oldest (of course). I have not given up yet! I hope you have a fascinating day. Take care, stay safe, and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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