New York native Sammy Greene has returned to the campus of her ultra-conservative New England college ready for her classes and to tackle the tough issues facing the student body. The Ellsford College communications major hosts a talk show called The Hot Line on WELL, the school’s radio station. The controversial show allows callers to discuss the topic of the day, sometimes causing Sammy to hit the off button before expletives go out across the airways. Although the show often stirs emotions, it is highly popular with students and faculty.

When Sammy attempts to interview Dr. Burton Conrad, an esteemed campus professor, she finds his body instead. Although the police determine he killed himself, Sammy thinks otherwise and begins an investigation of her own.

In the meantime, mysterious deaths and disappearances among the student body prompts Sammy to look into the situation where she finds a connection between them and a doctor who runs the student health facility where he is also conducting a top secret research project. Sammy soon discovers a shocking conspiracy that could have worldwide implications.

The deeper Sammy probes, the more she decides no one is above suspicion including the President of the school or the Chief of Police. She goes to great links in her quest to expose corruption at the highest level to the point where she puts her own life and those around her in grave danger.

Dead Air was written by a new writing team consisting of Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid. Both have a background in medicine and are also authors. Together they have created an exciting new character that is tough as nails, but also has empathy for those who are suffering.

The pace of Dead Air moves quickly through the various threads of the somewhat complicated story without losing the reader. The numerous characters take on a life of their own, and it is easy to become emotionally involved with what happens to each one.

Barely five feet tall, Sammy comes across as tough and brash, although I sometimes found her a little too strident for my taste. Her disrespectful way of speaking to superiors was off-putting at times, although I understood that the authors wanted her to come across as a take-no-prisoners kind of investigator.

The authors of this medical thriller set the scene for future stories by having the prestigious college as a backdrop, and a young female college student as an amateur investigator interested in finding out the truth behind any situation. We look forward to Sammy’s next case.

Special thanks go to Oceanview Publishing for sending us a complimentary copy of Dead Air. If you are interested in purchasing this book online, you can follow this link to Amazon.com.