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In the cutthroat world of 'anything goes' journalism, New York Globe city editor Lenny Twist is head and shoulders above his competitors when it comes to blasting big shots out of the water. 'Ruthless' is Twist's middle name. Nothing pleases him more than exposing the sins of the rich and the powerful, and nothing drives his ambition like the thought of winning a Pulitzer Prize for his paper. Twist sees the opportunity of a lifetime come his way when he receives a letter from a nurse detailing a wealthy surgeon's refusal to operate on a dying, but uninsured, child. The chance to skewer a prominent doctor naturally piques the editor's interest, but what ultimately hooks him on the story is the nurse's promise to deliver details of a medical scam being perpetuated on the city by the doctor and his well-known private hospital. Twist eagerly takes the bait, assigning veteran reporter Billy Burke to investigate the nurse's claims. Burke isn't pleased with the assignment. His daughter Annie has recently been diagnosed as autistic. The reporter is consumed with guilt due to his inability to help his child, and this affects his relationship with all children. His reluctance to deal with 5-year-old Roberto Avalon vanishes, though, when he meets the sick child and his mother. His initial story on the little boy's plight results in the formation of a fund administered by the Globe to pay for the child's heart surgery. Money pours into the fund, but Lenny Twist insists on squeezing the last drop of blood from the story before releasing the down payment on the operation. By the time he does, Roberto's condition has deteriorated to such a point that even surgery will not assure him a healthy life. Burke, meanwhile, has gotten the goods on the surgeon and his hospital. He's written a series of articles portraying the extent of their fraudulent activities and given his documentation to Twist. The series is set to run in the Globe when Burke uncovers an even greater fraud than the first. Risking his job at the Globe, Burke takes on the people closest to him as he pursues a conclusion to the biggest story of his career. William Heffernan is a three-time Pulitzer prize nominee and ex-reporter who has written fifteen books previous to Cityside. His credentials show in this strongly written story that describes the tabloid journalism of the 1970's and the men and women who wrote it. At times funny, at times pathetic, the book is an indictment of the kind of greed that disguises itself as ambition and the obsessions that all too often drive men to step over the line. Highly recommended both for plot and characterization.
Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, August 2003
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