{"product_id":"take-two-a-smart-ass-mystery-by-john-ostapkovich","title":"Take Two, A Smart-ass Mystery by John Ostapkovich","description":"\u003ch1\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTake Two, A Smart-ass Mystery\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eby John Ostapkovich\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Waking up at 2:14 a.m. sucks. Waking up at 2:14 a.m. to an annoying phone sucks more. And being told to drag your aging, aching butt out of bed to cover some dumb-ass story, well, that's show biz.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Ostapkovich's narrator is a radio reporter working for what he cheerfully calls a pirate outfit — \"like being the last horseshoe salesman in town\" — whose wife can fall asleep in an elevator between floors. The book opens with him running for his life through a rapid transit tunnel under the river, iron and gun smoke in the air, noting that the blood on his sleeve is not yet his, and that the third time it happens it will be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Philadelphia here is the real city seen in a fun-house mirror. The voice is dry, fast and self-deprecating, and the plot does not let up.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDedicated to the author's late friend Paul Rae, who after the Challenger disaster tried to juggle being a good reporter with being a good human being — \"which is a lot tougher than you might think.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eeBook (EPUB)\u003c\/strong\u003e · ISBN 9781622491032\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Biblio Publishing","offers":[{"title":"eBook","offer_id":43680858046527,"sku":"9781622491032","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/3637\/8687\/files\/f1926e5c169ffb9176632553528ba821.jpg?v=1785984653","url":"https:\/\/bibliobookstore.com\/products\/take-two-a-smart-ass-mystery-by-john-ostapkovich","provider":"Biblio Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}