I was looking forward to this book the Blurb sounded right up my street, I didnt realise there was so much politics in it as this doesnt really interest me, the book was almost in sections, the first to explain things and the characters, the second was quite quick and short chapters which added suspense and then the next section tied up the rest of the story, IMO the book could have been better if it has been shorter and missed some of the explinations.

This had such a brilliant premise and I was so keen to dive in but im not sure how I feel bout it lol. It wasn't what I expected. There are a lot more themes and subplots than I anticipated but they are very cleverly weaved together. Some parts felt a bit slow and its one if those books with a lot of characters and a lot of things going on so you do need to pay attention and cant be half focused on reading whilst half focusing on anything else. Overall I did really enjoy it, the characters were all well written and brought to life.... there were just so many of them to get your head round at 1st. Such a cleverly written, complex thriller. Its definitely worth a read

Started with a wow of a chill only to fall into a yawn of too much going on with too many characters. I hoped the epilogue might win me back but the thrill had gone for me with the over complication of the plot so I wasn’t convinced.
Overall I would have to say the author had a great germ of an idea for a plot but I wish she had given it a bit more thought or maybe had a tighter editing.

Deadline is the first novel by TV presenter Steph McGovern. The book is well written, it is well plotted and engaging, and it is very clear the author is a fan of crime fiction, I loved the references to other authors. I found it to be a very quick read as I wanted to know what happened - it is a dual timeline novel, and each part ended in a way that made me immediately read on.

I did find the blurb to be slightly misleading, it didn't reference to the whole story at all, indeed the events of the blurb are not actually the main story in my opinion, Corruption, class, poverty, education and racial stereotyping are all examined, and I don't think the blurb effectively showed this.

I will definitely look out for more by the author, I really enjoyed the read.

I pretty much read this book in one sitting. It drew me right in with the tenseness of the hijacking while Rose was on live tv with her family being held hostage and kept me hooked to find out why this all went on. The jumps between past and present nicely ramped up the tension until the end when all was revealed in a satisfactory way with justice being served and proving no one is above the law (or supposed to be anyways) and it can be accomplished by the cooperation of decent people.

The other thing I really enjoyed about this book was getting a behind the scenes look at what goes into an on the spot tv broadcast, from the talkbacks to how tricky it is to connect with the main broadcast and how it suddenly might cut a couple minutes off your time, or put the reporter on the spot right away. Talk about stressful! But it was interesting to read about and really made the story feel plausible. For a debut author I think this was well done and his expertise in TV himself made it well done. I am glad I got the chance to read this book!

Had a lot of fun. Give me more books like this, here's my money
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Live reporter Rose has landed a real coup, an interview with the Chancellor straight after his budget. However, as she starts her questions she is shocked to hear a voice in her earpiece telling her that her wife and child are being held captive and she must ask the questions that she is told to by them. Olly was a quiet boy from a troubled home but when he meets a charismatic politician he is excited about his future. Zoya is a rising star but she has a terrible secret that could make her lose her job.
The premise of this book is great, I loved the idea of a live interviewer being forced to ask questions to an agenda under threat. There are some great ideas in this book and overall it's really exciting towards the end. However it flounders a bit at times, the Zoya storyline goes nowhere and just seems an add-on. Some of the characters are a little too stereotypical eg the 'super head' or not explored further. However overall I did really enjoy the story and it is promising as a 'celebrity' novel.

The book opens with TV presenter Rose being interrupted during an interview with a senior politician by an unknown person telling her they have her wife and son and she must follow their instructions, “Rose, I am in control now.” We then go back to the previous day and the run up to the interview, before moving back 5 years to learn what led to this terrible situation. Told in multiple POVs and timelines and written in 6 parts, this was a compelling read, although it wasn’t the fast paced thriller I was anticipating, more a slow build political drama.

Briefly, in different timelines we follow 15 year old Oliver a quiet schoolboy who the headteacher has decided to help improve his confidence. Along with a number of other difficult teens he is chosen to visit London. Meanwhile Rose’s producer Zoya is hiding something from her friends and family and it’s weighing heavily on her.

If you didn’t know who had written this book it would soon become clear from all the technical detail that this is someone with a personal knowledge of the industry. I would have been happy with a little less detail and a bit more of the storyline, which was a very good one, told with sensitivity. The epilogue was very long and maybe could have been a bit more concise. All in all this was a good debut, likeable characters - particularly Rose who I really warmed to, a good plot and a satisfying ending. Good read and I wonder if we will see these characters again? I hope so.

A great debut thriller from this well known celebrity. A twisty read which I enjoyed immensely. I do hope Steph writes more like this. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

What a book, when a “celebrity” author comes along you never quite know what to expect but this is very obviously Steph McGovern and what a cracking book it is. With her knowledge of tv she written about what she knows and it keeps you hooked all the way through. I will definitely be looking out for any future titles

So... if you think this is just another TV presenter trying their hand at writing a half decent ish book, yadda yadda yawn... I think you need to go and have another think as this book exceeded all my expectations and then some.
We start with TV reporter Rose being interrupted in the middle of a rather prestige live broadcast by a male voice in her ear telling her that he has her wife and son and that they will remain unharmed as long as she does what she's told...
We then go back a day and witness the events that immediately preceded this. Then we go back even further, and it is there where we start to see how we got to where the book started. And then, we follow the aftermath...
Sorry I am being deliberately oblique as, well, it's so much more than the blurb (also quite scant and possibly misleading) suggests. But I have to leave it for you to find out all the, very, ugly details...
And Oh My Gosh... I really didn't think we would end up there. Wow... talk about escalation.
And as well as the tightly plotted and expertly executed story, this book has some really rather cracking characters. I really loved Rose and Jonesy and I thought Zoya and her side story was also well covered. I do wonder if we will revisit this in maybe a later book. I mean, this is the start of a series, please say it is. Cos I am so not ready to say goodbye to Rose and Jonesy and the rest of the crew just yet.
I especially loved the way the author explained the processes for outside broadcasts with enough information to make it all make sense and fit with the plot, but at the same time, not too much to be overwhelming or dry. I actually found it all quite fascinating, and eye opening.
All in all, a cracking debut to what I hope is actually a series opener. Either way, I am definitely going to keep an eye out for her next book. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Rose is renowned for her hard-hitting interviews, so she is understandably nervous when she is asked to interview the Chancellor live on national TV. What she isn’t prepared for is the disembodied voice that takes over during the broadcast, telling her to follow their instructions because her wife and child have been kidnapped.
Although we know this is going to happen, the build up developed naturally and definitely meant that the moment of the hijack was a shocking one. As we witness the story developing we learn a little about each of Rose’s crew and there are a number of plot sidelines that could conceivably be at the heart of the story. The precise details do come as something of a shock.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this prior to publication. I wasn’t wholly convinced by the way things panned out, but it was certainly an interesting idea.

Ever since I heard about this book, it’s been one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year—especially as a debut from BBC Breakfast and Steph’s Packed Lunch presenter, Steph McGovern.

The premise is brilliant: TV reporter Rose is about to conduct a live interview with one of the most powerful men in the country. But when a mysterious voice hijacks her earpiece mid-broadcast, everything changes. Her family has been kidnapped, and she must follow the hijacker’s commands—live, on air—to keep them safe.

I was hooked from the start and thoroughly enjoyed Part 1. The story was gripping, and the use of multiple POVs added depth and tension. However, from Part 2 onward, the tone and direction shifted significantly. The thriller I had been enjoying morphed into something more akin to a political scandal, without much buildup or explanation for the change.

Parts 4–6 began to tie up loose ends, but the decision to split the book into so many parts felt unnecessary. The structure would have been stronger as a three-part narrative with a final epilogue.

Speaking of the epilogue, it felt long and like it didn’t quite know when to end, piling on revelations in a way that came off more as “and then this” to wrap the story up. I don’t mind a few coincidences, but the story leaned too heavily on everything falling into place just right - rather than me walking away feeling like it was wrapped up in a clever way.

The novel has the bones of something compelling and it was an enjoyable read I sped through in a few hours sat by the pool. When Steph draws on what she knows from working in TV it feels at it's best.

Characters like Jonesy and Zoya stood out as strong additions, but sadly they faded into the background in the latter sections, when they could have added the most value in the plot tension from people who knew the character of Rose well and added to her unusual behaviour.

Ultimately, this wasn’t the book I expected based on the blurb. Readers going in hoping for a tight, high-stakes "live-on-air" hostage thriller may be disappointed. I think the marketing sets up one kind of story, but the book delivers something quite different—which could impact how it's received.

Deadline by Steph McGovern is sharp and witty with strong moments, but the pacing lags at times and the plot feels predictable. Enjoyable overall, but not as gripping as it could have been.

This book fast, tense, and laced with behind the-scenes media grit that only someone like McGovern with her experience of broadcasting could deliver.

TV reporter, Rose, is preparing for an interview of a lifetime today, where she be talking with one of the most powerful men in the country. But she receives a chilling message saying her wife and child have been kidnapped and she has to keep on going without the viewers knowing! The story is told by different characters and over different time lines. It was gripping, full of twists and turns and that ending is one I didn't see coming.

A decent thriller that will appeal to people who are interested in the media. I found it to have a little too much technical terminology that it lost in parts and I felt like I was reading two different book for the majority of the story; I know the stories came together in the end but I felt like they were disparate for too long.

There's a whole host of 'celebrity' authors these days but Steph McGovern has jumped straight to the top of the pile with Deadline.

Rose Steedman is a live news presenter, who's world if rocked when the voice in her earpiece tells her that he has her partner and son. Rose must do exactly what he says, whilst in the middle of the biggest interview of her career. The anticipation of knowing this event is going to happen adds massively to the backstory, where we meet Rose and her colleagues. We also follow teenager Ollie, who is unwittingly thrown into the world of politics, and who's connection with Rose is finally uncovered in a shellshock moment.

I absolutely devoured Deadline and hope that Steph McGovern continues writing. She is a natural at the kind of multi-layered thriller that will keep you hooked!

Rose is live on air as a broadcaster when the programme is hijacked by the person who has kidnapped her partner and her son.

To keep them safe she must do everything she is told as well as using her wits and professionalism to uncover the facts.

this is an intense and exciting read and i loved how the story unfolded. it has an air of reality and I was absolutely engrossed from start to finish.

Well written and brilliantly told i loved it

Deadline by Steph McGovern is a gripping page-turner I devoured in one sitting. Rose is a professional broadcaster, but when her partner and son are kidnapped, Will Rose remain professional. I liked this book more than I expected to - it was delicately written with perfectly timed dark humour. I would like to see Rose again in a future novel.