THE FRAUD

A series of not-so-random carjackings investigated by Newark Eagle-Examiner reporter Carter Ross ends up as a race between the paddy wagon, the shotgun, and the stork.

Carjacking is so deeply ingrained in Newark culture that the locals have developed a tactic called “the Newark Cruise”—not quite stopping at red lights after dark—to avoid it. When banking executive Kevin Tiemeyer gets shot for his Rolex during what should have been a routine carjacking, however, it gets the attention of Tina Thompson, the Eagle-Examiner’s managing editor for local news. And when she sics Carter, father of the baby she’s about to deliver, on the story, he quickly connects it to the remarkably similar carjacking of Nigerian-born businessman Joseph Okeke two weeks earlier. Both men were shot after surrendering their cars, and the two of them, Carter learns with a little digging, had golfed together at the Fanwood Country Club. Naturally, Earl Karlinsky, the Fanwood’s general manager, doesn’t take kindly to Carter’s accusations that Karlinsky himself is setting up his members to be victimized, and Fanwood board member Armando "Doc" Fierro, the fixer’s fixer, succeeds in getting Carter suspended after he crosses the fine line from aggressive journalism to unauthorized spying. But Carter, who’s convinced himself that Dave Gilbert, the director of Chariots for Children, is not only an ex-con, but the head of a thriving chop shop, won’t let go—even though the person who’ll pay the heaviest price for his snooping is his pregnant girlfriend.

Less funny and more deeply felt than Carter’s first five cases (The Player, 2014, etc.): reliable entertainment that’ll make you think twice about your next trip to Newark.