MARQUESA JESUS PIAZZA, known as Mach, is a real estate reporter at New York City's second largest daily newspaper. It is 2009, the wrong side of the real estate boom and bust of the early 21st century. Disgruntled over the decline of the newspaper business, her dead-end career, and a disappointing love affair with her boss, SCOTT SCREEN, Mach throws herself into a story that crosses her desk on July Fourth - the death of the young second wife of one of New York's most prominent real estate developers, BARRY SLOANE. The death quickly disappears from view, until Mach brings it back a year after it happens.In a compelling, contemporary first-person voice, Mach relentlessly pursues the story of what happened to the victim, ANABEL SLOANE, as if solving the murder will justify the choices Mach has made and provide a key to how to move her life forward.A publicity hungry Chief Medical Examiner, DR. MATTHEW ROWAN, a former medic during Desert Storm, chooses Mach to be an embedded journalist in a special task force within the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Mach is paired with the sergeant in charge of the task force, EMILIO "MIL" URQUIA, who is reluctant to work with a civilian reporter. The police know the cause of death as drowning, the mechanism of death as poisoning, but the manner of death - the missing piece of the puzzle - eludes them.Mach and Mil learn to work together, with the aid of a dog walker, GLORIA YAP, and a luxury condominium concierge, RYAN ALEXANDRINE, to solve Anabel Sloane's murder. In equal parts of authenticity and novelty, details of forensics and the underlying causes of the real estate industry crash bubble to the surface as Mach and Mil's investigation gains momentum. The settings for Mach's pursuits are Manhattan in all its ugly glory, Mach's humble hometown of White Plains, Barry Sloane's East Hampton Estate, and the environs. The contrasts provided by these settings underscore the contrasts between the social classes of New York. Mach's ability to bond within these strata, as exemplified by her closeness with all three of the important male characters - blue collar Mil, educated professional Scott, and one-percenter Barry - demonstrate her dedication and depth.When Mach's father dies, she begins to understand that not everything is black or white. Everything is more a foggy shade of gray, turning the determined heroine a bit more philosophical and tolerant. In the end, it is Mach's intelligence, integrity, and intuition that help her solve the puzzles for which there are no keys - including her own life.
About the Author: Jessica Dee Rohm Serial Entrepreneur/Author A lifelong writer and a serial entrepreneur, Jessica Dee Rohm started her career at the New York Times. Her first solo enterprise, Jessica Dee Communications, a marketing and communications company, grew to be the sixteenth largest in the country when she sold it to the then largest advertising agency in the U.S., Chiat/Day. She served as CEO for an additional two years, leaving in 1989 to found her second venture, Foreign Management Company, a real estate consultancy and brokerage firm catering to investors. Her clients have included governments, banks, funds, real estate developers from Manhattan to Moscow, as well as many corporations, trusts, and colorful "fiction-fodder" individuals. The New York native graduated from high school as valedictorian of her class, at age 16. Winning a National Merit Scholarship, a Regents Scholarship, and a National Newspaper Scholarship, she attended Barnard College, graduating at age 19 with a B.A. in English literature. She then earned her M.B.A. in management and marketing from Columbia Business School. In 2010, she was awarded her second master's degree, an M.F.A. in creative writing, from Manhattanville College. Jessica Dee Rohm has published numerous feature articles in magazines, including regular columns for both Restaurant Hospitality and The Cornell Quarterly. In addition, she has published many newspaper articles in the New York Times, Hartford Courant, Real Estate Weekly, the Hersham Acorn newspaper chain, and others. She has been the subject of several feature stories and profiles in publications ranging from the Fairfield County Business Journal to the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Entrepreneur, the Palm Beach Post, and Glamour. She has been featured in two books-The Confidence Factor by Judith Briles and Whiz Kids by Marilyn Machlowitz. Ms. Rohm has also written dozens of short stories, poems, and three novels. In December, 2014, Jessica Dee Rohm retired from business to dedicate herself to writing full-time. The Glass Curtain is Ms. Rohm's newest novel.