In radio, dead air is the silence you fear most. Jason McCann is about to discover something worse.

In 1983, long before playlists were streamed with the touch of a finger, there were records, cassette tapes, and radio. But radio offered something different. It was your playlist with a voice. And when rock radio ruled the airwaves, Jason McCann was considered royalty. At KRQS in Los Angeles, Jason is one of the highest-rated and highest-paid disc jockeys in the country. Not because he is outrageous or crude, but because he respects the music and the people who create it. To Jason, every song is art, and every artist has a story worth telling. Then one late-night encounter changes everything. What begins as an impulsive fling with an alluring listener becomes something far more complicated when Jason discovers she is Allison Gregg, Los Angeles television's newest and hottest news journalist, whip-smart, ambitious, and blessed with Hollywood-starlet looks. The next day, Allison doesn't show up for work. As her disappearance becomes headline news, Jason's connection to her draws unwanted attention. Questions multiply. His name enters the story. And the celebrated voice behind the microphone is suddenly fighting for his innocence, his career, and his life as he is thrust neck-deep in a shocking race against the clock that no one saw coming. DEAD AIR is a suspenseful, roller-coaster journey into the radio industry in the 1980s with the unexpected lingering around every corner.

Richard Alan Reed is a former disc jockey and marketing executive, a sometimes-musician, and now an author. His firsthand connection to broadcasting and music brings an insider's perspective to the world of DEAD AIR. A grateful husband and proud father and grandfather, he resides in La Quinta, California, with his wife of thirty years.