What I liked:
The way different journalists and editors and the job of reporting are portrayed. See also [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] [b:The Colorado Kid|10574|The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime #13)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1422099676s/10574.jpg|856005]
The loose ends - some characters are literally left dangling and lost - others' stories are introduced but not resolved.
The way music is part of and drives the story. See also [b:The Time of Our Singing|23007|The Time of Our Singing|Richard Powers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328024176s/23007.jpg|2430417] and [b:Orfeo|20663749|Orfeo|Richard Powers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1392029480s/20663749.jpg|25222324].
Kick ass female protagonist who revels in her own sexuality and doesn't shy from a fight
Creepy old guy with witchy eyes on the town boardwalk/porch
Hot preacher with no parishioners and how he's greeted and treated. See also: Father Lorenzo Quart in stories like [b:The Seville Communion|11033|The Seville Communion|Arturo Pérez-Reverte|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1305158518s/11033.jpg|52761] .
Waffle House scene
The way the bad cop goes out
the way the comforts and discomforts of rural living are part of the story

What didn't quite work for me:
Chloe character but maybe that's the point?
The newspaperman's wife
the military media fixer - we spend too much time on him for what?
the barfight
kickass female protagonist who revels in her own sexuality and doesn't shy from a fight gets her share of kinky judge-y stuff thrown her way and you get the feeling its for Oprah's sake or something like that (not for real page turning readers who've found their way to this book, but who knows?).

If you can subtract and i did the line breaks right you've probably tallied up more good than bad and that's the sort of book this is. If you like your books this way: with a little bit of both but more of one than the other then you might like this !