The Kill Fee

I just discovered the Sally Harrington novels and, with "Kill Fee", have caught up on all to date. These novels feature an engaging, independent, very feminine, very ambition-driven journalism/television writer/producer/"talent" named Sally Harrington. At first I thought each novel (there are 5 so far) would be an independent episode in Sally's life. But the stories build an accumulating overall story about how Sally gains increasing professional recognition and opportunities while (ahem) exploring what type of man she wants in her long-term love life and (very busy life!) simultaneously doing battle with bad guys in organized crime. The plots are intricate with some bad guys becoming good guys and vice versa. There is plenty of action (sexual as well as fighting) and somehow in all of it there are repeating human touches that I MIGHT have called "chick lit" EXCEPT I'm a guy and I like the touches... for example, when characters talk about career choices, family etc. So in today's culture I find Sally Harrington an engaging feminine character that men can identify with as well as women. She is successful in a profession where competence, ambition, and beauty are requisites just to get in the game. My only complaint with "Kill Fee" is that I have to wait for the next installment, and having checked out Laura Van Wormer's web site, find that she's writing some OTHER book first. Well, I suppose I could read the OTHER things she's written, now that I discovered Sally...

Sally returns to the newsroom, an environment she charms and brings to life. Van Wormer works her characters far better in the newsroom than in the courtroom evidenced in "Bad Witness." A fast read with another cliff-hanger ending, I wonder where Sally Harrington will be in the next volume. This Van Wormer fan plans to read it and see!

I could not wait to read the latest installment in the saga of Sally Harrington. In fact, I went to three bookstores to find it! It is really enjoyable to follow Sally's latest escapades and to follow her meteoric rise at DBS. Unfortunately, Ms. Van Wormer seems to have lost some energy for fully fleshing out her story. There should have been at least another 100 pages here to fully realize the plot line. Sally's love life is taking too many twists and she is beginning to come off as immature rather than a "victim of circumstance" as she did in the past. Rather than being a full fleshed out character, Paul is just a tool to move the plot along. In "The Bad Witness" the book concluded with some promise of Paul and Sally's relationship taking off. Paul is introduced in this new volume merely to become someone to look after Sally's mother. What a waste of Paul! I'm not sure I like where this series is going, but I sure have loved Sally Harrington up until now. Laura Van Wormer needs to get her back on track!

Sally Harrington's life never has a dull moment, and this book is no exception!The Kill Fee was by far better than Ms. Van Wormer's last two efforts, Trouble Becomes Her and The Bad Witness; however, I feel there were several opportunities missed:1. There were enough story lines going on that this could have gone into the same level of scope, detail and content that Riverside Drive and West End have.2. This book could have easily been twice as long (it is only 300 pages).3. Again, too much focus on Sally's getting in trouble and messed up love life (the latter seeming forced and concocted for the sake of the storyline), which sacrificed the focus on her career finally taking off.There were several loose ends left dangling, and now we'll just have to wait another year or two for the next book, which is disappointing after waiting over a year for this one!Don't get me wrong, after the slow start, the story picked up quickly and it was a very engrossing read, but I was disappointed when the book left all those ends dangling.

In Castleford, Connecticut, octogenarian Percy Harrington gives a letter he received to his great niece Sally Harrington to check into. Apparently, somehow Percy owns some property in Hillstone Falls, New York and the Western Connecticut Land Trust Company wants to buy that land.Sally's West Coast lover, former Hollywood cop Paul Fitzwilliam has transferred to the New Haven force to attend a nearby law school at night. Her boss at DBS News Alexandra Waring is angry and upset as the brass wants Sally to take over for the ailing pregnant Jessica Wright on the latter's talk show. Alexandra offers Sally less money, but a raise if she is willing to work the am news as co-anchor with Emmett Phelps. Sally excitedly accepts, as news is what she prefers to do.Sally learns that her uncle's five acres are in the middle of a major industrial project that has Mafia backing. The mob comes after her to insure she remains silent and her uncle sells.The fifth Harrington tale is an engaging thriller that is incredibly realistic especially the ending, but will put off idealistic fans of the series. Sally remains a strong intrepid heroine that has made her a favorite. Still, the story line starts a bit slow as the support players are brought into focus, but once Sally crosses the state line, the action never slows down until the final checkmate occurs.Harriet Klausner