The Kill Fee »

Finally Sally Harrington is in the driver's seat — she's just been offered her choice of dream jobs at DBS News in New York and her turbulent love life is taking another interesting turn.

That's of course when everything starts to spin out of control. The new on-air job brings a stalker out of the closet. And just when she decides she'll pursue a serious relationship with a young attractive police officer, she meets an intriguing older married man. But then things get more complicated — and more dangerous — when Sally's great-uncle Percy receives a strange letter containing an offer to purchase a parcel of land he didn't even know he owned.

The letter smacks of a conspiracy, and Sally is determined to protect Uncle Percy, in between dodging the two men in her life, greedy land speculators and vindictive crime family members — not to mention the stalker.

Fasten your seat belt, Sally — it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Publishers Weekly

In the fifth installment of Van Wormer's Sally Harrington series, attractive go-getter Sally narrates the latest adventures in her sensational life in a WASP-y, plucky first person. She's just gotten involved with Paul, a young policeman from a moneyed family who has moved all the way to Connecticut to be by her side while he attends law school; she's also conducting an intense flirtation with a married man. Meanwhile, she scores a million-dollar job as a national anchor at the New York TV station where she's executive producer, while her great-uncle Percy, who, at 84, is happily ensconced in a tony retirement community, has gotten his own mysterious property windfall. As Sally investigates her uncle's supposed new land outside Hillstone Falls, N.Y., she entangles herself in a dangerous organized crime land speculation scheme and attempted murder plot. As in previous adventures, such as The Last Lover, Sally becomes the prime suspect. The pace is fast and the writing efficient, moving from upper-crust gloss ("Alexandra is wearing a dark blue suit today, looking very very, if you know what I mean, complete with Tiffany pearl earrings") to gritty matter-of-fact ("I choke on the blood that is streaming down the back of my throat again and have to spit some more out") with ease. Although the book relies heavily on repackaged clich s of the American dream of wealth, prestige and fabulousness, Van Wormer supplies genuinely suspenseful moments, tasteful, deftly written love scenes and an ending that packs an emotional punch. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.