The Bad Witness - Softcover

Van Wormer, Laura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551667398 ISBN 13: 9781551667393

Publisher: Mira, 2003

Synopsis

Sally Harrington, a thirtysomething journalist, finds her life suddenly plunged into chaos when she is called as a key witness for the defense in the scandalous "Mafia Boss Murder" trial due to her connection with the victim, forcing her to accept police protection when things get dangerous. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

If you like perky, you'll love Sally Harrington, girl reporter-producer-TV newswoman, here in her newest starring role as a witness at the murder trial of a movie exec who's really the son of an ex-Mob boss, and who may have been seeking revenge on the son of another gangster who's been tormenting his family for years. Sally's relevance to the case at hand is somewhat tediously retold in a flashback to the events surrounding the murder, most of which were recounted in her last adventure in this breathlessly girlish series, and which take up at least half of this one. As used to making news as she is reporting it, our Sally is a sexy gal whose romantic exploits take up the other half. This is not the author's or her heroine's liveliest outing, but their fans probably won't be disappointed. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly:

Van Wormer's patented blend of romance and courtroom drama wears a little thin in her 11th novel, her fourth featuring broadcast journalist Sally Harrington (The Last Lover; Expos‚; Trouble Becomes Her). Sally is a headstrong, risk-taking, sexy woman who thrives on fast action, danger and press attention. On temporary hiatus from New York, she's in Los Angeles, where she's the key defense witness for Hollywood producer Jonathan Small, accused of killing East Coast mobster Nick Arlenetta, who once tried to kill Sally herself. Because she wrote a documentary miniseries about the war between East Coast crime families, her testimony is crucial in the California case, so the Santa Monica police department assigns Paul Fitzwilliam as round-the-clock protection for Sally. Although he's six years her junior, the sexual attraction between them is palpable, but their budding romance is interrupted when a hit-and-run motorist slams into their motorcycle and they end up in the hospital. Subplots involving Hollywood stars and trendy issues like bisexuality abound, but the primary narrative proceeds with Sally on the witness stand in a cast. A shocking revelation from another witness livens up the mix, but as the trial increasingly takes over the story, the dull, repetitive testimony makes the second half of the novel read more like a court transcript than fiction. This isn't one of Van Wormer's better efforts, but as a Sally Harrington vehicle, it should satisfy diehard fans.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mira
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1551667398
• ISBN 13: 9781551667393
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 448