When Sally Killed Harry
This is NOT a love story....
Late, as ever, to getting the word out on all the many gazillion platforms we authors need to keep on top of these days but I’m here now to say, hi, meet Sally - the protagonist of my new revenge thriller When Sally Killed Harry.
So who is Sally?
Early readers who have enjoyed the book describe Sally as ‘snarky’, ‘sardonic’, ‘hilariously witty’, ‘sharp’ and ‘unhinged’.
One even described her as a bit like Jason Dean, Christian Slater’s character from Heathers - I kind of like that!
Anyway, Sally has left London for a new life in New York after trying for years to come to terms with a traumatic childhood. She meets the enigmatic Harry and finally wonders if she can trust again, but he’s no Billy Crystal to her Meg Ryan.
More…Tommy Lee Royce meets Villanelle…
“This was a darkly funny and unhinged wish fulfilment tale about women pushed to the edge to get justice in a patriarchal society.”
Reader review
It’s fun and pacey, but be warned, it’s dark too. I couldn’t write a fantastical serial killer thriller about getting revenge on bad men without exploring the abuse women face. It doesn’t go into too much detail in this respect though, it’s more about the impact these experiences might have, about the women’s lives not the act itself - and also about them finding liberation in many different ways (even some law-abiding ones like friendship and life drawing class - but yep, mostly murder).
So yes, there is darkness, and there is violence….and with that, there are also early readers who haven’t enjoyed the book. But some of the things they didn’t like would no doubt encourage someone like me to pick up a book so I’ll share what they said too….
“Far too dark.”
“Crass.”
“Nothing like the movie.”
“Not a single good man in it.”
Yeahhhhh….there isn’t a single good man in it. I realised that as I submitted my first draft but then I thought, well, it’s not my job to lift the good men. There are plenty of good men in books and movies - love interests, heroes, etc. But there are unfortunately bad men too - and this book is about the women who take these bad men on. And I only had so many pages to fill so….I’m cool with my choices :-)
When Sally Killed Harry isn’t about hating men; it’s about shining a light on the stories that have been swept under the rug for far too long. It's about amplifying the voices that have been silenced and empowering women to claim their space, their stories, and their anger.
Reader review.
Anyway, it’s now available to request on NetGalley for early readers to review, and, BIG IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT it’s also available to pre-order - and pre-ordering really does make the author world go round so if you fancy a read of it pop a pre order in at any of the usual places (the button below will take you to the publisher page which will direct you to wherever you want to be to order).
When Sally Killed Harry is published March 27th by Avon - an imprint of HarperCollins. Here’s the trailer if you’d like a taster!
Hope you enjoy meeting Sally as much as I enjoyed writing her!
Lucy xx
(aka Lucy Nichol / Lucy Roth!)