Dark Eyes
-
-
4.5 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $7.99
Publisher Description
In this suspenseful young adult thriller, a young teenager navigates the gritty streets of New York City in pursuit of answers to her mysterious past.
“An absolute page-turner. Murder, action, intrigue and the toughest female vigilante since Lisbeth Salander.”—Pittacus Lore, #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Am Number Four
“A drop-dead-gorgeous heroine, evil dudes with guns, and a perilous race through the streets of New York City make for a page-turning read.”—Kirkus Reviews
Wally was born in Russia and adopted by a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, she traded her life of privilege for the gritty streets of Manhattan.
A year later, Wally has stumbled across a clue to a secret that will change her life forever: She’s the daughter of Klesko, a notorious Russian gangster. And now Klesko is headed straight for New York to reclaim the fortune Wally’s birth mother stole from him long ago.
Wally will stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko does—because if he finds her, he’ll seek brutal vengeance. But Wally’s had her own killer training, and she’s hungry for justice.
Can Wally find—and save—her mother before Klesko kills them both?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Russian mobster out for vengeance. A distraught adoptive mother who takes time from her high-flying real estate business to go to the morgue. A hardnosed cop admiring the street skills of a private-school kid gone rogue. These cameos are sketched with skill and conviction, but the protagonist of screenwriter Richter's first YA novel, 16-year-old Wallis Stoneman, is more of a puzzle. Independent and fierce, Wallis has willingly given up a sheltered life on the Upper West Side to join a tight crew of homeless youth who rummage for food and clothing on the streets of Harlem. Obsessed with the search for her birth mother, Yalena Mayakova, who she has never known, Wallis becomes involved with ruthless criminals who will lead her toward discovering her true origins, but will also destroy those she loves. Despite Richter's well-paced action sequences and the book's cinematic scope, Wallis is not an entirely convincing teenage heroine, strongly reminiscent of characters like La Femme Nikita and Lisbeth Salander, but lacking in authenticity and psychological depth. Noir homages may also be lost on the intended audience.
