Sunday, March 17, 2013

Review: Dark Eyes by William Richter


Dark Eyes by William Richter
Dark Eyes #1
Release Date: March 15th, 2012
Number of Pages: 383
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: NetGalley
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Wally was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child and grew up in a wealthy New York City family. At fifteen, her obsessive need to rebel led her to life on the streets.  
Now the sixteen-year-old is beautiful and hardened, and she's just stumbled across the possibility of discovering who she really is. She'll stop at nothing to find her birth mother before Klesko - her darkeyed father - finds her. Because Klesko will stop at nothing to reclaim the fortune Wally's mother stole from him long ago. Even if that means murdering his own blood. But Wally's had her own killer training, and she's hungry for justice.  
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for teens, this debut thriller introduces our next big series heroine!
When the summary of a book compares it to a really popular novel, I’m always a little skeptical. After all, they are setting my expectations pretty high, and this often leads to disappointment. Yet, I found myself to be enthralled by Wally’s story. This is definitely not a novel for a younger audience, but older teen will find themselves hooked in the story created by William Richter. The story focuses on Wally’s search for her biological mother, but it is more than that. The story is told in third person point of view, but we get a glimpse on two other characters than Wally, which gives us a better understanding of the story that is going on, and we can understand why certain characters appear at the perfect moment.

Wally is a Russian born young woman, adopted by an American family when she was five years old. She ends up choosing to live on the street with a group of friends, Tevin, Ella and Jake. If there is one thing for sure, it’s that Wallis Stoneman is a kickass main character. She is strong and determined, and she isn’t scared to put herself in dangerous situation to get what she wants.

We also have Detective Alter Greer, the detective looking for the murderer of Sophia, another street girl who they believed to be Wally at first. His appearances are always well timed and he is a great addition to the story. It gives Wally an interesting ally, even if she doesn’t always want him to be.

Later, we also meet Tiger, the son of Klesco. Klesco is the biological father of Wally, but he is also a psycho Russian mob guy who is looking to get back what her mother stole. Following Tiger gives a good insight of who Klesco really is, and what he is ready to do to reclaim what he sees as his.

If there is one thing I can say about Dark Eyes, it’s that it is far from boring. The constant action will keep you hooked into the story. The book read itself like a movie, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The gun fights; the humor and the more human side of the story make Dark Eyes a book that will please many readers. The ending will give you enough closure to let it stand on its own, but it also opens the door for the upcoming sequel Tiger, a book I’m sure you’ll be dying to read after finishing this one.

About the Author:
From GoodReads

William Harlan Richter is a Hollywood screenwriter. He was nominated for an Emmy Award as Producer of “We Stand Alone Together”, the documentary episode of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. William was born and raised in California.


3 comments:

  1. I loved this book review! The book sounds so good! I hadn't heard about it before, but I'm glad that I have now!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I hadn't really heard of it before seing it on NetGalley. It was a nice surprise.

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  2. Great review. I need to read this one soon :)

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