Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Baby Shark
Robert Fate recently sent me a copy of his debut novel, Baby Shark, due out in September 2006.
Kristin van Dijk travels with her father, a pool hustler, from bar to bar. When a gang of bikers come looking for him one night in a bar, they kill him and the bartender, wound the bartenders father, Henry Chin, and beat and rape Kristin and leave her for dead.
The beginning of the book is a little slow as Henry helps Kristin escape the fire set by the gang to cover their crimes and takes her to his home to recuperate. However, the story starts to pick up speed as Henry finds Kristin tutors to school her in the use of firearms and military style close work. She also starts training with her father's friend to hone her pool skills.
The pace continues to build as Kristin earns the nickname Baby Shark in the pool halls her father used to frequent and as the private investigator hired by Henry to find the members of the gang who attacked them has some success. Kristin, now trained by her military tutors to be deadly, wants revenge.
Part of what makes Kristin unique is the fact that the story takes place in the early 1950's. Women at that time were not expected to be strong or skilled in the art of killing which makes it easy for her quarry to underestimate her abilities.
Fate has an interesting background. According to his bio, he spent time in the Marines, studied at the Sorbonne in France, worked as an oilfield roughneck, a fashion model, and a chef. Baby Shark is the first in a new series for him. I'm very curious about what will happen to Kristin after the exciting climax of this book and will be looking for the next one in the spring of 2007.
Kristin van Dijk travels with her father, a pool hustler, from bar to bar. When a gang of bikers come looking for him one night in a bar, they kill him and the bartender, wound the bartenders father, Henry Chin, and beat and rape Kristin and leave her for dead.
The beginning of the book is a little slow as Henry helps Kristin escape the fire set by the gang to cover their crimes and takes her to his home to recuperate. However, the story starts to pick up speed as Henry finds Kristin tutors to school her in the use of firearms and military style close work. She also starts training with her father's friend to hone her pool skills.
The pace continues to build as Kristin earns the nickname Baby Shark in the pool halls her father used to frequent and as the private investigator hired by Henry to find the members of the gang who attacked them has some success. Kristin, now trained by her military tutors to be deadly, wants revenge.
Part of what makes Kristin unique is the fact that the story takes place in the early 1950's. Women at that time were not expected to be strong or skilled in the art of killing which makes it easy for her quarry to underestimate her abilities.
Fate has an interesting background. According to his bio, he spent time in the Marines, studied at the Sorbonne in France, worked as an oilfield roughneck, a fashion model, and a chef. Baby Shark is the first in a new series for him. I'm very curious about what will happen to Kristin after the exciting climax of this book and will be looking for the next one in the spring of 2007.
# posted by Kim Reis @ 7:58 PM 
