Review: A Good Read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 28, 2012
Kim Oh #1: "Real Dangerous Girl" by K.W. Jeter. In this first of a series, we meet the main characters that, presumably, will carry the series onward. Our main heroine is an American born Korean girl who, along with her brother have lived in Foster Homes most of their lives. Learning book keeping, Kim got work with a mob boss "cooking" his records so the IRS and Feds could not get anything on him. When the kingpin decides to present a legitimate front, he brings in a Harvard accountant and fires Kim, throwing her out on the street. I found this a bit strange, as he was having all his competitors murdered by his assassin, and Kim ends up with records, which could likely benefit the FBI. Kim can't find work and she must pay rent, and feed her brother and herself (he's an invalid). When she learns that her boss had attempted to kill his assassin, but left him paralyzed instead, she offers to pay him to assassinate their old boss. The assassin, Cole, sees something of himself in Kim and wants to make her into what he once was. The story is very good, and I'm a sucker for a strong female lead. Though Kim is small and meek in the beginning, she slowly takes on the persona of a killer. This first story does not resolve the conflict boiling inside her, but it does allow the reader to see who Kim is, and to watch her grow. The eventual outcome can already be figured out, so we have little to look forward to except good story telling, and watching Kim in action, as she becomes the assassin Cole envisions her to be. A highly enjoyable read, but at the end we are left hanging, the only thing really accomplished is her first kill and he isn't a major actor.