By Mark Rodriguez
After a lot of comics, I decided to start getting into actual books. I started with the Percy Jackson series, when this book caught my eye at a random store. I read the description and decided to check it out. I read this on the plane and during down time on my trip to visit Johnny back in 2015. Now I'm about to head back there again, I just happened to have bought the sequel book and plan to read it on this trip. Here's my review on Dark Eyes by William Ritcher.
Dark Eyes is about a teenage runaway named Wallis Stoneman, nicknamed Wally by her friends. She hangs out with a group of runaways and live of the streets, hustling to make ends meet. Everything changes the day she gets a package from the mother she never knew... and she discovers she was actually Russian and her mother is still missing to this day. The package included a rare precious stone, which helped fund Wally's newfound desire to find her mother and solve the mystery of her origins. However, the stone being sold doesn't go unnoticed and eventually the information of its whereabouts reaches the coldest reaches of Russia where a guy named Tiger breaks out a powerful and dangerous man named Klesko. Klesko is now on the way back to America, and he and Wally are destined to cross paths as they are both searching for the same woman.
The story is very interesting, and actually starts with a red herring as the first chapter features the main character Wallis, being hunted down and killed by some criminals. We do find out that this was someone else that has happened to steal her clothes and ID, but right off the bat the story opens up the question as to who these gunmen were and why they wanted Wallis dead? From then on we are introduced to Wallis and her world and get a basic idea of what her day-to-day life is before she received the package.
The story keeps you engaged and never gets boring. The chapters are pretty short and to the point, and sometimes the chapters backtrack to a different point of view. Sometimes an event happens in one chapter, and then the next chapter might follow someone else, ending the chapter with the reveal that they were somewhere in the previous chapter the whole time. The story also takes place pretty much in modern day, in the era of smartphones and Wii systems. I do like the idea that the teens were pretty much living day to day, and when they came into some money, they decided against buying a gaming console because it would be become something they'd constantly have to carry around with them as an extra burden.
The characters are very interesting too. As the main character Wallis Stoneman was hardened by life at an early age. Though her childhood memories are scarce, she knows that she's adopted and seems angry at the world for lying to her all the time. She's very tough as character, both emotionally and psychically. She goes through a lot of hell in the story, and places much of the blame on herself since her quest does lead to a lot of misery and suffering. It's a heavy burden she will always carry and life has taught to fake a smile at most situations. Through it all, she's a very warm and caring character. Though her heart has grown cold in certain aspects, she does care a great deal for her gang and finds herself to be responsible with their survival regarding everything from rationing money to their next meal. Her gang has learned to trust her and are willing to take risks for her even though they might sound crazy at first.
We also have Detective Atley, a regular cop who got involved in solving the murder for the fake Wallis. After meeting her mother and realizing that these men might be after the real Wallis for reasons unknown, he takes it upon himself to solve the case. He comes in and out of the story at certain points, but never leaves too long to let the reader forget that he's still on the case. He becomes probably the only cop someone like Wally could ever trust.
As for the villains, we have Tiger and Klesko. Tiger is a criminal who is in awe of the legendary status of his father Klesko, a powerful arms dealer. They form a deadly duo, storming their way through america with the ferocity of a raging bull. Klesko himself is pretty much a savage beast made human. He always seems to be holding back a murderous rage and more than eager to spill blood, with his bare hands if necessary. Honestly, when I first read the chapter of this monster escaping prison, I was wondering how in the hell Wally was supposed to deal with this super villain? While later chapters mentioned she knows some martial arts, it still wasn't convincing me that she would actually survive going a few rounds with him. Luckily the story never goes into that and acknowledges that Wally has no chance against him in anything other than a gunfight.
Tiger is more level-headed and more knowledgeable of American life and is basically Klesko's translator since the arms dealer speaks little English. There are many times where he has to stop Klesko from killing someone because it's a person they might need for later use There was a funny scene where one of Wally's aliases turned out to be Aretha Franklin, which made Tiger hold back a chuckle since he knew it was a fake name, but didn't want to anger Klesko and make him feel stupid.
I found the book to be very entertaining and worth a read if you like thrillers mixed with a bit of mystery. The story takes a lot of twists and turns as Wally gets closer and closer to finding her mother, as well as all the details that led them to America, and how this eventually ties to Klesko. It's a very fun ride, and once you get invested in Wally's search, you'll never want to put it down til you get the end. Definitely giving this one two thumbs up.
Now, I'm not sure how long I'll take to read Tiger, but look forward to a review on that one as Wally's adventures continue.
After a lot of comics, I decided to start getting into actual books. I started with the Percy Jackson series, when this book caught my eye at a random store. I read the description and decided to check it out. I read this on the plane and during down time on my trip to visit Johnny back in 2015. Now I'm about to head back there again, I just happened to have bought the sequel book and plan to read it on this trip. Here's my review on Dark Eyes by William Ritcher.
Dark Eyes is about a teenage runaway named Wallis Stoneman, nicknamed Wally by her friends. She hangs out with a group of runaways and live of the streets, hustling to make ends meet. Everything changes the day she gets a package from the mother she never knew... and she discovers she was actually Russian and her mother is still missing to this day. The package included a rare precious stone, which helped fund Wally's newfound desire to find her mother and solve the mystery of her origins. However, the stone being sold doesn't go unnoticed and eventually the information of its whereabouts reaches the coldest reaches of Russia where a guy named Tiger breaks out a powerful and dangerous man named Klesko. Klesko is now on the way back to America, and he and Wally are destined to cross paths as they are both searching for the same woman.
The story is very interesting, and actually starts with a red herring as the first chapter features the main character Wallis, being hunted down and killed by some criminals. We do find out that this was someone else that has happened to steal her clothes and ID, but right off the bat the story opens up the question as to who these gunmen were and why they wanted Wallis dead? From then on we are introduced to Wallis and her world and get a basic idea of what her day-to-day life is before she received the package.
The story keeps you engaged and never gets boring. The chapters are pretty short and to the point, and sometimes the chapters backtrack to a different point of view. Sometimes an event happens in one chapter, and then the next chapter might follow someone else, ending the chapter with the reveal that they were somewhere in the previous chapter the whole time. The story also takes place pretty much in modern day, in the era of smartphones and Wii systems. I do like the idea that the teens were pretty much living day to day, and when they came into some money, they decided against buying a gaming console because it would be become something they'd constantly have to carry around with them as an extra burden.
The characters are very interesting too. As the main character Wallis Stoneman was hardened by life at an early age. Though her childhood memories are scarce, she knows that she's adopted and seems angry at the world for lying to her all the time. She's very tough as character, both emotionally and psychically. She goes through a lot of hell in the story, and places much of the blame on herself since her quest does lead to a lot of misery and suffering. It's a heavy burden she will always carry and life has taught to fake a smile at most situations. Through it all, she's a very warm and caring character. Though her heart has grown cold in certain aspects, she does care a great deal for her gang and finds herself to be responsible with their survival regarding everything from rationing money to their next meal. Her gang has learned to trust her and are willing to take risks for her even though they might sound crazy at first.
We also have Detective Atley, a regular cop who got involved in solving the murder for the fake Wallis. After meeting her mother and realizing that these men might be after the real Wallis for reasons unknown, he takes it upon himself to solve the case. He comes in and out of the story at certain points, but never leaves too long to let the reader forget that he's still on the case. He becomes probably the only cop someone like Wally could ever trust.
As for the villains, we have Tiger and Klesko. Tiger is a criminal who is in awe of the legendary status of his father Klesko, a powerful arms dealer. They form a deadly duo, storming their way through america with the ferocity of a raging bull. Klesko himself is pretty much a savage beast made human. He always seems to be holding back a murderous rage and more than eager to spill blood, with his bare hands if necessary. Honestly, when I first read the chapter of this monster escaping prison, I was wondering how in the hell Wally was supposed to deal with this super villain? While later chapters mentioned she knows some martial arts, it still wasn't convincing me that she would actually survive going a few rounds with him. Luckily the story never goes into that and acknowledges that Wally has no chance against him in anything other than a gunfight.
Tiger is more level-headed and more knowledgeable of American life and is basically Klesko's translator since the arms dealer speaks little English. There are many times where he has to stop Klesko from killing someone because it's a person they might need for later use There was a funny scene where one of Wally's aliases turned out to be Aretha Franklin, which made Tiger hold back a chuckle since he knew it was a fake name, but didn't want to anger Klesko and make him feel stupid.
I found the book to be very entertaining and worth a read if you like thrillers mixed with a bit of mystery. The story takes a lot of twists and turns as Wally gets closer and closer to finding her mother, as well as all the details that led them to America, and how this eventually ties to Klesko. It's a very fun ride, and once you get invested in Wally's search, you'll never want to put it down til you get the end. Definitely giving this one two thumbs up.
Now, I'm not sure how long I'll take to read Tiger, but look forward to a review on that one as Wally's adventures continue.
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