The Ninja Daughter

September 23, 2019
Set in Los Angeles, Eldridge’s wild ride of a first novel marries Kill Bill with Killing Eve. Lily Wong, who has secretly become a ninja, has dedicated herself to protecting women since her sister’s murder. First, she must stop a Ukrainian gangster, Dmitry Romanko, from abusing his wife and son, and return them to the safety of a shelter for abused women. Second, Lily takes on the enigmatic thug J Tran, who has created a scandal by publicly assaulting cocktail waitress Mia Mikkelson. Mia fears he’ll return to kill her. After Lily witnesses Tran fatally stab two men on a Koreatown street, she learns that the brazen killer hides a lot of secrets, including some that point to several more bodies, notably including 20-year-old Julie Stanton, the mayor’s goddaughter, who recently died in an apparent hiking accident. Lily eventually identifies a villain behind Julie’s death worse than any she’s previously encountered. Readers will want to see more of the feisty Lily. Eldridge expertly mines both domestic suspense and action thriller.

Starred review from November 1, 2019

After her sister is raped and killed, Chinese Norwegian Lily Wong devotes herself to becoming kunoichi--a female ninja. She vows to protect women and children victims of abuse. When plans to help a Ukrainian woman and her young son flee an abusive mobbed-up husband go awry, Lily is drawn to a newspaper article about another woman in need--Mia Mikkelsen. As she investigates the man Mia has accused of trying to kill her, Lily faces a tangled web that leads back to the Ukrainian mob. Who is in danger? How does a proposed transit route fit in the picture? And why is she drawn to the mysterious and dangerous J. Tran? Eldridge's debut thriller introduces readers to a heroine for the #MeToo era and deftly explores the dangers of Lily's avocation, the challenges of familial relationships, and the need to continue to fight the abuse and exploitation of others. VERDICT Readers who enjoy an action-packed adventure that doesn't neglect character development and speaks truth about the human condition will welcome this quirky, passionate, and endearingly relatable protagonist.--Julie Ciccarelli, Tacoma P.L., WA

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019
Lily Wong is living a double life, striving to appear as the perfect daughter to her matchmaking Chinese mother while secretly training in ninjutsu and providing rescue and security services to a Los Angeles domestic-violence shelter. Crushed after a young mother refuses the shelter's protection and returns to her husband, Lily finds a welcome distraction in the Mia Mikkelsen case. For weeks, the media have relentlessly spotlighted the trial of charismatic J. Tran, accused of breaking into Mikkelsen's apartment and attempting to kill her. When the case is unexpectedly dismissed, Mia is stalked by reporters and living in fear of Tran's return. Protecting the apparently justice-spurned Mia Mikkelsen is exactly the job Lily needs to shake off the blues. But her protection detail veers into uncharted territory when she discovers Tran's role in a bloody extortion plot involving the L.A. transit authority. Tough, snarky, and grudgingly vulnerable, Lily Wong is an irresistible heroine set perfectly against a quirky millennial L.A. backdrop.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)