Daughter from the Dark, by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
A strange girl with a violin and a murderous teddy bear.
Harper Voyager, 2006, 304 pages
Late one night, fate brings together DJ Aspirin and 10-year-old Alyona. After he tries to save her from imminent danger, she ends up at his apartment. But in the morning sinister doubts set in. Who is Alyona? A young con artist? A plant for a nefarious blackmailer? Or perhaps a long-lost daughter Aspirin never knew existed? Whoever this mysterious girl is, she now refuses to leave.
A game of cat-and-mouse has begun.
Claiming that she is a musical prodigy, Alyona insists she must play a complicated violin piece to find her brother. Confused and wary, Aspirin knows one thing: He wants her out of his apartment and his life. Yet every attempt to get rid of her is thwarted by an unusual protector: Her plush teddy bear that may just transform into a fearsome monster.
Alyona tells Aspirin that if he would just allow her do her work, she’ll leave him - and this world. He can then return to the shallow life he led before her. But as outside forces begin to coalesce, threatening to finally separate them, Aspirin makes a startling discovery about himself and this ethereal, eerie child.
Is she a fey child, a fallen angel, or a delusional runaway?
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My reviews of The Scar, Vita Nostra, Age of Witches.
My complete list of book reviews.
Harper Voyager, 2006, 304 pages
Late one night, fate brings together DJ Aspirin and 10-year-old Alyona. After he tries to save her from imminent danger, she ends up at his apartment. But in the morning sinister doubts set in. Who is Alyona? A young con artist? A plant for a nefarious blackmailer? Or perhaps a long-lost daughter Aspirin never knew existed? Whoever this mysterious girl is, she now refuses to leave.
A game of cat-and-mouse has begun.
Claiming that she is a musical prodigy, Alyona insists she must play a complicated violin piece to find her brother. Confused and wary, Aspirin knows one thing: He wants her out of his apartment and his life. Yet every attempt to get rid of her is thwarted by an unusual protector: Her plush teddy bear that may just transform into a fearsome monster.
Alyona tells Aspirin that if he would just allow her do her work, she’ll leave him - and this world. He can then return to the shallow life he led before her. But as outside forces begin to coalesce, threatening to finally separate them, Aspirin makes a startling discovery about himself and this ethereal, eerie child.
Is she a fey child, a fallen angel, or a delusional runaway?
Also by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: My reviews of The Scar, Vita Nostra, Age of Witches.
My complete list of book reviews.