The Ninja Daughter

by Tori Eldridge

Overview

The Ninja Daughter is an action-packed thriller about a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja with Joy Luck Club family issues who fights the Los Angeles Ukrainian mob, sex traffickers, and her own family to save two desperate women and an innocent child. After her sister is raped and murdered, Lily Wong dedicates her life and ninja skills to the protection of women. But her mission is complicated. Not only does she live above the Chinese restaurant owned by her Norwegian father and inspired by the recipes of her Chinese mother, but she has to hide her true self from her Hong Kong tiger mom who is already disappointed in her daughter's less than feminine ways, and who would be horrified to know what she had become. But when a woman and her son she escorted safely to an abused women’s shelter return home to dangerous consequences, Lily is forced to not only confront her family and her past, but team up with a mysterious—and very lethal—stranger to rescue them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947993693
Publisher:	Polis Books
Publication date:	11/05/2019
Series:	Lily Wong , #1
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,046,702
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Tori Eldridge is the Anthony, Lefty, and Macavity Awards-nominated author of the acclaimed Lily Wong series: The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, and The Ninja Betrayed (out 9/14/21). Her short stories have been published in horror, dystopian, and other literary anthologies, and her narrative poem appears in the inaugural reboot of Weird Tales magazine. Tori’s screenplay The Gift earned a semi-finalist spot for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. Before writing, she performed as an actress, singer, dancer on Broadway, television, and film. Tori holds a fifth-degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninjutsu and has traveled the U.S. teaching ninja martial arts and women’s empowerment. Visit her website at https://torieldridge.com.

Editorial Reviews

09/23/2019

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. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Outstanding Praise for THE NINJA DAUGHTER

NOMINATED FOR THE ANTHONY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

NOMINATED FOR THE LEFTY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL

NOMINATED FOR THE MACAVITY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST MYSTERY

Named one of the "Best Mystery Books of 2019" by The South Florida Sun Sentinel

"If you love a heroine who's tough, brilliant, and never runs from a fight, look no further. THE NINJA DAUGHTER is your gal. Tori Eldridge introduces the warrior-sleuth you'll want fighting by your side."—Tess Gerritsen, NYT bestselling author of THE SHAPE OF NIGHT

"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...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."—Library Journal (Starred), Debut Pick of the Month, November

"THE NINJA DAUGHTER is a remarkably fresh, intense thriller, and Lily Wong is one hell of a new hero. I want this Ninja on my side. Tori Eldridge is redefining the genre.” —J.T. Ellison, NYT bestselling author of TEAR ME APART

"Eldridge’s wild ride of a first novel marries Kill Bill with Killing Eve. Readers will want to see more of the feisty Lily. Eldridge expertly mines both domestic suspense and action thriller." —Publishers Weekly

"Tough, snarky, and grudgingly vulnerable, Lily Wong is an irresistible heroine set perfectly against a quirky millennial L.A. backdrop." —Booklist

"The story of a modern-day ninja warrior following the code of the #MeToo movement, The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge is as impactful as a throwing star." —Criminal Element

“Tori Eldridge brings serious game to the thriller genre with THE NINJA DAUGHTER. Action-packed, devious, and with a lead character you’ll truly care about. This debut kicks ten kinds of ass—highly recommended!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of DEEP SILENCE and V-WARS

"Lily Wong, the heroine of Tori Eldridge's debut thriller, THE NINJA DAUGHTER, is Jack Reacher—if Reacher were petite, female, and Asian—smart, skilled, and relentless; a passionate fighter on behalf of women who are in too deep to save themselves. THE NINJA DAUGHTER is an exceptional first novel, offering readers a tense and fascinating look into a culture and a world that most of us have never seen. I loved this book!”—Karen Dionne, international bestselling author of THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER

"An exhilarating thrill ride! Lily Wong is a champion to the underdog—smart, brave, and a powerful force to reckon with. I loved her!"—Liv Constantine, internationally bestselling author of THE LAST MRS.PARRISH

"With The Ninja Daughter, Tori Eldridge has created a heroine to love... and to fear! Lily's quest to protect the women of L.A. left me breathless, and Eldridge's snappy, down-to-earth prose kept me flipping pages." —Rachel Howzell Hall, author of THEY ALL FALL DOWN and the critically-acclaimed DETECTIVE LOU NORTON SERIES

“Complex and engaging, THE NINJA DAUGHTER is a real page-turner with action aplenty but also depth and heart. Lily Wong makes a vividly intriguing heroine with some serious ninja skills. Charlie Fox would team up with her in a heartbeat.” —Zoë Sharp, author of the CHARLIE FOX THRILLER SERIES

"THE NINJA DAUGHTER is a riveting, rollicking, roller-coaster ride of a thriller. Eldridge's stunningly ambitious debut juggles sub-plots as deftly as it does cultures. As beautifully realized as it is emotionally wrought, THE NINJA DAUGHTER is both striking in its originality and shattering in its ultimate impact." —Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of the CAITLIN STRONG SERIES and the MURDER, SHE WROTE SERIES

"Resourceful and fierce, Lily Wong fights for women who desperately need her help—a true Ninja Warrior. She took me on a wild ride I will never forget."—J. Carson Black, New York Times Bestselling Author of THE SHOP

"Tori Eldridge reinvents Mickey Spillane toughness in THE NINJA DAUGHTER. A thoroughly enjoyable romp with a new literary ball of ninja thunder." —Weston Ochse, award-winning author of SEAL TEAM 666

"THE NINJA DAUGHTER’s flashing steel and unrelenting action take readers on a non-stop thrill ride. Eldridge combines the honor and discipline of Eastern morays with the cynicism and justice-seeking drive of Western lore to create a spellbinding character, Lily Wong. You’ll want this ninja on your side.” —International Bestseller K.J. Howe, author of THE FREEDOM BROKER and SKYJACK

“You’ve never read anything like THE NINJA DAUGHTER before. And the author, Tori Eldridge, is more than qualified to tell the story. A long-time practitioner of martial arts herself, she brings credibility and accuracy to the character of Lily—with just enough artistic license to keep things fun and rollicking. If you like adventure, martial arts, and captivating heroines, THE NINJA DAUGHTER is for you!" — Jack Hoban, Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) and 10th degree black belt in Ninjutsu

“Tori Eldridge’s THE NINJA DAUGHTER is an impressive debut novel—written with heartfelt, personal conviction and a sense-of-place that few first thrillers achieve.” ―Raymond Benson, acclaimed author of THE BLACK STILETTO 5-book serial and BLUES IN THE DARK

"In THE NINJA DAUGHTER, Tori Eldridge serves up a full platter of thrills, featuring an intriguing cross-cultural vigilante with strong ties to her family and a complex and equally compelling assassin as her deadly foil. I hope she brings both back soon."—F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of THE VOID PROTOCOL (The ICE Sequence) and the acclaimed REPAIRMAN JACK series

From the Publisher

Natalie Naudus delivers this first installment in an exciting new series featuring Lily Wong, a martial arts expert who is dedicated to protecting abused women. Lily isn’t your usual L.A. freelancer. Her father, descended from Norwegians, runs the family’s Asian restaurant, while her elegant Chinese mother doesn’t cook at all, and Lily, despite her heritage, turned to Japan to learn her fighting skills. Naudus believably renders a wide variety of accents, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Ukrainian, Norwegian, and Korean, as Lily gets herself into and out of trouble with L.A.’s underworld. Altering her tone and tempo, Naudus distinguishes between narrative and Lily’s thoughts, and completely electrifies the fight scenes. Listeners beware: You’ll have a craving for Asian takeout while awaiting Lily’s next action-packed adventure. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile