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After being introduced to Baby Shark in Robert Fate’s .php>Baby Shark’s High Plains Redemption, I knew I had to go back and start from the
beginning of the series, to learn more about this fascinating character. What I got
is so much more—a story that I never wanted to see end and characters that I didn’t want to let go of.
Seventeen-year-old Kristin Van Dijk watched as a motorcycle gang killed her father then turned on her. They beat and raped her and left her for dead after setting fire to the pool hall where they’d been playing earlier. If Henry Chin hadn’t dragged her out and taken her to the hospital, she never would have survived.
Forced to grow up and get tough much too soon, Kristin is taught to fight, handle guns, and keep from getting killed by “instructors” that Henry hires. Both seek revenge—Henry for his son’s death (Will, the owner of the bar) and Kristin for her father’s death and the loss of her innocence. In the 1950s, a good girl didn’t admit to rape, and she simply did not seek revenge, but Kristin has no intentions of playing nice.
During her training, Kristin learns how to hustle pool like her father. Winning almost every game, she earns the nickname “Baby Shark.” Thanks to her blonde hair, quiet demeanor, and innocent face, men dismiss her as harmless—a fact that will go a long way in helping her exact revenge.
With the help of private detective Otis Millett, Kristin and Henry hunt down the bikers one at a time until they come down to the deadliest one of them all. Kristin draws on an inner strength that keeps getting stronger, and she’ll fight until someone dies—even if that someone is her.
I’ve never wanted a character to get revenge as much as I wanted Baby Shark to. What those men did to her was despicable, and though it forced her to harden her heart, the goodness within still managed to come out in unexpected and often touching moments. Kristin is a girl that good men would take on the world for—and it’s much deserved. You won’t be able to stop yourself from admiring Kristin Van Dijk. In fact, Baby Shark would not have worked as well if not for the author’s skillful characterization. Mr. Fate simply makes you love Kristin, Henry, and Otis—and he makes you despise the biker gang.
With Baby Shark, not only do you get a deep, thoughtful crime novel; you also get plenty of gun fights, action, and harrowing car chases. If you choose to read just one series this year, please make it the Baby Shark series. I promise you’re going to have a fantastic time as you escape into the 1950s and root for Baby Shark’s revenge.
