Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

As if it’s not bad enough that Lithuanian foreign exchange student Gobi isn’t the kind of girl Perry imaged sharing his senior year with, he is commanded by his parents to take her to the prom on the same night that his band, Inchworm, has the chance to play for an agent. When Gobi comes out of her room in a traditional Lithuanian costume and headscarf, the reader is sympathetic and amused.

But Gobija isn’t who she appears to be. She’s been staying with the family undercover. She’s an international, highly trained assassin, bent on revenge. This is one prom night Perry will never forget. This is crazier than having a date with Stephen King’s Carrie.

After stealing Perry’s dad’s Jaguar, and kidnapping Perry, Gobi demands to be taken to New York where she engineers captures and killings; scenes are exploding with machine guns and helicopters. Everything you can imagine would happen on a night out with an assassin ensues. This is violent, but it’s fantastical, the good guys v. bad guys over-the-top stuff of Hollywood that wouldn’t be logical or possible in life. Gobi is a sort of female (crazy European chick) Bruce Willis. You know she’s going to be the ‘good guy,’ but you have to wait to find out why she’s on this mission and how it involves Perry.

Of course, our protagonist has to grow, and Perry changes a lot on this night out. He has always been under the thumb of his high-power lawyer dad, and Gobi thinks it’s time he manned up. Perry’s dad wants him to attend Columbia University (very prestigious) and Perry is on the waiting list. Schreiber cleverly structures this novel by beginning each chapter with an essay question from an application to a prestigious university. Then the wild action in the chapter—each chapter an event from the night in New York—answers that question in an unexpected way.

Just wild, crazy, outlandish adventure for mature readers. To guys who have a hard time finding a book they want to read—read this.