Au Revior Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

This book is the print version of an action-packed adventure video game or PG movie--short on character development and complex plot but strong in entertainment value and suitability for short attention spans.  As long as the reader can tolerate a large dose of gratuitous violence, that is. Personally, I enjoyed it.  The book opens with a scene in which Perry's date to the prom has just shot him. We then get the back story. Perry Stormaire is a high school senior on the verge of graduating. Following his father's wishes, he dropped competitive swimming and focused on debate club and working part-time at his father's law firm while studying hard to earn decent SAT scores and a 3.3+ GPA.  His efforts have earned him a place on Columbia University's wait list.  Not good enough, but if he can persuade his father's boss to write a letter of recommendation, he just might make it.  His father has one more demand --take the Lithuanian foreign exchange student staying at their house to the prom.  Gobi has been a difficult guest--a socially awkward and unattractive girl who accentuates her shortcomings with her wardrobe choices and her secretiveness.  Nonetheless, she has asked to go to the prom and wants Perry to be her date.  Of course, Gobi is not what she seems.  In reality, she is a gorgeous, highly trained assassin who plans to use prom night to track down and execute five people. As an unwilling accomplice, Perry must deal with a threatening pair of Russian mobsters, witness brutal murders, steal cars and survive high speed chases, all while becoming increasingly attracted to his killer date.  Fast paced, with occasional humor and hints of romance, Au Revoir is a good bet for a short break from media entertainment.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Easily the most enjoyable read of the summer, this tale of treachery in Britain's Secret Service for supernatural threats centers on an agent who has quite literally lost her mind and must "catch up" to what's going on via a series of letters written by her brain's previous occupant before one of the organization's other agents kills her. Myfawny Thomas comes to learn that she is an upper-level bureaucrat within the governmental Chequy organization with a particular talent for neutralizing the nervous systems of anyone who threatens her. Her fellow agents include one who releases nerve gas through his skin, a contortionist, one who can liquify and reform metal with his bare hands, a vampire, and Gestalt--one mind that can move himself/herself among four bodies.  As she struggles to identify the traitor from the clues her former self has left her, Myfawny must also take on immediate threats from the Chequy's arch enemy, the Grifters, including a rapidly growing fungus with telepathic communication powers. Action scenes are written with panache as the heroine must figure out how to use her powers on the fly while conquering her gag reflex at the same time.

Myfawny is actually two distinct characters: the pre-amnesiac one is shy and submissive, but a tenacious investigator of the organization's financial history and current practices.  The  present amnesiac is  tough and assertive, with quite a temper and a dry sense of humor.  Myfawny's potential antagonists are less well-developed, but are given just enough background to make them interesting beyond their peculiar skill sets.  The Rook is an entertaining blend of roller coaster action, mystery, and the supernatural. O'Malley adds a totally new spin on the problems of memory loss.  Fun, fun, fun!!