Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Summary.
"It's about money Clay. It's only ever about money."
Clay Signy is a man frozen in time, forced to replay the moment his older brother died in his arms. He's never been able to shake the smell of that night. He hasn't forgotten the Mustang that Brock was pushed out of either, nor the sticker pasted against the bumper: a bear trap with its jaws spread wide.
Now he lives on autopilot, working in his father's car shop, mixing alcohol with pills to keep the memories at bay. But when a familiar car is delivered to the shop to be serviced by a mysterious young woman, Clay's world is turned upside down.
Kinga Voytek claims a lot of things. She claims she was born in Krakow, Poland and yet she has no accent. She claims to be the only member of a long forgotten monarch, yet she can't name which. She claims to be a trained assassin, yet no one has ever seen her kill (certainly they have seen her try).
No one ever believes Kinga, not even when she shows up hysterical and bloodied after spending a night with Leon Huang. But that's ok, because Kinga always delivers her comeuppance. When she drives Leon's stolen Mustang into Clay's shop, she doesn't realise Clay's wish for vengeance might just be the perfect excuse to take Leon down.
Clay has no stomach for violence but thankfully, Kinga does. When their paths collide, their mutual goal is complicated by their conflicting ideas on revenge. Kinga is hellbent on death but Clay sees a different path to destruction. Will they overcome their differences? Or will their obsession with revenge turn them both blind?
Logline.
In which Clay Signy, a down on his luck mechanic must join forces with the violent and unpredictable Kinga Voytek in order to avenge his brother's death.
Mature Themes.
This story will include explicit language, drug use and depictions of violence. Themes of sexual assault, domestic violence, death, grief will be explored. This novel also touches upon aspects of organized crime (triads, human smuggling) for which I have undertaken research in order to provide a detailed representation.
I have cited and will continue to cite any relevant sources I have used in the process of crafting this novel. I write this novel as a member of the Chinese diaspora and have endeavoured to supplement by knowledge with academic sources and first-hand accounts.
Cast.
While this story will contain appropriate character descriptions, here is who I imagine the cast as.
Clay Signy ... Rory Culkin
Kinga Voytek ... HoYeon Jung
Leon Huang ... Andy Lau
Jin Hirano ... Takeshi Kineshiro
Brock Signy ... Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Kelly Pidge ... Molly Ringwald
Obasanjo ... Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Rolf Signy ... Woody Harrelson
Costa ... as described
Russo ... as described
Auntie ... Michelle Yeoh
Ox ... Wang Baoqiang
Authors Note.
Oh wow hi, I'm going to attempt this as best as possible even though the Watty's guidelines are incredibly confusingly written. As most of my work thus far has been fanfiction, I'm not expecting a heap of attention on this but I'm quietly hopeful some of you guys will come along for the ride with me.
This will be a first draft of an original work that I'm publishing in the Action & Thriller section of the Wattys2023 Ongoing category.
To forego any copyright issues, I've made a Google doc with the usual graphics & worldbuilding that I usually do. You can find it via the link on my profile. The cover was made via creative commons assets!
Research Citations.
Kim, Y. C. (1998). Industrial Reform and Labor Backlash in South Korea: Genesis, Escalation, and Termination of the 1997 General Strike. Asian Survey, 38(12), 1142–1160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2645826
Koo, H. (2000). The Dilemmas of Empowered Labor in Korea: Korean Workers in the Face of Global Capitalism. Asian Survey, 40(2), 227–250. https://doi.org/10.2307/3021131
Minns, J. (2001). The Labour Movement in South Korea. Labour History, 81, 175–195. https://doi.org/10.2307/27516810
