Gavin is a handsome American who heads to Prague to escape financial problems he’s experiencing in the States. He meets Katka, a gorgeous Czech woman, and they fall in love. Like many women in the Czech Republic, Katka is desperate to escape the poverty that surrounds her and her family. So, along with Gavin and her best friend, Simona, they devise a plan to scam buyers of mail order brides. When Gavin is approached by Sal, a man interested in buying Katka he initially declines. When the potential buyer offers an obscene amount of money for Katka, he can’t resist. He and Katka devise a plan for Kataka to escape during a connection in Amsterdam. But when the buyer tells her about Gavin’s financial woes and promises these mistakes will be erased, Katka decides to stay true to the deal and remains with Sal.
Months after the deal, once Gavin that Katka hasn’t followed through with the plan, he is riddled by guilt. It was he that suggested this deal. He can’t help but think of the future they could have spent together. Gavin uses whateve means necessary and tracks down Katka’s location. Instead of living the life that was promised to her, she’s become an dancer/prostitute. She admits to Gavin why she agreed to this shift in the plan-she loved him so much she was willing to give anything for him to be relieved of the problems he was facing back in the States.
Gavin is ultimately put in the shoes of a buyer and must be willing to give anything in order to get Katka back. But what price is he willing to pay?
To be completely honest, Katka
was difficult for me to get into. The sentences are choppy and the storyline jumps around from the past to the present. But once I became accustomed to this, Katka became easier to read. It’s a very short read, barely over 100 pages. I think if the author added a bit more depth to the characters (perhaps explain a bit more about Gavin’s reason for fleeing to Prague or about the family for which Katka is desperate to provide) Katka would have been a more engaging read. In addition, I believe changing the format so the scenes flow a little more would be beneficial as well. Overall this is a good read, but I don’t think it does the author’s talent justice in the current format.
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I think Katka is an entertaining and seductive novella and honestly, when I start reading a book I don't mind about the format, I mean, a glossy cover or the number of the pages are irrelevant if the narration is boring, and this is not the case of Katka. In my opinion the most fascinating character is Simona, she's sexy,immoral,envious, greedy, she wants so deperately Gavin to be with her. Katka is an adventure on the road to perdition, as a reader I found that the dialogues can create a deep emotional involvement from the first to the last page.
Novellas are a hard format. I usually find that there need to be just a little bit more to them. I love the cover though.
Even though it's short, this doesn't sound like the book for me. Has John selected his next review book?
Well said! I read this book and my review mirrors yours. Overall, not bad, but the format was distracting. And it really left me wanting more.
Very nice review Jenn. Not sure if I am compelled to give it a shot .. or not, but I enjoyed your review.
I might pick this up if the library has it, but I don't think I'm going to seek it out.