Quicker is a near future SciFi/Thriller whose young heroine Ell Donsaii has a nerve mutation that makes her much quicker than a normal human. She becomes an intrepid athletic phenom who reminds one of David Weber's Honor Harrington. Like Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) Ell is also a mathematical genius who, instead of counting sheep, works on her own theory of quantum mechanics to help her drift off to sleep. At once shy and concerned about her social skills, yet well loved by those around her, she finds herself at the center of a terrorist plot at the Olympics. The terrorists never considered the difficulty of holding a hostage with the unbelievable quickness and athleticism of Ell Donsaii!
A tradition of young, strong, brilliant, female heroines like Honor, Lisbeth, and Katniss Everdeen is continued

Excerpt

“Oh, come one. Just one little kiss.”
She leaned back with a shy grin on her face and looked him in the eye, “Nope, maybe we’ll get to know each other better if we both get into the same academy?”
That reminded Phil that he was never going to see her again, so he got a firmer grip on her shoulder and turned her toward him, leaning in harder. “Oh, come on.”
“I said no!” Ell felt her heart pounding and her world started to slow down. Her gut clenched as she realized what was happening to her. She was falling into the zone and something bad might happen.
Phil mistook her tone for intimidated fear and thought she was about to buckle. He exerted just a little bit more of the power that had won him so many wrestling matches, drawing her closer.
“Stop!” Her hand swung back with a little handbag in it.
He pulled a little harder, laughing inside at the thought of being hit by a purse - right up to the moment it exploded against the side of his face. He staggered back and, though he never saw it coming, a second blast of agony came from his crotch. To his dismay he found himself writhing on the ground, curled about his ravished groin, holding his face, unable to breath. Waves of agony pulsed slowly through him.

Dimly, he expected her to jump in her car and leave. Instead, she leaned down next to him saying, “Oh my God! Phil! I’m so sorry! But you scared me! Oh! You look pretty bad.” he heard her talking and realized she was calling for an ambulance! His first reaction was that that was ridiculous; he’d just been slapped in the face with a purse and kicked in the nuts! By a girl! He’d be fine. Surely, he’d be fine? But his body was telling him differently. To his dismay, he felt like he really did need a doctor. He rolled to his side and threw up his coffee. He was in so much pain he didn’t consider the fact that the police would be interested in the events leading up to his injury. When the ambulance arrived, he tried but couldn’t stand up by himself and to his humiliation; they loaded him on a stretcher like a sack of potatoes. Before the ambulance left for the hospital, the police had arrived and relieved him of his AI. Dimly he heard Ell telling them, “I’m so sorry. He just wanted a kiss. But he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer! I’m so, so sorry. He just seemed so strong. I was really scared.”
“So what happened then?”
“I hit him with my purse.”
“You hit him with your purse!?” The voice was bemused. “And that laid him out like this?”
“Well I hit him really hard. I didn’t want to hit him that hard, but I overreacted. Then when he stepped back, I kicked him in the crotch. I really, shouldn’t have done that ‘cause he’d already let go of me. But he was so strong - I was afraid that he might keep coming after me.”
“You hit him with your purse and you kicked him in the nuts? – Then you called him an ambulance!?” The man was astonished now.
“Well, I’d kicked him awfully hard and he seemed to be having trouble breathing and he threw up. Really, I think he’s a nice guy who just got a little out of control.”
“A nice guy who was a ‘little out of control’? I can’t wait to download