The Girl with Ghost Eyes

"A brilliant tale of magic, monsters, and kung fu in the San Francisco Chinatown of 1898 . . . Smoothly mixes Hong Kong cinema with urban fantasy" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
It's the end of the nineteenth century in San Francisco, and the only ones keeping malevolent spiritual forces at bay are the ghost hunters . . .

Li-lin, daughter of a renowned Maoshan Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes—the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father—and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.

When a malignant sorcerer cripples her father, a terrible plot is set in motion, and only Li-lin can stop them. All she has are her martial arts skills, a peachwood sword, her burning paper talismans—and a wisecracking spirit in the form of a human eyeball. Navigating the dangerous back alleys and shadows of Chinatown, Li-lin must battle evil spirits, gangsters, and soulstealers before the hated sorcerer summons an ancient evil that could burn Chinatown to the ground.

With a rich and inventive historical setting, nonstop action, authentic Chinese magic, and bizarre monsters from Asian folklore, The Girl with Ghost Eyes is also the poignant story of a young immigrant trying to find her place under the long shadow of a demanding father and the stigma of widowhood. In a Chinatown caught between tradition and progress, one woman may be the key to saving it all.
"A compelling page-turner . . . a bright new voice in fantasy." —The AV Club