I am so glad you did reply! This was very helpful. I am going with, "Sixteen-yer-old Kiril Tesurk", since I like it better, too - as someone said over on the agentquery board, it flows better. And Deirdre and I both laughed aloud at the image of the cruel Marakis twirling his mustaches! So the adjective is definitely coming out. Not having read The Dragon Tatto, I wasn't aware that readers might even think of Niki as being like that character! And it is all her qualities - her loyalty and affection and strong moral sense, as well as her know-how - that land her in the middle of this plot. But I'm not sure: I have so little room to get the book across that I may just leave her with her mad hacker skills and let any prospective agent discover the rest when they read the full manuscript.

I really do appreciate your input, as always. Thanks!