Cinderella Story

"Cinderella Story" by Allen Kim Lang is a humorous science fiction tale set in the dawn of the 1960s that grapples with identity, spying, and how strange modern life can be within the walls of an odd bank. The story journeys into the world of Orison McCall, a government spy who goes undercover to discover the mysteries of a strange bank that masks its activities with a strange exterior. She starts her new job at the William Howard Taft National Bank, where the staff act strangely, such as requiring people to wear earmuffs. While working as a newspaper reader, she gets caught up in a plot with the bank, secretly run by aliens under the sneaky Dink Gerding. Orison has funny and serious interactions with other characters, like Dink’s crazy brother Kraft and the showy Auga Vingt, she finds out that the bank is really about making fake money and taking over the galaxy. In the end, Orison must deal with her growing feelings for Dink and what it means for them be in charge of a huge empire.