Title: Strike Me Down
Author: Mindy Mejia
Published: April 2020, Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages
Source: Negalley via Publisher
Summary:
From the critically acclaimed author of Leave No Trace, the “nail-biting page-turner that grabs you early and never lets go” (The Real Book Spy), comes a visceral thriller where a high stakes crime triggers a woman’s complicated and potentially deadly search for the truth.
Nora
Trier catches thieves. As a forensic accountant and partner in her
downtown Minneapolis firm, she’s unearthed millions in every corner of
the world. She prides herself on her independence, the most essential
currency of accounting, until her firm is hired by Strike.
An
anti-corporate, feminist athletic empire, Strike is owned by Logan
Russo, a brash and legendary kickboxer, and her marketing genius
husband, Gregg Abbott. They’re about to host a major kickboxing
tournament with twenty million dollars in prize money, and the chance
for the champion to become the new face of the company. Gregg suspects
his wife already has a new face in mind—a young trainer named Aaden, for
whom Logan feels an unexpected connection.
Days before the
tournament begins, it’s discovered that the prize money is missing.
Gregg hires Nora’s firm to find both the thief and the money but Nora
has a secret connection to Strike that threatens her independence. Her
partner pressures her into taking the case anyway, hinting he has
information about Strike that could change the course of the
investigation in a shocking and deadly way.
A tense and unpredictable thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last page, Strike Me Down reveals
the remarkable power of Mindy Mejia’s writing which “crosses back and
forth between exquisite literary descriptions and thrilleresque escapes
and acts of violence” (New York Journal of Books).
My thoughts: I’ve been a fan of Mindy Mejia’s writing ever since reading Everything You Wanted Me To Be. I even got to meet Mindy this past fall at Bouchercon and she is just delightful. I always love getting to meet authors and tell them how much I love their writing and books!
This book was so unique in a number of ways and pulled me in right from the start. I loved that it dealt with forensic accounting and a kick-boxing circuit. On top of that, our major characters were strong female leads…I love a good thriller that puts not only one but two strong females in each other’s path. You know there’s going to be some good backstory there and that nothing is what you think when it comes to either one.
I love a good cat and mouse game and when you put a time limit on that, it just ups the stakes. This was such a good financial thriller and usually, I’m not one for that, but again, it was the author and the unique premise that really sold me on this and I loved every minute of it. This is such a good entertaining, thrilling read – perfect to escape into with all that is going on right now in the world. It’s high-stakes and high energy and has an ending I was definitely not expecting. I absolutely recommend picking this one up – you won’t be sorry!
