While Strike Me Down certainly held my attention from the first page it just wasn't my favorite by the author. I think this has a lot to do with the content (which isn't all that thrilling to me) abut not the characters. Simply put, I love the authors work and will continue to read her novels but I just didn't love this one.

Fast paced thriller that will appeal to mystery loving patrons as well as those looking for a fast paced, absorbing story.

Sexy, violent, controversial, heart throbbing page-turner! Let the games begin !
A smart, unconventional, sexy, too much independent and powerful forensics accountant Nora Trier who catches thieves and put them behind the bars is not the kind of heroine we get used to read! Now she is hired to find missing 20 million dollars prize money of anti-corporate feminist athletic empire named “STRIKE”!

But we have a conflict of interest: because this means Nora will work for her idol and trainer Logan Russo: a legendary, vicious, famous kickboxer and her husband, marketing genius of their company Gregg Abbott, the very same man she had a hot, memorable one night stand at Atlanta (Yes, Georgia will be both of their minds forever!) Did you whistle? Yes, it’s getting hot in here so take off all your clothes and keep on singing and dancing because we have some fast paced, entertaining, surprising, twisty crazy train ride in our hands.

It’s so much different from regular thriller books you already read lately. There is betrayal, violence, lots of ass-kicking, powerful heroines, lies and mind games! So get your pop-corn and sodas (my choice is today a chilled delicious glass of Sancerre) sit on your ass and keep flipping the pages. I guarantee that it’s more enjoyable than the last action movies streaming right now or any other criminal series.

The best thing about the book is the other tricked us so many times. We feel like we already found who was the responsible of that great scheme but bammm you feel another punch on your face that you didn’t ever imagine and never ever see it coming. So keep your attention and have fun to be fooled because sometimes killing your spidey senses ( or as I say my spider senses) and turn off your brain cells, not speculating so much is the best way to relax!

I read “Everything You Want me to Be” and “Leave No Trace’ before. I loved both of them and the author really surprised me by trying a new recipe, something original, unique and more fun so I loved the way she created something freshly baked from the oven and I happily devoured it! She achieved a great job!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Atria/Emily Bestler Books for sharing this epic book’s ARC COPY with me and thanks to Mindy Mejia for creating a different story for her previous works and achieving a challenging but successful job.

Strike Me Down is an upcoming novel by Mindy Mejia.
Nora Trier is a forensic accountant who is very good at her job. Her company has been hired by companies worldwide and she has been relentless in bringing down companies and people who have committed financial crimes.
So when Gregg Abbott finds that 20 million is missing from Strike, the fitness company that he and his wife Logan Russo own, Nora seems the perfect person to find it. There is a small complication though. Gregg is a man she had a one night stand with during a recent business trip and she is a member of Strike and has a slight obsession with Logan.
No one else on the team is available since it is the July 4th holiday week and the missing money needs to be found before the upcoming tournament in one week.
Logan Russo is the face of Strike, who began her career as a champion kick boxer and with her husband Gregg built a multimillion dollar company. While the public sees a perfectly matched couple, away from public scrutiny there are cracks.

The book takes a little while in building up the backstory and the parts that deal with the actual crime kept me wanting to find out what happened. There is a lot going on in this book though and some of the relationships are confusing. Nora is in an open marriage but it is brushed on but not explored. I found the whole issue of who Nora was drawn to confusing. I kept putting this aside and coming back to it, the author has woven a tale that includes financial crime investigation and techniques, kickboxing, suicide/murder, affairs, an aging woman’s insecurities and how she uses it to her advantage into an intriguing story. This is a departure from the previous book I read by this author “ Everything You Want Me To Be” which I also recommend. Thank you to #netgalley and #simonabdschuster for the free ebook in exchange for my honest opinion. This is due for release in April.

This book is unlike any I have ever read before. A forensic accountant is hired by a Kickboxing sports company to find out where 20 million dollars disappeared to. Mindy Mejia writes from alternating points of view in this novel and breathes new life into the thriller genre. A must read for anyone who likes a fast paced thriller with a sports theme intertwined into the story. I would recommend this to anyone who wants an in-depth look at the MMA/kickboxing industry as well as how forensic accounting works! Interesting, edge of your seat reading!

Even though it cost her everything in her previous life, Nora doesn't back down from doing what's right. She's a forensic accountant and will stop at nothing to reveal the truth to save a business. Her latest client is almost too close to home. When she's hired by the massive company Strike to find $20 million in missing prize money for an upcoming event, she only has a few days to find it before everything is lost for Strike. However, the further she digs, the more secrets she uncovers between the owners, husband and wife Greg and Logan. As they pit against each other in private but put the game face on in public for their millions of fans, will the investigation bring them closer together or will it cost them everything they've built for 20 years?

Forensic accounting and...kickboxing. Mindy Meija departs from the electrifying thriller elements of her previous novels here and it's difficult to empathize with these characters. This is a strong read but not as intriguing or richly developed as the author's earlier (wonderful!) novels.

Nora Trier is a forensic accountant. She is used to finding missing money in corrupt companies. So, when she is consulted by Gregg Abbott, part owner of Strike, to locate $20,000,000 in missing prize money, she is intrigued. Her partner encourages her to take the case. Strike, a small empire of kickboxing gyms was started by the legendary Logan Russo. She is the face of Strike. Her husband, Gregg is the marketing genius behind Strike. In just a few days, they are to have a huge competition to find the kickboxing champion, a new face for Strike. The prize - $20,000,000. It's too late to change the event details. The money needs to be located. Where can it be? Who is responsible? What happens next?
This is not my favorite Mindy Mejia book, but a good read nonetheless.
I received an advance copy for review. All opinions are my own.

This was not what I was expecting and maybe I'm rating it lower because of that. I found this to be less a thriller/mystery and more of a legal investigation. The plot was well thought out and twisty but I never felt truly invested in it. In addition, I found all the characters wholly unlikable, which works in some cases but in this situation I felt I needed someone to root for. A well written book but in my opinion not her best.

Nora Trier catches thieves, as a forensic accountant and partner in the Minneapolis firm, she was hired by Strike to find a thief who stole prize money for a kickboxing tournament. It’s Nora’s job to find the money.

With very few female superstars in martial arts Logan has become the image people recognize in the Strike company. Strike Down is an amateur martial arts sports competition where the entire world is invited to participate. Strike was a company built by Greg using Logan’s celebrity image to brand it.

Overall:
I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of reading about kickboxing or finance. I was thrilled to read a book about thieves and the manners in which they are caught and why they steal. However, this wasn’t a story about thieves. This was a story about stolen money.
The authors definition of thrilling is different from mine. I’m not able to check the necessary items off my list to qualify this as a thriller. First it’s not fast paced action. Second the kickboxing and finance angle was boring. Thirdly this round about way with finding the thief is a bigger circle than I’m used to dealing with. It’s like taking the bus and stopping every mile to pick up people. This circle includes a variety of stops along the way picking up new characters adding new relationships, and running a few errands.
When you break it down into sections you have a story where you learn about the Strike business and all its employees. Then you investigate every aspect of the business looking for cracks. Once the business is investigated you look at each individual and delve into personal lives for motive. In a nutshell a lengthy process of business ventures.
I needed less business tactics and more investigating tactics. The tournament was a huge distraction to the investigation adding unnecessary drama.

I absolutely loved "Leave No Trace" and "Everything Yo Want Me to Be." This book not so much. I would give it 2.5 stars. Didn't care for the story or the characters. The characters were just unlikable. Nora especially. I felt like there could have been more about Nora and her husband. So much of the story seemed unbelievable. There were definitely twists and turns and I never knew who to believe. Corbett?? Would that really happen with him? All the MMA and the forensic accounting stuff just didn't hold my interest.

Give the book a try, especially is you loved the author's previous books. This just wasn't for me. I look forward to reading more books by the author, since I LOVED her previous books.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Speaking as a forensic accountant who specializes in internal fraud and embezzlement investigations, I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it was a bit unrealistic and over the top, especially with the personal drama between Gregg and Nora. It was a bit obvious to me who had done it because the entire time I assumed I was being purposely misled. The book has a lot of potential but it fell short of my expectations.

I admit as an accountant and former auditor I had high hopes for this book and was excited to read it knowing the main character, Nora, is a CPA. In Strike Me Down, Nora and her company are asked to do a forensic audit of a company that claims $20 million has gone missing. When Nora first meets the owner she knows she has a conflict of interest, however believes she can still perform her duties as the partner in charge of the engagement.

Although I found the story interesting and how Nora and her team perform the forensic audit, the backstories of the characters really slow down the book. Every time the story diverts in to a character's past, I found myself becoming less and less interested. There are a lot of twists and unreliable narrators, so you don't know who is telling the truth. If you want to read a book with some kick-ass females, definitely pick this one up!

Strike Me Down is the latest book by Mindy Mejia. Ms Mejia gives us the story in several different voices and points of view, and also keeps the reader guessing as to who is "the bad guy". Some edge of the seat moments. I want to thank Net Galley and Atria Books for the early copy to review.

Nora Trier was a partner at Pinnacle, an elite forensic accounting firm. She had the reputation of being ruthless in the pursuit of millions of dollars hidden around the world.

She also worked out at Strike, a feminist martial arts gym near her Minneapolis offices. She idolized Logan Russo, the owner of the gym empire and often attended sessions that Logan conducted. So it was a surprise when Gregg Abbott , Logan’s husband and her sole partner in the privately held gym empire, asked Norah’s firm for help. $20 million was missing from Strike’s accounts and was needed within a week for prize money for a large event. Logan had been the face of Strike since its inception but was interested in finding her successor.

Nora was very close to Corbett, another partner at Pinnacle, and she confided a secret connection that she had with one of the Strike owners. However he decided to give her the assignment to lead the search for the missing funds.

This book examines the business of martial arts training and its appeal to fitness enthusiasts. It is. A page turner that has a twist at the end.

I have read one of her books, and the rest are on my to-read list. That being said, from what I can tell this book is a departure of any of her previous novels. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I enjoyed the previous one I had read. The writing style still draws you in, but the plot just wasn't my type of thing I would normally gravitate to.

This was a quick read and a thriller and the main character was bad ass! Nora catches thieves, she is a forensic accountant who hunts down millions of dollars for clients the world over. Logan and Gregg own Strike, a feminist athletic empire. Days before an important tournament the prize money goes missing. Nora comes into play here and secrets and thrills abound as she hunts down this missing money. She has connections to this empire and so do others, but how do they all play out and where do they connect?

This financial? thriller was good and if this is your cup of tea you will love it. The writing is good and so are the characters.

This is a big departure for this author but it works well. The set-up, the investigation, etc was thoroughly researched and executed. The MC is awesome and I rooted for her the entire time! Definitely an entertaining and thrilling read!

This is a different kind of thriller for me. Sports and Forensic accounting are not something that I have given much thought. So each revealing piece was a surprise. I liked that the story was different and grabbed by attention. The twists and turns were amazing. The ending was spectacular! A real page turner!

I struggled through out this book based on my lack of knowledge on two of the main "careers" featured in this book. I enjoyed the story and was able to follow it easily.

3.5 stars

This is a book that wastes no time grabbing your attention. After reading the blurb, you have a fair idea of the initial set-up. Then you read the first few pages. Wait…what? No worries, that’s just a little taste of what’s to come. The story then goes back in time to the previous week & how it all began.

Nora Trier used to be your average CPA. That was before she was named as the whistle-blower in a case that brought down a major corporation & made her a pariah, both personally & professionally. But her brains & tenacity were just what a man named Jim Parrish was looking for & she soon embarked on a new career as a forensic accountant. Now she’s one of 4 partners in a firm with an impressive reputation for uncovering fraud.

The secret to her success? Opportunity….pressure….rationalization. Find the person with all three & you’ve found your thief.

Which is exactly what their newest client needs. Gregg Abbott & his wife Logan Russo are the sole owners of Strike, a billion dollar athletics empire with a problem. One week from now they are hosting an international kick boxing tournament that is sold out. Just one tiny issue…the $20 million prize purse is missing.

Nora has reservations about taking the job & we soon learn why. But her partners are keen & in short order, she’s heading an investigation into the company that will dig up all it’s dirty little secrets.

I was a huge fan of this author’s previous book so was thrilled to get my grubby mitts on this one. Just a heads up…this is a big departure. Initially the investigation takes a backseat as it’s interspersed with extensive history on the principal characters including their childhoods, relationships & memories. This was a bit frustrating for a couple of reasons. First, the opening pages piqued my spidey senses so I was desperate for present day events to unfold. Second, despite all the personal information we’re given, oddly enough I never really connected with any of the characters. Part of that is necessary as it soon becomes clear at least one of them is lying. By obscuring their inner thoughts & motivations, the reader is kept guessing as to who did what until the final pages. But it also prevented me from feeling like I got to know them.

Nora is a coolly professional woman with no time or talent for social skills. She wears her business suits like armour but that facade begins to crack when her personal connections to the investigation threaten everything she’s worked for. As events take a deadly turn, a different Nora begins to emerge as she’s forced to fight for her life.

The investigative aspect of the plot is very well done. There’s enough detail re: accounting practices & financial data to allow you to understand what they’re doing but it never feels didactic. The story behind the missing $20 million is full of twists, lies & hidden agendas. All the characters have rational explanations for their actions. So who’s telling the truth? I’m betting your won’t have it completely figured out before you reach the big finale.