BOOK REVIEW

“Strike Me Down” by Mindy Mejia; Emily Bestler Books/Atria (352 pages, $27)

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Leave it to Minneapolis author

Mindy Mejia to make accounting exciting.

Of course, she’s thrown in a $20 million purse in a world kickboxing tournament _ staged at U.S. Bank Stadium, the billion-dollar home of the Minnesota Vikings _ and liberal references to the Twin Cities’ parks, skyway system and Mill City Ruins.

The $20 million purse goes missing days before the start of the world tournament. Nora Trier is the forensic accountant leading the urgent search for the prize money. She’s a great character, flawed and smart, an accomplished kickboxer herself, and she has an idol’s crush on the head of

Strike, the urban gym sponsoring the tournament.

Logan Russo, on billboards all about town, is a fierce dark-haired fighter and the beautiful face of the franchise. Logan and her husband, Gregg, are instantly suspects, as a matter of protocol. Nora herself works out at Strike, so the initial meeting is something like hero worship mixed with CSI.

With Nora and her team, we follow the money through a maze of Caribbean bank accounts, more suspects and the obligatory violence that must come with forensic accounting (who knew?). Will she uncover the prize money in time for Logan Russo to bestow it on the winner, who will become the next face of Strike?

In Mindy Mejia fashion, she stays one step ahead of us until the final page.