{Review} STRIKE PRICE by L.A. Starks

ISBN #: 978-0991110704

Page Count: 356

Copyright: March 1, 2014

Publisher: Nemaha Ridge Publishing Group LLC; Revised Edition

Description:

(Taken from back cover)

When several people involved in bidding for an oil refinery are murdered, the situation becomes far more than a billion-dollar business deal.

A self-made woman in the oil industry, Lynn Dayton fights to save lives when escalating attacks reveal a hired assassin's plan to disrupt oil trade, wreck world economies, and draw another global power into dangerous confrontation with the United States.

Are the killers rogue civil servants challenging the Cherokees' financial independence, Sansei operatives again wreaking violence, or sinister investors swapping the bidding war for a real one?

Lynn Dayton and Cherokee tribal executive Jesse Drum must learn to trust each other so they can find and stop the killers. Can sobering up really be fatal? How have so many of the deaths been made to appear accidental? Who's creating weapons with modern poisons and ancient Cherokee arts?

Charlene's Review:

Lynn Dalton, Executive vice president for TriCoast oil refineries, has been tasked by the Board to sell the Tulsa refinery. Trying to plan a wedding and care for her sick father, Lynn has enough to handle, but when her meetings with interested parties result in mysterious deaths, Lynn must ultimately decide who among her partners are trustworthy in order to survive. As the death toll mounts, Lynn searches for a killer that may be closer than she thinks.

There is a whole lot going on in this book. From the background of oil refining to Cherokee native history, and interpersonal relationships, Ms. Starks took on an impressive venture. I was, on occasion, overwhelmed by the logistics of oil refineries, but it obvious that Ms. Starks knows her business. Cherokee history also played a huge part. Including a compendium on Oklahoma’s Native American Nations at the end of the book allowed the reader to understand more of the characters in the story.

Ms. Starks has an eye for detail and richly paints a picture of the Oklahoma landscape and its people. The insight given through the killers mind is especially riveting, as the reader will be far into the story before everything falls together and the killer is unmasked. When its finally revealed, it is done with such subtlety that it is almost an afterthought. Strike Price was a bit too technical for this reader and took a bit longer to finish, but the characters make up for it and it is very well written.

*A paperback copy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.