Martha Grimes, Dakota

Dakota

Martha Grimes

NAL, Feb 2009, $15.00

ISBN: 9780451225894

Andi Oliver still suffers from amnesia (see BITING THE MOON) as she aimlessly wanders North Dakota. Following her rescuing of a donkey, Andi decides she needs a respite from her quest to find out her real name. So she settles in Kingdom.

However, she is hardly in her temporary digs when she runs into a dispute with local bullies. She obtains a job at Klavan's pig farm where the owner and workers mistreat the animals; Andi plans to change that practice starting with the nearby slaughterhouse for the inhumane cruel treatment of animals. However, as she stirs up the townsfolk dividing them between for or against her, a psychopath wants to kill her and someone else plans to torture her into revealing secrets she no longer knows.

Although the amnesia theme does not move at all and a late spin seems implausible, DAKOTA is an exciting suspense thriller especially when the focus is on the mistreatment of animals under the guise of feeding humans. The story line is fast-paced as Andi takes a respite from her quest only to find a social issue of cruelty that drives her to take action. Fans will enjoy her DAKOTA caper.