Margaret Douglas has been working in a zoo where she "melds" with the animals. She talks to them and is convinced they talk to her. Margaret was kidnapped by Nicos, a murderous drug dealer, pimp and trafficker in human beings. She escaped from his compound located on his private island, which led her to stay below the radar for three years. Then she is found, and Nicos wants her back because he is expecting a large drug shipment and knows that her strange gift confuses law enforcement's cadre of sniffing dogs. Margaret had successfully done this during her captivity.

Much of the book is centered on the concept of identity and loss. In a timely fashion, Iris Johansen has her characters change identity, lose their identity, struggle with how to "know" another person, and decide if they are telling the truth about who they really are. Margaret's entire self-worth has imploded, which is why she ended up in the zoo.

"Plenty of clues and red herrings are scattered throughout the narrative, helping to make NO EASY TARGET a thoroughly enjoyable book that you will not want to miss."

While questioning Margaret, John Lassiter, who is working for Nicos, says, "... a few of your employers...thought you were some kind of witch doctor. That you actually knew what an animal was thinking, that you could communicate with them." She "hears" a cry for help from somewhere deep in a cave, and insists upon going into the mess to search for whatever is in trouble. It could be a human as easily as it could be an animal. She finds a dog who is dying and names her Juno as she is rescuing her.

Lassiter is livid that his buddy, Cambry, allowed Margaret to go into the collapsed cave. Soon she yells to them to send down a plank. She ties the dog to the piece of wood and gets her to safety. But that is only the beginning; she is going to nurse the retriever back to health. With each experience, the tension rises throughout the narrative.

Lassiter questions Margaret ceaselessly, but to their surprise a bond erupts between them. Margaret decides that the only way to purge Nicos from her life is to confront Lassiter, who is against the idea, even though it is his job to bring her back to the compound. She wins the argument, and they return to Nicos with trepidation.

Nicos is on his yacht waiting for Margaret, and he hits her when they get close enough. She does not let him break down all of the emotional walls she has built to protect herself. As a matter of fact, she keeps telling him to let her go, that she is no longer the young female he captured so long ago.

This complicated and twisty suspenseful novel takes readers to places that are sometimes painful, yet at other times almost loving. Margaret is an interesting character, and despite their evil natures, so are the gangsters who share the spotlight with her. Plenty of clues and red herrings are scattered throughout the narrative, helping to make NO EASY TARGET a thoroughly enjoyable book that you will not want to miss.