Thursday, June 14, 2018

ARC Review: A Merciful Silence by Kendra Elliot

A Merciful Silence
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Mercy Kilpatrick (Book 4)
Publication: Montlake Romance (June 19, 2018)

Description: In the fourth book of the Wall Street Journal bestselling series, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick must unlock the mystery of a mass murder, and the secrets of its silent witness…

For Mercy Kilpatrick, returning to rural Oregon has meant coming to terms with her roots. Raised as a prepper, Mercy is now relying on her survivalist instincts to defend her town from the people the law can’t reach. But this time, an investigation calling up a dark past for her and police chief Truman Daly may be hitting too close to home.

A rainstorm has uncovered the remains of five people—a reprise of the distinctive slaughter of two families twenty years ago. Except the convicted killer is in prison. Is this the case of a sick copycat, or is the wrong man behind bars? One person might have the answer. The lone survivor of the decades-old crimes has returned to town still claiming that she can’t remember a thing about the night she was left for dead. As the search for the truth becomes more dangerous, Mercy fears that the traumatized woman may not have buried her memories at all. She might be keeping them a secret. And there’s a price to be paid for revealing them.

My Thoughts: As this fourth Mercy Kilpatrick books begins, Mercy is recovering from being shot in the thigh. She is also dealing with the anxiety she feels since her hidden cabin and many of her supplies were destroyed in a fire. As a person raised as a prepper, the loss of her place is making her uneasy. She is also having some difficulty letting her boyfriend Truman help with the decisions about the new cabin that is being built. Neither she nor Truman are used to sharing decisions but need to come to terms with it if they want their new relationship to prosper.

Both Mercy as a FBI Agent and Truman as the Chief of Police in Eagle's Bend are busy with their various cases. Mercy is called to a scene where the bones of five people have been discovered having been bludgeoned to death and had their teeth knocked out. This brings to mind a similar case from twenty years earlier where two families were found in their homes murdered the same way. The only problem is that the man convicted of those crimes has been and still is in prison.

As Mercy is looking into those old crimes and tracking down the single survivor who has returned to Eagle's Bend for the first time since the crimes were committed, Truman is dealing with the more ordinary tasks of his day from a traffic stop of a Sovereign Citizen using false ID and illegal license plates to the man who gathers bunches of traffic tickets for parking in front of a fire hydrant by his house to breaking up a bar fight between drunken brothers.

As Mercy struggles to identify the family represented by the bones and wondering why no one has reported them missing, a second family is found in their home killed the same way. Meanwhile, a reporter who has been harassing Mercy turns his eyes to the survivor and opens her up to attacks on social media.

Mercy's and Truman's cases overlap and the tension really builds when Truman goes missing. Mercy realizes how much she has let Truman into her life. After being rejected by her family fifteen years earlier and only now becoming reconciled with them, Mercy isn't good at opening herself up to others. Meanwhile, Truman is in a very dangerous situation.

This was another excellent entry into the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Fans of the series won't want to miss this one.

Favorite Quote:
"It's five o'clock somewhere. Say, I wanted to ask you if you've ever received a letter from a sovereign citizen claiming you owe them money for tramping on their rights?"

Mercy grinned. "Not me personally, but I saw a few when i worked in the Portland office. We had a few judges get them."

"I got one from the guy I pulled over with the fake ID and plates yesterday."

"Awesome! How much money does he want?"

"Three million."

"You just made my day," she stated. The letters had been a big source of amusement at her old office. "Did he use a funky signature?"

"Yep."
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for reminding me that I enjoy this series! I read the first 2 and I think I have this one or the third one on my kindle from NG. I do like how the plot's just a bit different from my average reads because it's the only one with a prepper theme to it.

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