Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Mercy Kill-Lori Armstrong

Mercy Kill
Lori Armstrong
Touchstone, Jan 28 2011, $15.00
ISBN 9781416590972

Late at night in South Dakota, former army sniper Mercy Gunderson steps outside of Clementine’s bar where she works only to find the corpse of Major Jason "J-Hawk" Hawley. J-Hawk, who saved Mercy’s life in Indonesia, was shot and stabbed.

Mercy’s boyfriend Eagle River County Sheriff Mason Dawson seems to perform a perfunctory investigation. Mercy decides she owes her buddy so she begins making inquiries. She uses J-Hawk’s job as a spokesperson for Titan Oil on their controversial pipeline project as the starting point. However, Mercy begins to uncover some nasty stuff about her late hero that makes her wonder if she even knew J-Hawk. At the same time, FBI Indian County Special Crimes Unit Agent Shay Turnbull also investigates the homicide and the ties to Titan Oil.

The sequel to No Mercy is a super whodunit as the former soldier refuses to believe the evidence that her hero did not live up to the image she has of him. The story line is fast-paced especially when the subplot focuses in the present. The speed decelerates somewhat when the story line concentrates on Mercy’s military past; although that also enhances understanding of the heroine’s motives and feelings with “the statue on the pedestal comes crumbling to the ground” (Blessed is the Rain by Brooklyn Bridge).

Harriet Klausner

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