Bruce Borgos follows The Bitter Past, with another fast-paced, unrelenting thriller. Shades of Mercy is intense, with unforgettable characters, beginning with Sheriff Porter Beck.
As a government RPA, Remotely Piloted Aircraft, is hijacked and explodes over a seventeen-year-old’s birthday party in the high Nevada desert, Sheriff Beck and his new deputy, a dog named Columbo, are rushing to the scene of an emergency. He’s not in time to save one of his childhood best friends from a drug overdose. He shouldn’t even have been driving at the time, due to the continued onslaught of his Retinitis Pigmentosa, resulting in his night blindness. But, he shares the grief felt by his friend’s family.
The next day, a special agent from the Air Force shows up, recruiting Beck to accompany his to the ranch owned by Jesse Roy, Porter’s other childhood friend. They find Jesse facing a crater where his prize bull was destroyed by the hijacked RPA. The whole scene feels off to the sheriff. Why was a bull targeted? Why did the government accept responsibility so easily? And who were all the Mexicans on Jesse’s ranch? Beck feels as if everyone is lying to him.
Maybe the person who is closest to telling him the truth is an incarcerated sixteen-year-old named Mercy Vaughn. She’s a brilliant hacker who doesn’t answer his questions, but seems to want to communicate with him. And, she’s the Air Force’s primary suspect in the hijacking of the RPA. When Mercy disappears from a road crew, all hell breaks loose as Beck’s small team, the Air Force, and mysterious foreign agents all search for the missing teen.
It’s an intense follow-up to The Bitter Past. Illegal drugs, violent deaths, computer hacking, foreign agents, arms and drug smuggling, the Mexican cartel, and Nevada wildfires all combine in the fast-paced novel. Although the storyline might not be as straightforward as the first book, it’s still compelling.
Kudos to Borgos for his characters, and the number of strong women in the cast. Beck is supported by a female deputy, his sister, Brinley, a weapons master, Charlie Blue Horse from the Dept. of Public Safety, and, of course, Mercy. Women are quite often forgotten in the action of a thriller. Not in Shades of Mercy.
Bruce Borgos’ website is https://bruceborgos.com/
Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos. Minotaur Books, 2024. ISBN 9781250848093 (hardcover), 352.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received an ARC from the publisher in order to review the book for a journal.
I liked THE BITTER PAST a lot. Since you mentioned hacking, I take it this doesn’t have 1950s flashbacks like the previous book. Looking forward to it.
Sounds great. Will read The Bitter Past first!
You’re right, Kim. You should read The Bitter Past first.
You’re right, Jeff. This one doesn’t have flashbacks.
I loved The Bitter Past. I am so looking forward to this second in the series. Very glad to hear you liked it.
And, Kevin Tipple likes it, too, Karen. I hope you do!
Very much enjoyed The Bitter Past. I am less than a quarter from the end of this one and am very much enjoying it. This one might be better.
Finished this afternoon. Heck of a read.
Wasn’t it, Kevin? I like this series.
Me too.
I finally got the review written, Scott typed, and I just set up my deal for Tuesday.
If you had not personally recommended The Bitter Past to me long ago, I probably would not have read that or this one. With so many books here, and the state I am in these days, I miss things. Thank you again..
You’re welcome, Kevin! I’m so glad I could suggest one you might not have otherwise found. I like this series and Beck.