A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot [Review]

A Merciful Death (Mercy Kilpatrick #1) by Kendra Elliot
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: June 18, 2018

Mercy Kilpatrick
1. A Merciful Death - Paperback | Kindle
2. A Merciful Truth
3. A Merciful Secret
4. A Merciful Silence
5. A Merciful Fate
6. A Merciful Promise

Kendra Elliot
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event. But the crime scene details are eerily familiar to an unsolved mystery from Mercy’s past.

Sent by the FBI to assist local law enforcement, Mercy returns to Eagle’s Nest to face the family who shunned her while maintaining the facade of a law-abiding citizen. There, she meets police chief Truman Daly, whose uncle was the cave man’s latest victim. He sees the survivalist side of her that she desperately tries to hide, but if she lets him get close enough to learn her secret, she might not survive the fallout…

Thoughts on A Merciful Death: This was a surprisingly good book. Just to clarify, the "surprising" part comes because I haven't been reading romantic suspense/mysteries/thrillers/etc lately and I'd forgotten how deeply captivating a well-written one is. This book was kind of like when I watch horror movies and get all tense and yell things at the screen when VERY BAD THINGS are on the verge of happening. Yeah, it had me wound up and enthralled.

Good times.

The good times start with Mercy and her backstory. Her history with the town of Eagle's Nest unfurls slowly. The reason she fled as soon as she was old enough to was already rough, but the additional secrets she uncovers as her current case moves forward makes things worse. Family, man. Sometimes they hurt.

Mercy's a bit of a mess. She's done her best to escape her roots and for the most part she's succeeded. She has a good job with the FBI and she's helping people. But old habits die hard and it's not as easy to mentally escape the prepper lifestyle as she makes everyone think. Heading back to her home town for this case messes with her head a little. Especially when the case intersects with unsolved murders from when she was a teen.

Her prepper upbringing also makes her wary of people. In other words, it takes her a while to warm up to the police chief. Truman is determined to break through to her, though. Both because he likes her as a woman and because he needs closure on his own uncle's murder. And the best way to accomplish both those tasks is to show Mercy he's trustworthy and capable.

Bottom line: I liked this book and I'm more than ready to get the next one in my hands. Bring it on.