Dangerous Deeds in the Desert -- Shades of Mercy (thriller book review)

There are undoubtedly a handful of good reasons why so many of us leave our school friends behind, without a backward glance. 

 

But I’m betting the top reason is simply that the past is where such friendships should, most often, remain.

 

For everyone’s sake.

 

 

 

When author Bruce Borgos begins his latest tale, Shades of Mercy, we find one Porter Beck—the sheriff of a sparsely-populated (but geographically-vast) high-desert Nevada county—the first officer on the scene of the latest in a troubling string of opioid drug-related deaths in his jurisdiction.

 

Only this time, it really hits home... because the victim? Was none other than one of Beck’s closest friends back in school—the second Musketeer of three.

 

Gutted, Beck returns to the station... but there’s little in the way of solace, there. Instead, he finds more chaos, because in the constantly water-deprived state of Nevada, it’s always fire season, and a good half-dozen major burns were currently raging.

 

And then, in the middle of trying to figure out how to apportion inadequate manpower to deal with all of that? Beck and his small team get word thatSomething Serious has gone down at a local cattle ranch. 

 

Arriving at the Double R Ranch, Beck is surprised to find another (the other, really—the third Musketeer) of his school friends, Jesse Roy, waiting for him... as the new owner of the ranch.

 

Jesse, he quickly learns, has been the victim of a particularly expensive crime. His prize bull—whose pedigree made the semen worth an ungodly sum of money—was, apparently, targeted and summarily exterminated... in a shocking manner.

 

That, in itself, would be enough of a crime to raise Beck’s eyebrows, any day. 

 

But, when the Feds—in the form of one of the many alphabet agencies Beck (and probably most other cops) have a longstanding hate/love (emphasis more on the “hate”) relationship with—barge in, summarily commandeering Beck and his tiny, remaining team, it’s all bets off.

 

Because what the Feds are saying sounds insane, to Beck—that the prize breeding bull was blown to kingdom come by a military drone... which was hacked and taken over by none other than a teenage girl.

 

And the girl—one Mercy Vaughn—has actually been staying in the area, at a sort of detention center for juveniles. 

 

The kicker? Unbeknownst to the Feds—or to Beck himself, until after the meeting with the Feds—this same young girl sent Beck an anonymous, encrypted email... just before the bull’s demise.

 

Beck understands enough about the world—and certainly, the federal government—to know that this girl’s life (let alone her reasons for doing whatever she alegedly did), won’t mean squat, since those actions involved national security. 

 

And Beck? Well, he’s not entirely comfortable having yet another person’s death on his plate... nor on his conscience.

 

So, he does what all good, heroic lawmen do—he aims to stick his nose in, get to the bottom of things, and right all the wrongs that have been (or could potentially be) done... despite strict warnings from the Feds to stay out of pretty much everything.

 

 

Before I started reading, I discovered that Shades of Mercy is actually the second book by author Borgos in the Sheriff Porter Beck series... but despite not having read (or even heard of) the earlier work, The Bitter Past, I decided to trust my gut and dive right in.

 

Good call, as it turned out, because Shades of Mercy is an excellent read, whether or not you’ve read the first book in the series.

 

For one thing, it stands on its own just fine, with no sense, whatsoever, of “uh-oh, what did I miss?” for the reader. (Honestly, that’s the first thing anyone jumping into a series midstream can/should hope for.)

 

But beyond that, Shades of Mercy is a compelling tale from the get-go. I was intrigued by the idea of this middle-aged, former military intelligence officer, returning to his childhood home after a long absence, to take over sheriff duties from his elderly (and dementia-sidelined) dad. 

 

(With every year—and all of the people I know or hear about, struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s—the realities and complexities of this struggle hit home, more and more.)

 

Borgos also does a nice job portraying the teen hacker, making her into an interesting and sympathetic character. (Granted, things get a little bit convoluted later in the story, but I never lost track of who everyone was or what anyone was doing, so that’s a minor quibble.)

 

One of my favorite things, actually, was all the rest of the characters, who add great depth and color. These people are rugged, with a toughness born of living in an inhospitable climate. From Beck’s dad, to his adopted sister, his motley team, other colleagues, and assorted bad guys, sure--there are plenty of people to keep track of... but each is vital to the story that’s being played out... and believable. 

 

Bottom line? I enjoyed Shades of Mercy so much that I’ve already put the earlier book on my (endless) TBR list... and when Borgos writes the next book in the series? It’ll go right to the top of that list.

 

If you’re a fellow thriller/suspense lover, I recommend this one, highly.

 

~GlamKitty