Romantic Suspense published by Berkley 11 Aug 20
This is a second book in a series that I wish I had read the first book, before jumping into the middle, even though the author does a good job of providing her readers relevant background details from a continuity perspective. Starting off from an intense glimpse into the past, we fast forward immediately into a present that is intense and suspenseful with dark pulse-pounding action and a body count so high that it might make you shudder.
Mercy would be the first to admit that she has problems, deep-rooted problems, from her life in a cult that she escaped from at the expense of her mother’s life. Nevertheless, she lives a functioning life thanks to her college roommate Ro and Ro’s large family that has adopted Mercy as one of their own. Her brother Gideon had escaped the cult a few years before she did and she has never been able to forgive him for leaving her behind, but when their paths cross in the first book in this series, she can no longer stick her head in the sand.
She arrives in Sacramento with her best friend and a goal to build bridges with Gideon and also to explore her feelings for his best friend Rafe, who was injured while trying to save her life. She’s barely landed in Sacramento and hasn’t even grabbed her luggage before she’s injured and left catatonic in an attempt to kidnap her by her abuser and cult elder, Ephraim. After a brief stop at Rafe’s parent’s house, the story is nonstop action as Ephraim, with single-minded doggedness, cuts through a swathe of people, leaving bodies in his wake as he attempts to capture Mercy at all costs.
The FBI, the Sacramento PD, and the New Orleans PD are all on the job, but Brother Ephraim manages to stay one step ahead of all of them. The author weaves in the story of the Amos, who had followed the elders into the cult because he believed in the mission and goals of the group, but is now becoming disillusioned, especially since he has a little seven-year-old daughter to protect. Like all cults, the elders are scam artists who are scamming money and abusing the members of the flock, and I, for one, can’t wait to see them all taken down. I am disappointed that there is at least one other book and we’ll have to wait for the final showdown, despite the blood and gore and relentless pursuit of the men and women in blue and black. The bright spot in this story is the growing closeness and love story between Rafe and Mercy and the bridge that is being built between brother and sister.
I was so swept into the story that I felt pulse-pounding terror when Ephraim was stalking Mercy and yet I so enjoyed the moments of family and food that solves all ills that is such a huge part of most cultural communities. I will need to go back and read the first book in the series, since even though I was able to enjoy this story, I want to color in the details that I missed. I absolutely can’t wait for the next book in the series and can’t imagine who will be the romantic couple in that one. This may be my first book by the author, but it will by no means be my last.
Grade: B
Summary:
Mercy Callahan thought she’d escaped the cult decades ago, but its long fingers are reaching out for her again in this electrifying novel in the Sacramento series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.
Seventeen years ago. That was the last time Mercy Callahan saw Ephraim Burton, the leader of the twisted Eden cult where she was raised. But even though she escaped the abuse and terror, they continue to haunt her.
When her brother Gideon discovers new evidence of the cult’s–and their victims’–whereabouts, Mercy goes to Sacramento to reconnect with him. There, she meets Gideon’s closest friend–homicide detective Rafe Sokolov. From Rafe, she receives an offer she never knew she needed: to track down Ephraim and make him pay for everything.
But Ephraim, who had thought Mercy long dead, discovers she is in fact alive and that she is digging around for the cult’s secrets. And now he’ll do anything to take her back to Eden–dead or alive.
Other books in this series:
