Shades of Mercy

Bruce Borgos continues to excite and engage readers with Shades of Mercy, his suspenseful and action-packed second book in the Porter Beck crime thriller and police procedural series. Beck is the sheriff of Lincoln County, Nevada, a dry and sparsely populated county in the high desert. He has a twelve-person department covering territory nearly the size of the state of Maryland. If you think that not much is happening in the county, think again.

A childhood friend of Beck’s has succumbed to a strong drug and another one, a successful rancher, has been targeted by a hacked military drone. However, that is just the beginning.

Borgos is adept at creating strong male and female characters. Beck is fluent in several languages due to his previous military career and has an incredible ability to think critically and analyze data quickly. He has initiative, is patient, and has a degenerative disease of the retina that significantly affects his eyesight at night and in poor lighting. It was interesting to see how he deals with the condition as he does his job. This added another layer to his character. The secondary characters also have depth. I loved Beck’s newest partner, a young English Lab named Frank Columbo or Bo for short.

The world-building is terrific with fluid and descriptive writing that helps readers envision the scenes without adversely affecting the pacing. There was a strong sense of place causing me to feel as though I was experiencing the events alongside the characters. The dynamic plot has a tremendous amount of conflict and action that kept me engaged throughout. It is twisty and has exciting scenes, multiple antagonists, and an incredible setting.

Borgos is an excellent storyteller who brings an intensity and action throughout the novel, but also intersperses some humor and some thought-provoking events. The author surprised this reader with the epilogue that makes me anxious to find out what happens in the next book in the series. Interspersed into the story are themes of family, death, friendships that run out of juice, lies, found family, dementia, grief, lost opportunities, and much more.

Overall, this was intriguing, gritty, suspenseful, and action-packed with compelling characters and great world-building that kept me rapidly turning the pages as I sat on the edge of my seat. With exciting scenes and fascinating story lines that converge, this fantastic crime thriller was intense and dramatic. It kept me on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the novel. I’m thrilled I’ve found this series and can’t wait to read the next book. If you’re a fan of contemporary crime thrillers and police procedurals set in a rural western U.S. locale, then this is a series to read.

St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books and Bruce Borgos provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for July 16, 2024.