Jane read and liked Mrs. Bowers's review of Mercy:

"Mercy??? This book should have been named Selfish. I mean, I get it, I get it -- by the end, the title is more than understandable, the way it ties into pretty much every storyline -- but overall I was semi disappointed in this book. I think the m...more Mercy??? This book should have been named Selfish. I mean, I get it, I get it -- by the end, the title is more than understandable, the way it ties into pretty much every storyline -- but overall I was semi disappointed in this book. I think the main reason for my disappointment stems from the fact that I couldn't STAND Cam. He is every wife's worst nightmare: lying, cheating, the works. I was so disgusted with him, and so indifferent toward the other characters, that for the first two-thirds of the novel, I had to force myself to keep reading. Part III was better, only because I wanted to see what the jury would decide about Jamie (who, as you discover in the first few pages of the novel, kills his cancer-ridden wife at her request). The concept of this novel is deeply fascinating, but the characters and many aspects of the plot were terribly flat and underdeveloped. Such a pity that a book with so much potential turned out to be pretty adequate and only this-shy of satisfying.(less) "