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Dartmoor #10
Lord Have Mercy: The Complete Novel
Deep in the swamps of New Orleans, the hunt for a predator leads local police to a cache of old, dumped bodies. Assigned to the case is FBI profiler Alex Bonfils, a New Orleans native with a knack for analyzing serial killers. The moment he sees the bodies, and learns their identities, Alex knows who dumped them in the bayou. The problem? These particular killings are the work of the older brother he never Felix Lécuyer.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, life within the club is busy, dangerous, and ever-expanding. Mercy and Ava are balancing parenthood and their marriage alongside the growing influence of the club. They know better than to think they’re safe, but they never expected the next threat to come in the form of another of Remy Lécuyer’s secret sons.
Now available in its complete, compiled edition, Lord Have Mercy is a truly “monstrous” endeavor that calls upon the sweeping, Southern epic style of book one, Fearless. Filled with suspense, intrigue, deception, and populated by all the beloved characters of the Dartmoor series, Lord Have Mercy brings the gator-hunting, storytelling Cajun killer, and his devoted fillette, back to the forefront of the action.
Please note that this novel is all four parts The Good Son, Fortunate Son, Rising Sun, and Big Son, which are all available separately in digital and paperback forms. This is not a standalone novel and must be read as the tenth volume of the Dartmoor Series.
- GenresRomance
793 pages, Paperback
Published September 18, 2024
12 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2025
Very few authors could rope me into reading a 1,609 page book, but Lauren Gilley is one of them. Having Ava and Mercy and their family at the forefront of the action felt like coming home—a true full circle moment. While Lord Have Mercy is more plot-focused than the epic romance we see between Mercy and Ava in Fearless, it truly had to be written that way. And I’m not going to lie, this book was stressful because the stakes here were so much higher. It took me over a week to read the first 20% of the story because I was dreading where it was going. But once I got to that point, I zoomed through the chapters at lightning speed.
What an excellent ending to the best MC series out there. There are MC series, and then there is Dartmoor. It’s a once in a lifetime read.
“You can’t profile without empathy. It’s not possible to understand who someone might be without being able to look at his crime scene – at his masterpiece, his fantasy – and understand what he wants. What he thinks, what he feels. What he hungers for. To us, on the outside, he's a monster, but in his own head, he’s the hero of his story.”
What an excellent ending to the best MC series out there. There are MC series, and then there is Dartmoor. It’s a once in a lifetime read.
“You can’t profile without empathy. It’s not possible to understand who someone might be without being able to look at his crime scene – at his masterpiece, his fantasy – and understand what he wants. What he thinks, what he feels. What he hungers for. To us, on the outside, he's a monster, but in his own head, he’s the hero of his story.”
September 25, 2024
4.5 stars. I’m very stingy with 5 stars, because my standards are basically, “is this book as good as Fearless by Lauren Gilley?” and few books are. Although this is 4.5 stars, not a full 5, fuck it, why not round up, since this is Fearless’ sequel, basically.
This is book 10 in the Dartmoor series, and it's a "must read" for anyone who likes this series. It’s the second book for Mercy and Ava – revisiting them 8 years after the events of Fearless. Ava is now 30, Mercy is 43, and they have 3 kids. But, if you loved Fearless, and then fell off this series, you DO need to have read the whole series (or at least most of it) to follow what’s going on. You’d be confused if you tried to jump from Fearless straight to this book. Events and side characters from middle and later books in the series are relevant.
Although I loved this book, I didn’t love it quite as much as Fearless, and it’s not Fearless 2.0. It’s more focused on the plot conflict than on Mercy and Ava’s relationship. They get some lovely moments, but they’re less of the central focus. Fearless was an epic romance that also had some good action movie stuff in it. This book is more of an epic action movie that also has some romance in it. This book is more concerned with characters scheming and doing "Ocean's Eleven" type stuff (but make it bikers vs. the FBI instead of casino heists). And, more characters get POV chapters than in Fearless. It has a wider scope, and jumps around more. It's epic in a different way than Fearless was.
The plot: cops found bodies of people that Mercy killed many years ago, and a psycho FBI agent is trying to put Mercy in jail for it. (The bodies are scumbags that Mercy killed for good reason, like the man who murdered his dad). Events escalate to the point of faking not one but TWO character deaths, action-movie worthy jailbreak scenes, a kid gets kidnapped, and there’s ANOTHER secret brother for Mercy. Alex, the new character who is Mercy’s second secret brother, is in the FBI. He’s been put on this case that’s going after Mercy. Alex always knew that Mercy existed, and never planned to introduce himself, but now, circumstances force him to make himself known.
There’s a lot going on in this book. Almost too much, but it’s 800 pages, so there's room for it. And Lauren Gilley is a stellar writer, so she weaves all these events together and makes them build into satisfying crescendos. Is it too long? Yeah. I didn’t need so many flashbacks of the villain’s life to fill in his motives; they could have been explained in a more succinct way. Do too many characters get POVs? Yes, Grey didn’t need POV parts, I barely remembered who he even was, and I’m not interested in him. And, I didn’t need see Ghost and Fox go off on their own mission while we were also cutting back and forth to Aiden and Walsh in Tennessee and Ava and Mercy and everyone in New Orleans. I don’t even know who Toly IS (since I skipped his book), and he got a POV scene or two (but, it was brief enough that it was fine).
But, anyone who is 10 books deep into this series knows that Lauren Gilley is wordy. And her prose is some of the best out there, so it’s no hardship to read 800 pages from her, it's a treat. This series has earned having a big scope. Although there were arguably too many POVs, it was nice to get them for characters like Emmie. We haven’t seen much of her since The Skeleton King, so it was a treat to check in on her and Walsh years after their book. So I’ll give this author the indulgence of an 800 page book that checks in on ALL these characters. There was a little too much happening, but I loved it, anyway. There were a lot of moments that made me smile like an idiot, like when Aiden called Mercy “the Mary Poppins of psychos.”
Before I started this book, I was skeptical about it – I heard that Mercy was getting another secret brother, and I wasn’t excited about that plot, I was like, “Again? Didn’t we already do this?” I assumed Alex’s POV chapters would be a chore to read, just to suffer through, in order to get to Mercy and Ava’s POV chapters. But, I did end up liking Alex. A second “secret brother” does feel like a soap opera, but this author’s stellar prose gives everything a sense of gravitas and realism. So, she made it work. And, it didn’t feel like a repeat of Colin, since Alex is more interesting than Colin, and his life – and the way he crashes into Mercy’s life – is different.
I was also skeptical about Mercy and Ava getting another 800 page book – because I’m thrilled to revisit them, but obviously, it’s not 800 pages of “Things are fine! Look at their happy lives!” They suffered enough in Fearless, did I want to see them go through more shit? But it turns out, yes! I was worried about them at many points, but it’s so lovely to catch up with them when they’re a settled married couple. It was impossibly sweet to see Mercy being a loving dad, to see Ava coming into her own as Mercy’s equal – it wasn’t just a one-time thing that she killed for him in Fearless, she’s willing to do violence for him whenever she needs to. Although I love this series, it hasn’t been great at letting the female characters get in on the action. But Ava gets some good moments, here.
There’s such a deep history here, and this story uses it well. When Mercy and Ava are like, “remember when this thing happened years ago?” We as the readers remember it too, because we saw that event play out in Fearless. We’ve been “there” to witness so much of their lives, it gives their story so much depth and texture. I've never read a romance with more depth than theirs.
This book is such a good emotional payoff to so many characters and stories – not only for Mercy and Ava, but for Aidan, Walsh, Ghost, Ian, etc. If you remember details from earlier books, this book feels like a reward for that, since a lot of minor things from earlier books get mentioned.
Some of the action scenes bordered on feeling like Looney Tunes. Like, the club does this scheme involving sending a man a small bomb in a box, that detonates at exactly the right time. And, other schemes involve characters putting on disguises, or impersonating cops – but, because Lauren Gilley is such a good writer, her prose gives scenes like that weight, and saves them from feeling cartoonish. So, even though this book has violence and peril and makes you anxious about the FBI getting Mercy, a lot of it is FUN. The action scenes are never boring, they're zany.
If this is the end of the Dartmoor series, this is a worthy swan song for the best MC series out there. But, if the author decides to continue, I'd be curious about a book about Alex finding his place in the world and finding love (and joining the club, maybe). Or, even if it jumps 10 years into the future and gives Remy a book, I’d read that.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: anyone who likes motorcycle club books and hasn’t read this series is missing out on the best one. And, anyone who doesn’t appreciate Lauren Gilley’s writing is an unserious person.
This is book 10 in the Dartmoor series, and it's a "must read" for anyone who likes this series. It’s the second book for Mercy and Ava – revisiting them 8 years after the events of Fearless. Ava is now 30, Mercy is 43, and they have 3 kids. But, if you loved Fearless, and then fell off this series, you DO need to have read the whole series (or at least most of it) to follow what’s going on. You’d be confused if you tried to jump from Fearless straight to this book. Events and side characters from middle and later books in the series are relevant.
Although I loved this book, I didn’t love it quite as much as Fearless, and it’s not Fearless 2.0. It’s more focused on the plot conflict than on Mercy and Ava’s relationship. They get some lovely moments, but they’re less of the central focus. Fearless was an epic romance that also had some good action movie stuff in it. This book is more of an epic action movie that also has some romance in it. This book is more concerned with characters scheming and doing "Ocean's Eleven" type stuff (but make it bikers vs. the FBI instead of casino heists). And, more characters get POV chapters than in Fearless. It has a wider scope, and jumps around more. It's epic in a different way than Fearless was.
The plot: cops found bodies of people that Mercy killed many years ago, and a psycho FBI agent is trying to put Mercy in jail for it. (The bodies are scumbags that Mercy killed for good reason, like the man who murdered his dad). Events escalate to the point of faking not one but TWO character deaths, action-movie worthy jailbreak scenes, a kid gets kidnapped, and there’s ANOTHER secret brother for Mercy. Alex, the new character who is Mercy’s second secret brother, is in the FBI. He’s been put on this case that’s going after Mercy. Alex always knew that Mercy existed, and never planned to introduce himself, but now, circumstances force him to make himself known.
There’s a lot going on in this book. Almost too much, but it’s 800 pages, so there's room for it. And Lauren Gilley is a stellar writer, so she weaves all these events together and makes them build into satisfying crescendos. Is it too long? Yeah. I didn’t need so many flashbacks of the villain’s life to fill in his motives; they could have been explained in a more succinct way. Do too many characters get POVs? Yes, Grey didn’t need POV parts, I barely remembered who he even was, and I’m not interested in him. And, I didn’t need see Ghost and Fox go off on their own mission while we were also cutting back and forth to Aiden and Walsh in Tennessee and Ava and Mercy and everyone in New Orleans. I don’t even know who Toly IS (since I skipped his book), and he got a POV scene or two (but, it was brief enough that it was fine).
But, anyone who is 10 books deep into this series knows that Lauren Gilley is wordy. And her prose is some of the best out there, so it’s no hardship to read 800 pages from her, it's a treat. This series has earned having a big scope. Although there were arguably too many POVs, it was nice to get them for characters like Emmie. We haven’t seen much of her since The Skeleton King, so it was a treat to check in on her and Walsh years after their book. So I’ll give this author the indulgence of an 800 page book that checks in on ALL these characters. There was a little too much happening, but I loved it, anyway. There were a lot of moments that made me smile like an idiot, like when Aiden called Mercy “the Mary Poppins of psychos.”
Before I started this book, I was skeptical about it – I heard that Mercy was getting another secret brother, and I wasn’t excited about that plot, I was like, “Again? Didn’t we already do this?” I assumed Alex’s POV chapters would be a chore to read, just to suffer through, in order to get to Mercy and Ava’s POV chapters. But, I did end up liking Alex. A second “secret brother” does feel like a soap opera, but this author’s stellar prose gives everything a sense of gravitas and realism. So, she made it work. And, it didn’t feel like a repeat of Colin, since Alex is more interesting than Colin, and his life – and the way he crashes into Mercy’s life – is different.
I was also skeptical about Mercy and Ava getting another 800 page book – because I’m thrilled to revisit them, but obviously, it’s not 800 pages of “Things are fine! Look at their happy lives!” They suffered enough in Fearless, did I want to see them go through more shit? But it turns out, yes! I was worried about them at many points, but it’s so lovely to catch up with them when they’re a settled married couple. It was impossibly sweet to see Mercy being a loving dad, to see Ava coming into her own as Mercy’s equal – it wasn’t just a one-time thing that she killed for him in Fearless, she’s willing to do violence for him whenever she needs to. Although I love this series, it hasn’t been great at letting the female characters get in on the action. But Ava gets some good moments, here.
There’s such a deep history here, and this story uses it well. When Mercy and Ava are like, “remember when this thing happened years ago?” We as the readers remember it too, because we saw that event play out in Fearless. We’ve been “there” to witness so much of their lives, it gives their story so much depth and texture. I've never read a romance with more depth than theirs.
This book is such a good emotional payoff to so many characters and stories – not only for Mercy and Ava, but for Aidan, Walsh, Ghost, Ian, etc. If you remember details from earlier books, this book feels like a reward for that, since a lot of minor things from earlier books get mentioned.
Some of the action scenes bordered on feeling like Looney Tunes. Like, the club does this scheme involving sending a man a small bomb in a box, that detonates at exactly the right time. And, other schemes involve characters putting on disguises, or impersonating cops – but, because Lauren Gilley is such a good writer, her prose gives scenes like that weight, and saves them from feeling cartoonish. So, even though this book has violence and peril and makes you anxious about the FBI getting Mercy, a lot of it is FUN. The action scenes are never boring, they're zany.
If this is the end of the Dartmoor series, this is a worthy swan song for the best MC series out there. But, if the author decides to continue, I'd be curious about a book about Alex finding his place in the world and finding love (and joining the club, maybe). Or, even if it jumps 10 years into the future and gives Remy a book, I’d read that.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: anyone who likes motorcycle club books and hasn’t read this series is missing out on the best one. And, anyone who doesn’t appreciate Lauren Gilley’s writing is an unserious person.
September 29, 2024
So happy to have another book in the Dartmoor series. This one is so well written and getting more of Mercy, well that makes it really good😉. Loved the last couple of chapters! I say for all the readers, that if Lauren writes it, we will read it!! Can’t wait for Alex’s book ( please let it be a foul mouth horse girl who snags him please🙏🙏!!)
January 25, 2025
:::
Overall Rating :: 5 stars
Series :: Book ten of the Dartmoor series.
POV :: Alternating.
Cliffhanger :: Yes-ish.
HEA ::
:::
What. A. Ride. I read this as the author released it in installments, and I'm pretty sure at the end of each, my heart stopped until I could read the next one. Mercy and Ava are my absolute favorite literary couple. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy? Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester? Pfft. They have absolutely nothing on these two. There was tension in every page with nary a moment of levity, and considering the plot of Lord Have Mercy, it makes complete sense. That stress is what drove me to read, read, read. Let's be honest though, Lauren Gilley could write a menu, and I'd drool all over it. So thankful for this series! This is why I read.
Overall Rating :: 5 stars
Series :: Book ten of the Dartmoor series.
POV :: Alternating.
Cliffhanger :: Yes-ish.
HEA ::
:::
What. A. Ride. I read this as the author released it in installments, and I'm pretty sure at the end of each, my heart stopped until I could read the next one. Mercy and Ava are my absolute favorite literary couple. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy? Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester? Pfft. They have absolutely nothing on these two. There was tension in every page with nary a moment of levity, and considering the plot of Lord Have Mercy, it makes complete sense. That stress is what drove me to read, read, read. Let's be honest though, Lauren Gilley could write a menu, and I'd drool all over it. So thankful for this series! This is why I read.
December 6, 2024
That was the ending, which beautifully brought it all together. Ten years of highs and lows, and for me, the epic essences of Ava and Mercy. Thank you Lauren
December 30, 2025
I am having a hard time with obsession being a motivation for everything that Boyle did. I don't get why he was obsessed at least not to the point where he would spend his entire life focus on getting even with one person. Romantic obsession I get, but it wasn't romantic obsession and I don't understand why.
I also think the fight with Abacus was very anticlimactic. I understand the guy was old and all that so there wasn't much he could do in the way of fighting back, but that was part of the problem. I mean the guy probably couldn't even sexually function, what does he care about 20 year old sex slaves? For as many books as it took for the MC to "cut the head off the snake" I think the final fight should have been a little bigger and the head guy maybe at least young enough to walk without a walker and put up somewhat of a fight.
I guess at this point, I just expected more so I was kind of disappointed, but I still loved all the characters (even the new ones) and Gilley can still write one hell of a good story. So I gave it 3 stars because it was a nonstop adventure from beginning to end.
I also think the fight with Abacus was very anticlimactic. I understand the guy was old and all that so there wasn't much he could do in the way of fighting back, but that was part of the problem. I mean the guy probably couldn't even sexually function, what does he care about 20 year old sex slaves? For as many books as it took for the MC to "cut the head off the snake" I think the final fight should have been a little bigger and the head guy maybe at least young enough to walk without a walker and put up somewhat of a fight.
I guess at this point, I just expected more so I was kind of disappointed, but I still loved all the characters (even the new ones) and Gilley can still write one hell of a good story. So I gave it 3 stars because it was a nonstop adventure from beginning to end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2024
It’s a full solid 5* from me and that doesn’t happen often.
I can’t begin to describe how happy I am to be back in Knoxville, Tennessee with the Lean Dogs.
I didn’t realise how much I’d missed them until I’d actually started reading.
It’s not just Mercy although let’s face it, he’s a huge part of it. But I love the way the club is growing especially Reese and Tenny. Plus Grayson now as well.
This book is just fabulous. I’m not giving any spoilers just read it.
I can’t begin to describe how happy I am to be back in Knoxville, Tennessee with the Lean Dogs.
I didn’t realise how much I’d missed them until I’d actually started reading.
It’s not just Mercy although let’s face it, he’s a huge part of it. But I love the way the club is growing especially Reese and Tenny. Plus Grayson now as well.
This book is just fabulous. I’m not giving any spoilers just read it.
December 4, 2025
Favorite read of 2025!
Wow! The character arc for the Lean Dogs favorites is the most compelling I’ve ever encountered. This gritty story is a true good(ish) vs evil epic that kept me enthralled to the final page.
Wow! The character arc for the Lean Dogs favorites is the most compelling I’ve ever encountered. This gritty story is a true good(ish) vs evil epic that kept me enthralled to the final page.
September 2, 2025
6 stars! At some point I will write a review for the whole series, but for now just know that the Dartmoor series is the best thing I‘ve ever read in my life.
November 29, 2025
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews