From the Bookshelf of 2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2…

A Merciful Truth (Mercy Kilpatrick, #2)

Kendra Elliot

Start date: April 1, 2020

Finish date: April 30, 2020

Discussion: A Merciful Truth

Discussion leader: Jonetta

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A Merciful Truth

* A Merciful Truth
By Jonetta · 7 posts · 17 views

last updated Apr 01, 2020 07:11AM

Question A
By Jonetta · 17 posts · 14 views

last updated May 04, 2020 08:13AM

What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2020 Jonetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense, 2020-audiobook-challenge, 5000-2020, 2020-in-2020, audiobook, 2020-beat-the-backlist-challenge, group-read, kelli

It’s been two months since FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick’ s return to her hometown of Eagle’s Nest, Oregon and she’s adjusting to her relocation to the bureau’s Bend office. Additionally, she’s taken in her 17-year old niece, Kaylie, and is in a relationship with Police Chief Truman Daly. She and local law enforcement are responding to several nuisance fires, thinking they are the handiwork of area teens until it escalates and two deputy sheriffs are murdered. The investigation takes an ominous tur ...more

44 likes · Like · see review

Dec 03, 2016 Anita rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, suspense, kindle-own

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review

After reading A Merciful Death, I didn't know how I'd wait for this book. I had really hoped the slow simmer romance between Mercy and Truman would heat up to a boil in this book, but if you are looking for a scorched page romance, you'll need to read another book. Mercy and Truman are hooked up, but the author is keeping the juicy details private. What you get is a suspense tha ...more

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Apr 16, 2020 Robin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020, romantic-suspense, kindle

A series of arson fires in Eagle's Next has Police Chief Truman Daly worried. In the past weeks a car and a couple of sheds have been set on fire. Truman believes it may be a group of teens up to mischief until a barn fire leaves two deputies dead. FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick has recently moved back to Eagle's Nest to be close to Truman and to work on her strained relationship with her family. She is assigned to investigate the deputies' murders. Another fire yields yet another body. Whil ...more

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Apr 21, 2020 Sandra Hoover rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, romance-suspense

A fantastic addition to an awesome series! I've switched to audio in this series and am loving it! I hope to return with a full review but meantime...I highly recommend this book & series. ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 Christina T rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, romantic-suspense, 4-stars, 2-in-series, mystery, 2020-book-challenge, 2020-audio-challenge, teri-schnaubelt, oregon, fbi-agents

While I think the first book was a little better I'm enjoying reading about Mercy Kilpatrick and think Kendra Elliot is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine.

The Good, the Bad, and Everything in Between: So, I liked this book a lot but the plot didn't work as well for me as the one in the first book. In this book we not only have preppers, who were the subject of the first book, but we also have militia members. In my head the mindset of the preppers in the first book were a similar to the While I think the first book was a little better I'm enjoying reading about Mercy Kilpatrick and think Kendra Elliot is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine.

The Good, the Bad, and Everything in Between: So, I liked this book a lot but the plot didn't work as well for me as the one in the first book. In this book we not only have preppers, who were the subject of the first book, but we also have militia members. In my head the mindset of the preppers in the first book were a similar to the militia in the second book. There are fundamental differences between the two and the author did a good job of covering them but even from the beginning of book one I thought the preppers were a bit cultish and some of them were even extreme which reminded me of militia. A while back I read Die Trying by Lee Child which was a great book featuring a militia. The reason I bring this up is because that book outlined a leader far superior to the leader of the militia in Elliot's book. He was recruiting but there was no focus on training the recruits. This group would have been doomed from the beginning because the leader wasn't as strong of a leader as the one Lee Child developed. This, of course, is just my opinion and if you've read both books I'd love to hear from you.

In addition I found the identity of the militia leader a bit of a stretch as no one recognized him, not even his own family. There are arguments to be made on why his own family might not have recognized him and I agree there are some possibilities on the lack of identifying, primarily he hadn't seen his family since 1980-ish. I get it, but with the combination of his identity and his questionable leadership, just the idea of him pulling off what he did made this book not quite as good for me as the first.

The progress of Mercy and Truman's relationship is still slowly growing. While I think this is a good thing because I really hate insta-love, it feels as if Truman is a lot more invested in their relationship than Mercy. She continues to hold back, refusing to give everything she can to Truman to support their relationship. Although this drives me nuts it does show Mercy's vulnerability. Her long estrangement from her family and the difficult interactions between them when she finally came home put her in a delicate emotional state. She longs for her family connections but her loner existence for so much of her life made her reliant on only herself. Trust comes slowly for her and this is where the relationship between her and Truman flounder a bit.

Once again I listened to the audio version of this book through my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Teri Schnaubelt continues to narrate and as I mentioned in my review of A Merciful Death she does an Ok job. Not wonderful but not terrible. I find these books easy enough to listen to so I'm going to continue the series on audio but will no longer mention my thoughts on the audio itself going forward.

In a Nutshell: While many of my points seem negative the actual tension and suspense of this book was top notch and Elliot's writing is really engaging and I'd encourage someone who likes Rom/Susp or even just mysteries (as the romance is not as prominent as the mystery aspect) to pick this series up. ...more

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Apr 12, 2020 Sharon Kallenberger Marzola rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, audio-whispersync, favorites, romantic-suspense, unique-and-or-twists, emotional, buddy-read, love-hero, love-heroine, small-town-setting

A Merciful Truth is an exciting ride on several levels, a crime spree with unexpected twists and turns, a romance that is growing slowly, and the repairing family bonds. I used the whisper-sync option for this one. I read a little, then listen while cleaning, and occasionally I did both. The narrator, Teri Schnaubelt, does an excellent job bring the many emotions of the characters into play. Her delivery is entertaining and made me want more. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, n ...more

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