This Action-packed Spy Thriller is a Must Read

by Donna Huber

Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, doing the same lawman's job his father once did now that he's returned home after decades away. With his twelve person department, they cover a large area that is usually very quiet, but not of late. One childhood friend is the latest to succumb to a new wave of particularly strong illegal opioids, another childhood friend—now an enormously successful rancher—is targeted by a military drone, hacked and commandeered by an unknown source. The hacker is apparently local—local enough to call out Beck by name—and that means they are Beck's problem.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

July 2024; Minotaur Books; 978-1250848093
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); thriller

Shades of Mercy is book 2 in Bruce Borgos's Porter Beck series. I have not read book 1 The Bitter Past. I don't think I realized that this was part of a series until I looked it up on Goodreads when I started reading it. It is totally a stand-alone novel.

Porter Beck is the sheriff of a small county in Nevada. I thought I was going to read a police procedural, but that isn't exactly what I got. There are a few surprises in the novel. The county happens to be close to a secret military testing site and Beck is a former Army intelligence officer. 

So surprise 1 - it is a terrific spy thriller. I love a great spy novel but I typically enjoy the spycraft of the Cold War Era and find most modern-day spy novels lacking. Not with Shades of Mercy. I was drawn in immediately by the characters and became more enamored with every twist and turn in the plot. 

Speaking of the characters, I come to surprise number 2. I expected Porter Beck to be sort of a Jack Reacher-type character. And in some ways he is. But I was shocked that a title character in a detective novel would be going blind. Often the lead characters in these types of novels have experienced some sort of trauma that usually impacts them psychologically or emotionally, but they don't typically have a physical disability that directly affects their ability to do their job. At this point, Beck has severe night blindness and can't work a crime scene after dark. While it is just night blindness right now, it is a progressive disease that can lead to total blindness. I'm very interested to see where the author takes the character. 

The rest of the characters are wonderful too. I'm hoping we will see more of Charlie Blue Horse (which I think the author named after his dog). But I hope her character is more than just a potential love interest for Beck. 

This book had everything I love about an entertaining spy thriller. My mystery book club is getting ready to set its next year of books to read and I'm definitely recommending we read book 1 which looks to be another spy thriller.

Buy Shades of Mercy at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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