Title: Saving Mercy
Series: Fatal Truth #1
Author: Abbie Roads
Release date: April 4, 2017
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
He's found her at last
Cain Killion knows himself to be a damaged man, his only saving grace the extrasensory connection to blood that he uses to catch murderers. His latest case takes a macabre turn when he discovers a familiar and haunting symbol linking the crime to his own horrific past-and only one woman could know what it means.
Only to lose her to a nightmare
Mercy Ledger is brave, resilient, beautiful-and in terrible danger. The moment he sees Mercy, Cain knows he's the one who can save her. He also knows he's beyond redemption. But the lines between good and evil blur and the only thing clear to Cain and Mercy is that they belong together. Love is the antidote for blood-but is their bond strong enough to overcome the evil that stalks them?
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This is my second book by this sharp new voice in the romance world and though I'm already familiar with her writing, Saving Mercy surpassed my expectations. However, it would be selling this author short to simply classify this as a romance. It's a cohesive blend of romance, paranormal, thriller, and suspense. One thing it is NOT is boring. Abbie Roads throws you head first right into the deep end, so you'd better be prepared to swim with the sharks. These pages are saturated with menace, and dripping with evil.
Cain straddles the line of his conscience, until you're not quite sure if he will fall prey to his guiltiest cravings. On one side, he protests with every fiber of his being what his father molded him to be. On the other side, his horrifying blood visions taunt him with the knowledge that he finds a secret enjoyment and rush in experiencing what he does. His dark predisposition has been ruthlessly nurtured by his morally bankrupt father, and he doesn't know if he has any hope of redemption.
He had a complicated relationship with blood. He hated it. He loved it. Blood was a conduit, a link, a connection between him and those who slayed souls. Blood opened a doorway, allowing him to step into the minds and bodies of those who found bliss in ending life. He became the killer.
Cain was a truly damaged and tortured character. Forced to endure and witness unimaginable things as a child, it's a wonder that he clings to any of his humanity. He keeps himself detached from other people, even the Mac, FBI agent who adopted him and showed him real love for the first time. And Liz, who became like a mother figure. But you see the genuine will inside of him to overcome his past and be a man that Mac could be proud of. It was chilling to look through his eyes when he was envisioning and becoming the mysterious murderer. It really felt like you were there witnessing the horror right along with him.
Mercy, the young woman who survived his father's reign of terror, escaped with her life but not much else. The grisly murder of her family eventually led her to the doors of a mental health facility where a psychotic man imprisons her. For years, her one focus is survival in the fresh hell she landed in. Sick mind games are her only company, but she somehow finds a way to hold herself together. It's an amazing testament to her strength.
I think her one saving grace in that hell hole was her special sensory ability to recognize sinister intentions before they are followed through. She's able to stay one step ahead of a mad man, but eventually her luck runs out. And that's when the man tied to her past enters her life again and things really get twisted.
Cain and Mercy didn't have an insta-love type of development with their emotions. Their feelings for each other were already rooted from a shared history. This connected them in a realistic and fitting way. They were both denied love for most of their lives and lived inside their own heads, which wasn't a pretty place to be. They would doubt themselves, and their worth to everyone around them so they weren't making the smartest of choices at times. But as wrecked as they both were mentally, they finally started to find a shred of hope with each other. The emotions between them
were raw and desperate. These two. They're enough to gut you.
Every inch of her skin touching his was a miracle of sensation. He wanted to squeeze her tighter to him, to bring her inside him and make her a part of him. He closed his eyes and just let his body map the sensation of her against him. She felt so right, so perfect, that it hurt.
This story is dark and gritty. It's intense, passionate, and filled with bombshells to blow your mind. This is not my typical read, but I was thoroughly hooked and invested in the outcome from Chapter one. And the ending had me practically gasping, I was so on edge. I can honestly say that I wasn't completely sure of how this thing would turn out for this troubled couple. Stomach in knots, and reading frantically, I raced to discover the reveal of the murderer and if they would elude him.
If you're looking for something that will get your blood pumping, this is going to be the book for you. I am now officially stalking the next in the series.
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