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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't forget to breathe., August 25, 2009
Samuel DelVecchio has spent the last sixteen years with the FBI, most recently as a profiler. He is now with the Mercy Street Foundation. Sam's first assignment is a cold-case murder of a soup kitchen volunteer. It is not long before Sam wonders if it is part of a serial killer's work. Turns out that there have been two other killings with the same MO. FBI agent Fiona Summers is already on the case and cooperates with Sam in hopes of figuring out who the killer is and why he is posing his victims in a certain way.
It is a local parish priest that recognizes what the poses represent. The killer is staging the Church's corporal acts of mercy ("Feed the hungry, shelter homeless ...") with the bodies. Sam and Fiona are in a race to stop the killer, but this killer is closer than they know.
***** FIVE STARS! Each Mercy Street novel investigates a single case. Yet there is also a continuous running sub-plot involving the owner of the foundation, Robert Magellan, Readers are treated with a fast paced and intense FBI thriller, but they also get to finally witness Robert find out what happened to his missing wife and infant son. (The readers who have been following this series already know the answers about Robert's wife. This title holds the answers to the son.)
As always, Mariah Stewart manages to show the good and the bad in our world. The author's writing style pulled me into the characters' lives, forced me to care for them, and swept me onto an emotional rollercoaster ride. All I can suggest to readers is for them to remember to breathe. *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
super thriller, September 5, 2009
Mallory Russo of the Mercy Street Foundation hires Former FBI profiler Sam Delvecchio. His first case is a cold case where he looks into the murder of Ross Walker; based on what he learns Sam ponders whether a serial killer did the deed. Sam compares notes with FBI agent Fiona Summers; they agree the same psychopath has killed at least three times including the Walker homicide; a fourth similarly posed corpse is found. However, time and place offers similarities to his life and that shakes Sam to his bone marrow core.
Mercy Street founder widower Robert Magellan seeks his missing two years old son, Ian whose body was not found at the site of the car crash that killed his wife Beth in Western Pennsylvania. Meanwhile Robert's cousin Father Kevin Burch realizes the serial killer's victims are being arranged to represent the Seven Acts of Mercy. Sam and Fiona struggle to prevent the final three murders while their predator taunts them.
The third Mercy Street thriller (see CRY MERCY and MERCY STREET) contains two strong subplots: Robert's effort to find his son and the serial killer's avenging ACTS OF MERCY. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action and suspense that will have the audience begging for more from Mariah Stewart.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Series, September 12, 2009
While I think this is a terrific series, I can't say I liked this one as much as the others because I thought it was too easy to figure things out. Rather than the usual winding roads and red herrings I'm used to from Mariah Stewart, I felt like every time something linking the killer to the killings was revealed, it was done so in such a blatant way that it was like waving a red cape in front of a bull. I also found the events surrounding Robert's own case to be very contrived and extremely unrealistic and unbelievable.
Also, I wonder why MS makes the characters in this series so unlikeable. Mallory's turned into a hardass, I couldn't stand Emme in the last book, and I didn't find either Sam or Fiona likeable at all. And in this book, I even found Robert annoying. It's a testament to the author that I could still love her books and give them such high marks when disliking most of the chracters!
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