In this Wall Street Journal bestseller, FBI agent Mercy Kilpatrick must unlock the mystery of a mass murder, and the secrets of its silent witness…
For Mercy Kilpatrick, returning to rural Oregon has meant coming to terms with her roots. Raised as a prepper, Mercy is now relying on her survivalist instincts to defend her town from the people the law can’t reach. But this time, an … this time, an investigation calling up a dark past for her and police chief Truman Daly may be hitting too close to home.
A rainstorm has uncovered the remains of five people—a reprise of the distinctive slaughter of two families twenty years ago. Except the convicted killer is in prison. Is this the case of a sick copycat, or is the wrong man behind bars? One person might have the answer. The lone survivor of the decades-old crimes has returned to town still claiming that she can’t remember a thing about the night she was left for dead. As the search for the truth becomes more dangerous, Mercy fears that the traumatized woman may not have buried her memories at all. She might be keeping them a secret. And there’s a price to be paid for revealing them.
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I’ve read all 4 of the “Mercy Kilpatrick” books and each one is better than the last. I eagerly waiting for book 5 because I love a strong yet vulnerable lead character be it male or female. Kendra Elliot is an excellent writer and I’ve never been disappointed in her books. A nice aspect of her writing is the information you get, as in this case, what a “prepper” is and how they live their lives. If you want action, you’ve got it, romance, you’ve got it, and a good solid read, you’ve got it.
Series wasn’t bad not the best very predictable books are pretty much always the same
Whoa….be prepared to sit and read. Mercy is back in her fourth book with her guy, Truman, the cop. Romance blooms for the FBI Mercy and her life is getting fuller with friends and family.
During a torrential storm, five skulls are found. And one skull is Asian, the rest might belong to a family. At the same time, Truman is dealing with a member of the sovereign nation…a young man without a car license, any id, and an attitude. There are the survivalists, Mercy’s family is one, but not all survivalist are members of the sovereign nation…..trust me, it is really fascinating.
And yippee, not one but two female forensic scientists are examing the skulls. The damage done to these skulls leads back to two cases years ago where two complete families were beaten to death and a person was found guilty. But the crimes are happening again!
It becomes really creepy as you find Britta, one of the children survived from the original crimes. Britta’s panic and fear come across the page and you try and analyze motives, people and crime scenes. The reporter Chuck Winslow is back and “poking the bear” with his slanted articles.
You have new characters like Ollie and his dog Shep that you hope stay around. And then you have Truman and another man, Clint, go missing along with their trucks. And Joshua Forbes, the young man with attitude, is released on bail. Two different cases or are they related? And in a small town people know each other, but how well? And is Grady, in prison, innocent or having an accomplice on the outside. Good forensic details, solid plot, tension throughout and you’ll never look at a neighborhood the same way.
I recommend reading her first three as Mercy changes over time and each case is us interesting ..but they are great stand alone novels.
A Merciful Silence is book #4 in Kendra Elliot’s Mercy Kilpatrick series. Once again this author has treated her readers to a story full of action and suspense; dealing with sovereign citizens, a forgery ring and brutal murders alarmingly reminiscent of murders that happened years ago. Mercy and Truman struggle with solving the murders especially since the man origianally convicted of the earlier murders is still in jail. There’s also lots of scenes where we get to see the progress of Mercy and Truman’s relationship.
There’s lots to enjoy in this Mercy Kilpatrick book. So glad there will be more to come in the future.
The author has done it again! Another book that manages to develop an intense murder mystery/suspense story as well as give us more character development for Mercy and Truman and their relationship.
The murder mystery here is intense and creepy. Adding to it are the chapters we get from a third party’s perspective. It adds an additional layer of suspense.
The things that occur to jolt Mercy and Truman’s relationship range from the usual (Mercy’s difficulty with giving up her cherished independence to consult with Truman on things) to the high stress (physical jeopardy.) It makes for an interesting sort of character development.
The crisis scenes are intense. We meet new characters that I hope we are going to see more of. The ending is sweet and I am looking forward to book five.
THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH THE AUDIOBOOK AND EBOOK VERSIONS
Loved it! The plot was great and thrilling. I absolutely loved the last few chapters and can’t wait for the next book in series. The narrator did a great job giving life to these characters. I definitely recommend this book.
A Merciful Silence is another strong entry in the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Mercy is an FBI agent, formerly raised in a “prepper” survivalist family in rural Oregon. Estranged from her family for fifteen years, she is just starting to make progress making amends. Suddenly, the remains of five people are found after a huge rainstorm triggering the reprisal of a former case. This book tests Mercy and Sheriff Truman Daly’s love and proves it can weather any storm. My passion for these books is growing. Once again I listened to this book on Audible with the wonderful narrator Teri Schaubelt. I gave this book 4 ½ stars rounded down to 4.
This series is getting better and better! Skeletal remains have been uncovered and it appears to be an entire family and there is an extra skull. Add in the new family murders and we have a mystery. Chief Truman has his own mess when he pulls over a soverign citizen for speeding and through the investigation ends up kidnapped. Twists and turns and overlapping investigations and this one had me listening on audio from beginning to end without stopping because I could not put it down!
Mystery, suspense, and romance rolled in a fabulous series.
Spellbinding, couldn’t put it down. So many twists and turns keep you thoroughly engaged. Each book in the series offers further development of the key characters in addition to the always intriguing and suspenseful plot.
Another pulse pounding adventure with Mercy and Truman!
Mercy and the crew come up against some real stinkers this time around and boy, does it get frightening! Thank goodness they’re so tough!
I love Mercy and her talent for finding herself in dire situations. It truly is a gift how her and Truman attract trouble and find themselves constantly fitting for their lives. Watching them grow closer is also a bonus. New and interesting characters are introduced along with a string of horrendously brutal murders that have them looking back at simular crimes committed twenty years ago. Except someone is in jail for that, or did they jail the wrong person? A race is on to bring the perpetrator to justice and also to save the life of someone very dear to Mercy.
A Merciful Silence doubles the trouble with the duel plots of a vicious family killer and anti-government extremists. FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick and her boyfriend Police Chief Truman Daly have their hands full with both and neither come away without suffering emotional and physical harm. Mercy’s ordeal throughout the book has her by the end making some big decisions with her personal life – something she had been reluctant to fully commit to because of her past. The body count was high in this one and the nature of the killings gruesome. My favorite kind of suspense 🙂
Bonus… It always a treat when an author decides to mix in her other series characters. For the investigation into recently uncovering of the remains of five people, Dr Victoria Peres, who is a forensic anthropologist, and Dr Lacey (Campbell) Harper, who is a forensic odontologist, from the Bones Secrets series are called in to help identify the bones. I would love to have a series with just these two and the cases they solve
A MERCIFUL SILENCE (Mercy Kilpatrick #4) by Kendra Elliot is a cross between romantic suspense and mystery/suspense genres. Each book has a standalone mystery/suspense plot, but it also has a building romance involving the main characters of the series which may or may not be prominent in each story. The current book leans more towards being a police procedural with emotionally charged murders in the past and present with extremely high stakes for Mercy and Truman.
FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpartrick is called to the scene of a washed out road which exposes human skeletal remains. As she works to discover the identity of the remains, she remembers two families that were murdered in the exact same manner 20 years ago. The killer has always maintained his innocence and is still in prison. Copycat or has the wrong man been in prison all these years?
When the sole survivor of one of the old murdered families returns to town, Mercy is not sure what to make of the woman. She asks for Mercy’s help because she believes she is being stalked. Mercy feels she knows more than she is telling about that long ago murder. Is she somehow a part of the current murders or is she a lose end that needs to be eliminated?
As Mercy works her case, Eagle’s Nest Chief of Police Truman Daly has a unique traffic stop with a young man who shows illegal ID and claims to be a sovereign citizen. While jailed, he sends Truman a letter claiming he owns him 3 million dollars for an illegitimate arrest. Truman does not know whether to take this seriously or as a joke. These sovereign citizens do not want anyone interfering in their business. Truman and his police vehicle disappear and there is blood on the driveway.
I could not put this book down!
Mercy and Truman both go through so much in this book. Even as they are apart, it is the fight to get home to the other that gives them their strength. Mercy realizes no amount of prep can prepare her for everything. She learns it is OK to sometimes rely on family and friends. Truman’s love for Mercy is his strength and reason to continue on even when he thinks he cannot. This was definitely an edge-of-your-seat read with both cases having such high stakes.
I believe you should read this series in order as the characters grow and change in each book as in real life. I highly recommend this series. Mercy is a memorable character.
Kendra Elliot is one of my new favorites! Every one of her books grabs me and keeps me turning pages until the last one…..and then I am anxious to start the next book. She is that good!
If you want to snuggle down with a good read ALL of Kendra Elliot’s Mericiful series are great. She puts a lot of twists & supposition out there for you to get sidetracked with. I’m waiting for the remaining 2!!
I like all of Kendra’s books. The characters are great , easy read, and great stories
A Merciful Silence Book 4 of Mercy Kilpatrick by Kendra Elliot
What an amazing amazing addition to the series! I loved it a lot its so phenomenal and then some!!
A lot of excitement, suspense, and twists and turns. Kept me at the edge of the seat! Incredible!!
Highly highly recommend!!
I enjoy Kendras writing style and have been reading everything that comes out by her.
I’m really enjoying this series. The characters of Preppers & Survivalists iare different from the usual. I’m enjoying the developing relationship between Truman & Mercy
Another GREAT adventure brought to you by Kendra Elliot!!! I love this series, they say all good things must come to an end, but I will truly be sad when this series ends.
I love when you see characters from one series connect/work with characters from a another series. The characters is this book are believable, tough when they have to be, they love fiercely, they protect those they love and sometimes those they hunt. Its like one big family and that works for me.
There is murder, mayhem, twists/turns, unexpected moments, some you got what you deserve moments, some heartbreaking, some heartwarming, and some about time moments.
If your looking for some hot sex scenes this isn’t the book for you, but if your looking for a great adventure with lots of thrills than you need this book in your library.
If you haven’t picked up any of Kendra’s books than you really need to treat yourself because you won’t be disappointed.
I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.