John Burley’s The Absence of Mercy is a harrowing tale of suspense involving a brutal murder and dark secrets that lie beneath the surface of a placid, tight-knit Midwestern town.When a brutally murdered teenager is discovered in the woods surrounding a small Ohio town, Dr. Ben Stevenson—the town’s medical examiner—must decide if he’s willing to put his family’s life in danger to uncover the … to uncover the truth. Finding himself pulled deeper into an investigation with devastating consequences, he discovers shocking information that will shatter his quiet community, and force him to confront a haunting truth.
With its eerie portrait of suburban life and nerve-fraying plot twists, The Absence of Mercy is domestic drama at its best for fans of Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, Jennifer McMahon, and Lisa Gardner.
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I couldn’t put this one down. Wow. Really gory murders but so intriguing. And the ending! Didn’t see that coming.
Didn’t care for the last part of the book but still enjoyed it
Hated the ending. There was no closure. It was a page Turner until the end.
This was a powerful novel about how a dangerous mental illness affects everyone around the ill person. It has believable characters that work to make the story realistic. At times, it was a painful read. All parents must worry at some point in their children’s lives that something might be wrong with them. To see Ben and Susan live that fear was …
The Absence of Mercy by John Burley was a murder mystery wherein some unknown person was not only killing teens, but also dismembering and mutilating them as well. It opens with the first murder and Ben and Susan waiting for news of their son, who attends the same school as the unfortunate youth. He turns out to be OK but Ben, who is also the …
Thank you NetGalley for this ebook copy of The Absence of Mercy by John Burley. The story follows county coroner Ben Stevenson and his family – wife/doctor Susan and their two sons, Thomas and Joel while a killer is mutilating and murdering teens.
The descriptions of the murders/mutilations are quite graphic but not overly gross or bloody. The …
The Absence of Mercy feels like two books to me. The beginning is mystery/thriller and the end more of a family drama. Dr. Ben Stevenson, is a small town coroner, whose job has been mostly quiet until a teenager is killed, horrifically in the local woods. Months pass and everything is calm and then boom another teenager is attacked but his one is …
Wow! What a page-turner! This book had my crying by chapter 5. The story is chilling, gripping, and downright exciting. This is the first book from John Burley that I ever read, and it will certainly not be the last.
Good summer book
Loved the whole book start to unpredictable end