This book has given me a major dilemma because now I just can't figure out which Abbie Roads book is my favorite! Saving Mercy absolutely blew my mind with it's twisted story of murder, obsession, and tortured characters. It's a story that will mess with your mind more than you can even prepare for, and you'll love the whole entire experience.

Cain Killion, son of serial killer Adam Killion, now works with the FBI using his ability to relive crime scenes to help solve cases. When a case hits way too close to home near the 20th anniversary of his fathers killings, he's sucked back into the Killer Killion world. And he needs Mercy Ledger's, the only surviving victim of his fathers and current resident of a psychiatric hospital, help to solve the most recent murders.

"A girl could get used to having a big, strong man carrying her around."
"A guy could get used to having a beautiful lady to carry around."

The telling of this story is something I would compare to reading Stephen King or watching Criminal Minds. It was that intense and thrilling to read, and I didn't put it down once I started. When you think you know everything, and have it all figured out, Ms. Roads is right there to prove you wrong and blow your mind yet again. Honestly, this book should come with a warning for those with heart issues because I felt like I was going to have a heart attack from all of the suspense being thrown at me.

Cain was a character that I wish was real just so I could find him and comfort him. Life had thrown so much shit his way and he was barely holding on to his sanity. Then Mercy was brought to his life and with her an evident change to his character. The development between these two character was something you don't read about everyday and it had me tearing up for them both. I fell for them both and they now have a special place in my heart.

The bottom line is if you don't read this book I'm not sure I can be your friend anymore. Saving Mercy now has the spot of my 2017 favorite read and I really don't think anything else is going to be able to take that titled away from it.

Saving Mercy Playlist:
The Kill - Thirty Seconds to Mars
The Sound of Silence - Disturbed
Bury Me Alive - We Are The Fallen
Wrong Side of Heaven - Five Finger Death Punch
Psycho - Muse
Sorrow - Flyleaf
Rot - Lacey Sturm

No one does psychopathic, twisted tales like Roads. I was a huge fan of her Fatal Dreams duet so I was thrilled to grab Saving Mercy.

Mercy is the sole survivor of a serial killer who took out her whole family when she was a child. Killion, said serial killer, had a son. Now, both Cain Killion and Mercy are adults and still dealing with the fall out of their traumatic childhoods. Cain can get into the mind of a killer by touching blood. Mercy has a 6th sense for when people mean her harm. Cain works for the FBI and a case comes up that has a parallel to Mercy's case from her childhood. Until now, these two, whose lives are bound together, have never met.

Roads is great at the tortured hero. Seriously, her male characters are so broken! They are also very dynamic, deep characters. Their torture isn't the standard "my parents didn't love me" or "my dad beat me" or "I grew up on the streets" kind of tortured hero. Her heroes have legitimate DAMAGE! Cain struggles with not wanting to be his father, yet knowing that a part of him is exactly like his father. He tries to fight the good fight and turn towards helping instead of hurting, but he lives in shame knowing that he is drawn to blood and death in a very unnatural way.

I can't even imagine Mercy's life. Witnessing your family being killed, having your own throat slashed, and then later in life having the cops show up and commit you to a mental institution where the head doctor is like Dr. Arkham at the Arkham Asylum. Or Dr. Crane. Or pretty much any of the doctors who ran that place (In case you aren't getting my reference, its from Batman). So, when Cain ferries her away from the place, she is (eventually) happy. But, going through the medication withdrawals, then finding your savior has the exact same face as your attempted killer has a way of messing with a girl.

I wouldn't say I "liked" either Cain or Mercy. I don't know that the reader is meant to like them; I understand them in an odd way, and I wanted them to find peace in their very messed up world. But, with two characters as damaged as them, 'like' isn't really a possibility. And yet, that doesn't impact my enjoyment of the story at all! You get swept up into finding out who this new killer is and will Cain and Mercy ever be free from all this horrible stuff that plagues their life. The plot is very layered and its impossible to feel 'bored' when reading a Roads book. Seriously, you are constantly trying to read between the lines and find the clues.

If you like books that take a different turn, include some darker, psychopathic material, and give you characters who are truly and rightly broken, Abbie Roads is an author you need to check out. Saving Mercy is another example of why her books will always fascinate me!
(link live on 4/5/17)

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.

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 were enough to gut you.

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.

✬✬✬ 5 MERCIFUL STARS ✬✬✬



*** The air smelled of pine and tasted of remembered pain. ***


I'm trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. One warning though - if you are sensible to blood or violence this book is not for you.

I love when an author introduces you to a new story and you don't feel disoriented but at home from the get-go. The premise of this book sounds fascinating: The son of a serial killer helps the FBI finding murderers by re-living scenes from the crime as a consultant. The blood on scene is his tool - when he paints himself with it he can clearly see what transpired.

The former victim of the consultant's father is being held in an asylum. Against her will. What makes it worse is that she endures abuse on a daily basis with no chance to escape.

Our hero, Cain, has been keeping tabs on Mercy but he doesn't know about the atrocities happening at the psychiatric hospital until an old friend, who works there, makes him take her with him to save her. From here on the mindf*ck starts and let me tell you, it's an awesome one.

*** He was Killer Killion’s Kid— Triple K, the media called him. The spawn of a killer with the genetic predisposition to be a murdering machine. ***


Cain has a love-hate relationship with blood. He craves the feeling of it on his skin, it is the gateway to the minds of those who kill mercilessly.

*** He became the killer. He saw what the killer saw. Did what the killer did. Felt what the killer felt. ***


He doesn't want to become like his dad. Often times he thinks there is to much of his sperm donor in him so there is a lot of self loathing inside him going on when he meets Mercy. She shows Cain from the first moment on that he is nothing like his father, to convince him and make it stick is the real problem. There is so much self-disgust inside of him that she often struggles to make him believe in himself.

As a character Cain is sweet and so painfully broken, I wanted to hug him all the time. His father broke him when he was a boy and that child surfaces often. I bawled when I felt how starved for love Cain was. Mercy is the band aid and salve to all his emotional ailments.


*** He squeezed her hand holding his, and his free arm snaked around her slowly, as if he was waiting for her to change her mind. But only love lived here between them. Slowly he settled his head against her shoulder and neck. ***

Sometimes he lashes out at people. Like a hurt animal he bites first before he gets bitten.

Mercy is a tremendously strong heroine yet has a kindness about her that is miraculous. The things she has gone through should have broken her beyond repair, yet she is endearing, sweet, caring. Both of them feel immensely protective of one another and it is that trait that causes a lot of hurt between them.
Their behavior is sometimes erratic and I had to keep reminding myself that these people don't act like you and me. They are too complicated, too damaged but in a roundabout way they make sense and are utterly perfect for one another. And that's why their moods and actions, while erratic, make sense to me too.

Mercy's and Cain's connection is instantaneous - they bond over the fact that they both have been broken by the same person and the connection deepens very fast. You could call it insta-love but it is absolutely believable which I appreciate.


*** His hands cupped her face as if he held something fragile in his palms, and then his tongue was in her mouth and she was lost. She didn’t know where she was. Didn’t have a past or future. All that existed was this moment where every muscle and bone, every breath and heartbeat, every working brain cell tuned in to Cain and his tongue in her mouth filling her with the warm, sweet taste of him and the feeling that for the first time in her life, she’d found perfect harmony. ***


Abbie Roads has a very vivid writing style. The words on the pages transform easily into images in your mind. I really loved that, and generally the story flows smoothly.
I wouldn't call this book paranormal romance. It is a mix of thriller, paranormal and romance and all these elements are in balance. The suspense is so good and full of tension that I was on the edge of my seat most of the time. I didn't see the solution coming until I the last plot twist - and there are a couple that left my mouth hanging open. The end was completely satisfying in every aspect. If you love any of these components give this a shot (if you can handle a lot of blood). I am convinced you won't regret it. She has totally won me over and I can't wait to get the next in the series in my hands.

***4.5 ‘A Gift and A Curse’ Stars***

When the first chapter has you going “WTF?!?!?” in absolute horrific fascination you know you’re in for an interesting (understatement) ride and that’s what Abbie Roads served up in Saving Mercy. This book is more than just a romantic suspense. It has a touch of the paranormal mixed with all the goodness of a psychological thriller that will keep you turning the pages to find out what will happen next.

Cain Killion has lived with the stigma of been the offspring of a serial killer his entire life and all the crazy that comes with it. He’s learned to block it all out and does all he can to not only makes amends for the sins of his father, but to never become like him. My heart bled for Cain. From his first breath he was trapped in a nightmare and is always on guard. His walls are high and expectations of people, with very few exceptions, are low, so no one ever sees the sweet and considerate man with a gentle heart that only wants peace and a chance at happiness.

Mercy Ledger survived what should have been absolute death at the hands of a serial killer and has been living with the consequences ever since. She has had to pretend to be something she is not to survive as she hides away from the world. God is Mercy strong, vulnerable in some ways, but so damn strong. The life she is living is definitely not the one she dreamed up before it all became a nightmare but by some miracle she’s been able to maintain her sanity and compassionate heart.

What happens when the only survivor of a serial killer and that serial killers offspring collide? The truth? No one can predict it, but what happens between Cain and Mercy was slightly cray cray and yet made perfect sense. While their nightmares may not have been the same, they were orchestrated by the same man and it forged a connection that neither could deny. From start to finish their relationship actually made sense to me and watching as they formed a tangible bond of their own making was the bright spot in the darkness.

Having read the Fatal Dreams series I knew Abbie Roads could weave a story and make even the most outlandish aspects work in a realistic way and she’s done that with Saving Mercy. The story was intriguing, though it does take a gruesome nature at certain times that may turn some off, but it is necessary to the storyline and I had fun trying to figure out “who done it” and found the reveal to be surprising and yet make absolute sense. There were some things that happened, or didn’t happen, that had me going. “Really? They didn’t...grrr.” and at times the book dragged for me and I had to keep from skimming things because I knew that there was a purpose to all of it and didn’t want to miss a thing. But overall, this was an awesome read and I’m looking forward to finding out if my guess at who the next book will be about is correct!

Abbie Roads blew my mind away with this book. Yes the protagonist is broken, damaged but he works hard to rise above his up bring to right the wrongs of his father. The readers is given glimpse of the broken little boy though the eyes of the female lead. While readers are given Mercy POV it doesn't take away from the story but only enhances it more. The protagonist has depth and the author doesn't rely of the typical FBI story lines. She pulls is able to bring the characters to life.

The book has a supernatural side but it really doesn't overtake the story in anyway instead it only brings the story to life pull at readers heart strings and minds.

Saving Mercy isn't about saving the woman as much as it is saving the protagonist from his mind, and fathers control.

Abbie Roads is able to pull from the real world experiences as a therapist which helps the story to come alive.

The romance is believable in this story.

The ending of the story is tied quickly in a nice little bow but the build up to the last few chapters Abbie gives the readers a ride they will never forget not to mention they will want to run out and tell their friends. This is a must read.

Thank you Netgalley and the author for an advance copy.

Abbie Roads has done it again! Saving Mercy is a roller coaster with all the feels. Similar to her Fatal Dreams duology (if you haven't read it, it NEEDS to be on your list), Roads does an amazing job of weaving in her paranormal elements into reality so the tapestry is so believable it has to be possible, right? Similar to Stephen King, she asked "What if?", and then "If you believed that, what about this?"

Cain is living proof that not all of the victims left behind in the aftermath of a monster have to be hunted. Cain's childhood was as horrific, and probably more so, as what Killer Killion did to the Ledgers. He's damaged, but is he really broken?

Mercy was the one that got away. Or did she? Mercy's life is a commentary on our current society. Let's take the worst day of your life and keep reliving it for entertainment. With no connections in life, no family or friends, when Mercy is "committed" to the Center for Health and Well Being, no one questions why she's there.

Take two damaged souls, remade into something more by a monster, and you get something magical - hope. Roads characters are beautifully flawed and damaged, but somehow not broken. The prose in this book is amazing. Roads words paint a complex and rich portrait that sucks you in and doesn't let go until she's ready. Ultimatel

I meant to read a book by Abbie Roads for a while now and when the opportunity to review this book came up I jumped at it.
I’m so glad that I did. This book is a whole new level of thriller and romance mixed into one.
Loved the setting, dark, exciting, bite your nails crazy. But also a touch of humor and plenty of steamy time.
This book kept me on the edge on my seat throughout the entire book. It has some wicked good twists and turns and you never know what will happen next.
I loved the complex characters and their growth throughout the book, both from very different worlds each with their own dark past and yet they are connected and share a past.
Loved, loved this crazy thrilling world and characters that Abbie Roads has created.
The only minor hiccup for me was that the first two chapters were a bit confusing but I just seemed to flow into the right setting very quick and loved the rest of the book .
If you are a fan of dark romance and thrillers I highly recommend this book.
I rate it 4 ½ ★

Dark, gritty, terrifying, angst supreme and excruciatingly tender!!


A I-can't-put-down-but-really-can't-continue-because-I'm-terrified-kind-of-book!! Impossible choices... Mind conditioning…. My heart raced and my eyes almost popped out one or two times!!!

This book is full of OMGs, and WTH kind of moments with twists and turns that you never see coming. You really get blindsided at times, but the thing is, all the while, there is tenderness, and love, and affection and so many bittersweet moments, and not to spoil it but our heroes get their happily ever after!!!

Our heros here are Cain Killian and Mercy Ledger, two persons that really got the short end of the stick in life.

Cain is the son of a very well known serial killer, really a monster that had done the most horrible things to his own son, somethings he even blocked out.

“Give him fear. Give him fuzzy-assed unicorns that shit glitter and gold_ just don’t give him sympathy.”

Thanks to the unusual and horrendous childhood, he has a very unique gift that he uses to capture the bad guys, he drenches himself in the blood of the victims to get snapshots of the way the killings happened, for a brief moment in his mind, he becomes the killer. That way he has become one of the best profilers for the FBI.

Mercy Ledger, the lone survivor of Killion, having to live with the trauma of witnessing the murder of her family was also changed, she had a sixth sense about the intention of the people around her.

She is suddenly thrown in the loony bin for no apparent reason for two years, and freed by Cain, and the connection that they felt towards each other for a long time, suddenly flourishes.

Both characters are so strong, have been hurt so much, but they are relentless in trying to live a normal life, to see the good the world has to offer. They are the reflection of who we are and what the world wants us to be.

They are two tortured souls, each needing the other one to feel whole while trying to protect them, and the only way they knew how, was being apart.

“It was the price of loss. A price she had paid twenty years ago. A price he was paying now. His sadness was her sadness. His shame was her shame. They were united in shared hurt- had been from the beginning.”

The second characters are well built, and you don’t know until the end if they are good, or bad, and the ending…. I did not see that one coming!!!!

And as always Abbie definitely knows how to keep you hooked…. There is a loose thread in the story, I’m not going to tell, but I’m guessing this is the next book!

A book worth reading, and a series that I’ll follow.

Firstly, thanks for the opportunity to read this book. I was lucky enough to follow up a recommendation from another author on Facebook and so glad to have read all her other books (2). These books are not for the fainthearted. They describe horrifying torture and grisly details but what a ride! The tortured hero and heroines are someone you fall in love with, but would never want to be! I love her style of writing and am waiting with great anticipation on her next novel.

It was so gripping, the language so bloody good, the pace perfect, and the entire plot of the story was just effing awesome that it naturally resulted in a brilliant book. And I can't stress on that enough. Roads has written one hell of a psychological romance/suspense- the very pages of this book bleeds with the raw dark genius of the authors mind. I cannot wait for the next book. I needed it like yesterday!

This was my first book by this author, and I can already tell that I'm going to be after her books like a dog with a bone.

Book Review- Saving Mercy by Abbie Roads

Cain Killion is the son of a serial killer. He is known as Killer Killion’s Kid or Triple K as the media referred to him. He works as a crime scene investigator to work through his guilt and shame. Mercy is a victim of his father’s that he left alive and she survived. She has been in a mental hospital and Cain has been keeping an eye on her. A nurse named Liz who works at the hospital has known Cain since he was a child and keeps him updated on Mercy’s condition.
However one night Liz gives him Mercy. He just wanted to ask her about the symbol found at a crime scene, but Liz fears Mercy needs to be saved from Dr. Payne. Cain is the only one who can do it. He is forced to take Mercy into hiding. He can’t believe the turn of events and knows Mercy will be afraid of him when she is lucid.
He keeps questioning why he is doing this. He calls Mac in for help. However Payne finds them as Cain decides to walk away. Payne tries to take Mercy back. Cain decides to keep her safe even if his shame and guilt try to interfere.
Mercy can see past his face to the man inside. She knows who he is and sees the bond they have because of his father. She fears, however, that Cain can be hurt because of her. She is being stalked by the obsessive doctor. Someone else is out committing copycat kills. Cain and Mac are trying to stop whoever is doing it.
Little do they know that this is an elaborate plan and they are shocked when they realize who the players are. Cain learns shocking secrets as he comes face to face with the monster he knows as his father.
This book was psychologically chilling. The abuse and conditioning Cain experienced as a child rides him hard. He sees himself like his father. He is waiting for the tide to turn and he becomes like his father. The reader witnesses his daily, dark fight. Then you have Mercy, the only survivor from Killion’s last massacre. She ends up in a mental hospital terrorized by Dr. Payne. It was tough to read as she tried to stay a step ahead of him. The emotional anguish that both characters exhibited was consuming. The storyline was dark with bits of hope sprinkled throughout. It is an emotionally draining journey as you read. Cain and Mercy have to fight for their lives on every level.
I had to read this in bits. I had to take a break from the psychological torment. So it took me longer to read this story than it normally would. It’s a good story but really dark and twisted. Some may not like it. Others who have no problems reading and handling what psychologically sick people are capable of and do to those they love will read through all the dark moments. It is a good read. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Abbie Roads did it again...

This is the second book that I read from this very talented and incredible writer and she never failed to make me on the edge of my seat.

I finished reading this magnificent yet disturbing well-written novel in five hours and I'm starving for the next book with her newest series: Fatal Truth.

Blood... From the cause to the effect, blood became the component.

I was sad about what happened to Cain Killion that led him on who he is right now, but at the same time grateful on how his ability as the key to saving Mercy.

My heart wrenched for Mercy Ledger, she didn't deserve what happened to her. It was enough tortured when her parents died and her throat sliced, and being in the psychiatric ward was too much.

The idea of painting and the symbols were superb. Yes, I guessed the killer correctly nearly the end.

My mind is telling me that the next book might be about Daughter and Dolan or someone wh0 is going to find Daughter who also has an amazing ability like Cain. I really can't wait!

Step onto the dark side of the street, where monsters live, kill and torment, yet through it all an unlikely romance takes root among the blood, gore and evil that stalks…

Cain will stop at nothing in his efforts of SAVING MERCY from the hands of death, even if those hands belong to him. Cain is damaged, but he is also gifted with a connection to blood that allows him to re-create a crime for the authorities. Although it takes its toll on him it is his way of making amends for horrors from the past, a way to re-pay a debt he didn’t owe. It was during the investigation of one crime scene that brought his past roaring back in all of its bloody horror and he knows there is one woman who knows what it means. And her life is in danger…

Mercy knows of the terror Cain sees, she survived a bloody massacre and has become a prisoner of medications and doctors with devious intentions. If Cain doesn’t save her soon, she will become a victim of a bloody death, but this time the killer will not fail.

Can Mercy trust the man who vows to save her? He has a past closely tethered to hers and he feels he is lost to the demons of death he was born to. She sees so much more and their attraction may blur the weakness that lay within his soul. Sometimes love is all it takes to kill the beast…
Leave it to Abbie Roads to create a dark and bloody world filled with edgy tension and pull love out of the twisted hatred. Well done! Taut, rapid fire pacing that will keep readers plowing through each page in an effort to discover who dunnit, why and how! I was hooked from the first page as one man on a mission of redemption finds that he too is saved.

I received an ARC edition from Sourcebooks Casablanca in exchange for my honest review.

Series: Fatal Truth - Book 1
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (April 4, 2017)
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN-13: 9781492639237
Genre: Paranormal Suspense | Romance
Print Length: 320 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

I was totally shocked by this book. If this book wasn’t categorized as a romance I would have sworn I was reading a thriller and a dark one at that.

It was the cover that lured me in. But after reading this bone-chilling, paranormal suspense thriller. Yes, I said a paranormal suspense thriller. Abbie Roads has put together one energetic book that would start her new series Fatal Truth on a high note.

Cain Killion knew that he might be one step away from being a serial killer just like his father. His only saving grace is he uses his gift with blood to take the edge off. Until one crime scene became all too familiar. With a haunting symbol linking the crime to his past and only one person would know what it means.

Some say that a person could take a lot before they go mentally insane. And what Mercy Ledger went through…witnessing her family being murder by the hands of Cai’s father should have done it. But Mercy was a resilient person. But when Cain and Mercy past comes back to haunt them will it kill them or drive both over the deep end.

I’ve read only two other books by Abbie Road and those where her Fatal Dreams Series, I must say that Saving Mercy tops either one of those. The plotline flows flawlessly without missing a beat.

I would recommend this book, it certainly had it all. I wouldn’t recommend it as a light reading material before bed.

Great start to a new series. Roads can make you think one thing while the story is going into another direction entirely.

A twisted romance full of dark allure. I was hooked on the connection between Cain and Mercy. Both of them had been tormented by the same man, Cain's father - who had murdered Mercy's family and slit her throat but left her alive and who had tried to turn Cain into a replica of himself through torture and repetition. The twisted part? Cain looked like his father. While Mercy saw emotion in Cain's eyes that kept them distinct for her, it felt a tad taboo it a delicious way. Because who would understand you better than someone who shared in your pain? There's a few understandable stumbles surrounding Cain and his father's resemblance and I liked that. It couldn't be a smooth sailing situation.

On a more specific relationship note - Man, those two can scorch a page with their sexual chemistry. There aren't a ton of sex scenes in the book, but Abbie Roads made every one count.

There's something to say for the introductory scene of Cain using his connection to blood. It was vivid and just wow...definitely sets the mood for the book. Cain had a love-hate relationship with blood that I feel deepened him as a character. He had this constant push-pull with where he is and where he was at as a child.

I loved how Mercy was able to see past Cain's appearance and to the real him. I think she gave him something that he desperately needed, proof that he wasn't his father and would never be him. She was self-sacrificing and undervalued her life yet continued to fight for her sanity.

My one complaint was who the killer turned out to be. There were so many great setups for it to be anyone *spoiler* that it almost felt like a letdown for it to be Cain's father. His brutality was emphasized more than his intelligence so it felt a little forced and kind of blind siding that he was somehow temporarily escaping when there were so many other great leads and no hint of him being the possibility.*end spoiler*

Overall, a great blend of romance, connection, and thrills - with a thread left hanging to set up for book 2. Be prepared for blood!

Wow, totally devoured this book. It was a bloody good read – both figuratively and literally. This author has one sick and twisted mind that makes for fascinating stories.

Saving Mercy starts a new paranormal series but as with her first series its frightening addicting with tortured characters you immediately are immersed with and feel their pain and sorrow.

Reading a book by this author is like going on a mind bender – lock your seat belt and just hold on for the crazy ride!!

Depressing. Confusing. Creepy. I stayed with the book, but found it distasteful. I will not be reading book 2 in this series.