Following The Vanishing Season, No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen was another thrill.  It again pairs Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham, the FBI agent who saved her as a teenager and worked with her on her last case.  Ellery is on involuntary leave because of how her last case ended.  Her past experiences make her un-inclined to get in touch with her feelings and she resents and balks at attending the group therapy for victims of violent crimes. 

While in therapy, Ellery stays true to her investigative personality and starts to investigate the case of someone she meets there.  Let's be honest - it's also alot more comfortable to deal with someone else's issues than your own.  She suspects that one of the group's members helped to convict the wrong person for an arson and digs into it.  She also finds herself drawn to help a woman who was brutally raped and to try to find the rapist.  

Since Ellery is suspended, she doesn't have her police resources to rely on.  What she does have is Reed Markham, FBI Agent.  Their relationship is complicated.  Not quite friends, not quite professional acquaintances.  More than anything, they share an experience from different perspectives.  Reed is drawn to help her, whether as a hero, a colleague, or a potential romance, but he's also pulled in different directions since his bosses dangle a promotion while advising that he should keep his distance from Ellery.  Reed hasn't necessarily made  the most sound judgments where Ellery is involved, be he also can't just leave her on her own.  As Ellery digs into the past and current brutal crimes, Reed helps while trying to figure out where his life is going.  The same wonderful writing seen in The Vanishing Season kept me on the edge of my seat with this story as well. 

Both of the mysteries were compelling, tense, and realistic.  I love Ellery's character as a strong female lead who doesn't simper and wait for someone to save her.  She both faces and denies her demons, as does Reed.  Even when I wanted to thump both of them upside the head, I had to keep reading.

Strong characters, strong writing, strong plot.  Thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading Book #3 as well.  I'm very grateful to Joanna Schaffausen, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for introducing me to this series!

I got a free e-reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my opinion. Hence why I’m jumping into a series at the second book. However, there was enough background given that I could understand what was going on and who the characters were, where they were coming from. This being said, the author really wanted to make sure you didn’t forget what happened in the last book and brought it up a LOT. If I had read the last book and knew the full story, it would have bugged me even more.

Ellery Hathaway is a cop on leave because she killed a murderer in the last book. She is attending group therapy sessions and ends up getting involved investigating the cases that landed some of her fellow crime victims in therapy. She’s also the only surviving victim of a serial killer back when she was a teenager. Reed Markham is the FBI agent who found her as a teenager and helped her with the case in the previous book. He ends up getting involved in helping her investigate these cases, in part to try to keep her from getting into more trouble.

The story was fast-paced and interesting, even the cold case investigation. The characters were complex and made you care about them. The twists and turns were good and not always completely predictable.

I gave this 3 1/2 stars but bumped it down to a 3 due to the amount of bad language. It was almost enough to make me give up on the book, but the plot was intriguing enough that I muscled through.

First I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this story. 

I foolishly left this book sitting on my kindle, just waiting for me to get to it. Once I started reading that is all I did! I was immersed in what Ellery was going through since her last encounter with a serial killer. Reed becomes involved in the unofficial investigation and it was interesting to see the play between them. I look forward to getting my hands on the next book in this series to see if Ellery can get her badge back and what she does with it.

I loved the first one so much that I decided to dive right in to the second one in the series and it was also fantastic! It was so engrossing that I honestly couldn’t put it down!! So glad I decided to go right into the second one!

I really enjoyed this book. It is part of a series and I read the whole series and can not wait for another one.

So for some reason I read number three in this series out order. I finished this one before number two, so excuse me if everything doesn’t line up perfectly. This is probably my favorite in the series thus far. Special agent Reed Markham and Ellet Hathaway reunite again with Reed asking for Ellery’s insight into the 40 year old homicide of his mother Camilla Flores. Their journey brings them to the bright lights of Las Vegas to dig into the cold case that seems destined to remain unsolved. In a case this stale filled with multiple uncooperative witnesses, Reed faces insurmountable odds on his journey to find his mother’s killer. Even though this is a story about a homicide, it has a lot of heart, and that is the strength of this story. As awkward as Reed and Ellery are you have to root for them. The ending comes with a pleasant and unforeseen surprise. Looking forward to more books in the series. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review. Review posted to Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Amazon.

My first read by this author and I was sucked in at page one. Ellery has a very dark and painful past that most people wouldn't come back from. She is very strong and determined and ends up getting herself in trouble more often than not. FBI agent Reed Markham was her savior many years ago and gets dragged into her unauthorized investigations as she tries to help some new acquaintances. Action packed, twisted, and suspenseful with a bit of a cliffhanger ending ....... can't wait to read the next book! I was so excited after finishing this book to discover there was a book 1 and book 3!

No Mercy is the second installment in the Ellery Hathaway series and it is a taught dark read. 

The MC is not my personal favorite type of main character Ellery is wantonly reckless with her life and constantly puts herself in harms way taking necessary risks because she placers no value on it. Does she manage to help people sure. But let's have some common sense and if you don't care about yourself maybe you should deal with that because being dead instead of thinking through a better solutions serves no purpose beyond being disappointing. 

I do like dark stories with mysteries to be solved and this story does have some taut and suspenseful moments. The story ends with a big cliffhanger with many questions unanswered.

This book provided by NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an honest review.

I liked this book better than the first one.  I can't wait to read the 3rd one to get some things wrapped up.  The fact that it isn't completely wrapped up in this book isn't a horrible thing but it just is one of these little cliff hangers.  When you have Reed and he is trying to figure out his family and there is a bombshell that happens I would rather it end in this book and then the 3rd book can have how he deals with this.  Ellery did some really dumb things and that irritated me beyond belief as she just throws everything into the wind and hopes something sticks.

This novel was a great follow up to the debut of the Ellery Hathaway series. The dynamic between the main characters is electric and the cases investigated were interesting although not nearly as personal which allowed the author to delve deeper into the relationship, connections and past of the characters. The ending was a bit anticlimactic but leaves a need for the reader to immediately pick up the third in the series.

This is an unusual book, in the most positive sense.  While telling a very complex story that moves along at a brisk pace, the author helps the reader empathize with the experiences of the characters.  I found the presentation of the inner lives of key characters to be realistic and compelling.  I found the complexity of the story and responses of the various characters dramatically consistent and frustratingly accurate.  The main character, Ellery, I think staying true to form while the story unfolded, and I found the closure at the end of the book brilliantly conceived.
Even though the story might be described as gritty, I appreciated that the characters didn't descend into dispair but actually kept coping with their lives and ultimately able to move forward.  I would recommend the book.

No Mercy is the second installment from Joanna Schaffhausen's series, Ellery Hathaway. It was a good read and give it three stars.

No Mercy is another fine offering in the Ellery Hathaway series. Police officer Ellery Hathaway and FBI profiler Reed Markham are back, in this second book in the series. Ellery is living in an apartment in Boston, away from her job, having to attend group therapy due to shooting a serial killer, in cold blood, last summer, and not apologizing for doing so. She immediately begins looking into the cases of two women in her victims therapy group and asks Reed for his help, because his expertise and resources as an FBI agent can open doors that are shut or have never been open to Ellery. 

Ellery tends to do things her way, often the most dangerous way and I usually roll my eyes when a main character throws themselves into obvious, unneeded danger but in Ellery's case, she thinks she's living on borrowed time, that she shouldn't even be alive anyway. The torture, rape, and continued emotional abuse thrown at her from the behind bars, serial killer that killed sixteen girls before she was rescued, will never leave Ellery. She doesn't understand why she was the one to live and she can't ever stop allowing what happened to her when she was fourteen, to color all of her present life. So Ellery throws herself at these two cases, an arson, that killed a two year old boy, over twenty five years ago and a rape that took place in the past year. 

Reed risks his potential promotion with the FBI, to help Ellery. Rescuing Ellery from her serial killer has affected him forever also. The rescue and the book he wrote about it has made him a hero, although he later fell from grace. Still he can never stop trying to rescue Ellery, from the danger she runs headlong into and from herself. Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Now living in Boston Ellery is trying to piece her life back together after the fallout from the Corbin Copycat and the media getting wind of who she really is.  Now in mandated therapy she is asked to join a group of people who have been touched by violence.  Instead of dealing with her own feelings though Ellery goes back to what she knows, investigation.  Looking into a fire that happened over a decade ago and helping a fellow victim find her rapist.  To help Ellery turns to Reed Markham, FBI.

Ellery is definitely getting someone's attention, she gets shot at, her car set on fire and thats just the beginning.  It seems that when Ellery and Reed get together someone always winds up in the hospital.  

Reeds boss has warned him to stay away from Ellery and away from the fire investigation case but when it comes to Ellery, Reed just can't say no.  Reed is finally starting to acknowledge his feelings regarding Ellery and Ellery can feel things stirring as well and they are freaking her out.  She is comfortable with the wall she has built for herself and feelings are difficult to handle. 

This whole book is one big ball of tension ready to explode in the snowy cold of Boston.  I love these characters, their struggles, their conflicted feelings and not knowing how to handle each other.  Not to mention Speed Bump, Ellery's dog who loves to drool and leave dog hair all over Reed.

After shooting a suspect, police office Ellery Hathaway is required to attend counseling sessions and a support group for victims of violent crime, based on her personal history. One of the other attendees, Wendy, who survived a brutal rape, begs Ellery to help solve the case and apprehend the rapist. Ellery asks Reed Markham, the FBI agent who saved her from a serial killer years earlier, to help her with Wendy’s case. In addition, Ellery takes an interest in another group attendee, Myra, who survived a fire in their furniture store, where her younger son was killed; she was badly burned and was now confined to a wheelchair. Ellery is not convinced the right man was convicted, and she asks Reed to help her find the truth.

Reed and Ellery find themselves in dangerous situations, both professional and personal, as they become involved in the trauma and sadness that surrounds these cases. Using Reed’s FBI credentials, they are able to look more deeply into these cases, and Ellery takes things a step further, following the men on the short list of violent rape suspects, which nearly gets her killed. As the victims’ stories unfold, the reader is able to learn more about Ellery and her sadness and pain. No Mercy is a compelling book, full of action and packed with drama, a captivating story of courage and determination, of Ellery’s desire to see justice done and to help people that are hurting. 

My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher and author for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

No Mercy is the second Ellery Hathaway book, one thing I've learned so far is that Ellery doesn't tiptoe into danger. Nope, she plunges headfirst, and for a woman who has seen her fair share of it, she takes the leap with little regard for her own wellbeing. Oh, and she takes Reed Markham with her whether he wants to go or not. Reed and Ellery have an interesting history and it's not one that would be conducive to romance, but there's an interesting chemistry between them. We only got a glimpse of it in the first book, but this one takes a closer look. In addition to that, Ellery and Reed are investigating a couple of older crimes, one believed to be solved and the other with little to go on. The cases are interesting in their own right, but these characters set this series apart from so many run of the mill mysteries. Both Ellery and Reed are likable. They're complete opposites on so many fronts, but they still manage to mesh even when they both fight it and refuse to admit it to each other as well as themselves. I'll be interested to see where these two go as the series progresses, plus the end of this one opened the door to another solid mystery to solve for this pair. All in all, No Mercy is a good addition to a series that I'll certainly be keeping my eye on.

Ellery is back and this time she’s on leave from the police dept and in mandatory therapy after shooting a murderer in cold blood. In true Ellery fashion, she’s not sorry for it as she’s survived not one but 2 attempts by serial killers to destroy her. I found after reading book 1 that I really like Ellery. She’s no nonsense and that continues in this story in which she wants to help to women in her therapy group, one who was brutally raped and the other confined to a wheelchair covered in burns. What is their backstory? Ellery enlists the help of her friend, FBI profiler REed who may or may not have more than professional feelings for Ellery. I enjoyed their partnership and found the mystery above average, the setting and dialogue were great as well. Overall, another enjoyable installment in the series.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. 

The first book describes how someone witnessed a kidnapping that occurred 14 years ago but remained silent. Abigail Hathaway’s life story was no longer private following her survival from abuse and captivity. Francis Michael Coben took pleasure in abducting and torturing young girls in Chicago until he was successfully put behind bars. Abigail Hathaway was the girl who was found and survived. There were books and movies made about her life and experience. 

To escape the attention of her past, Abigail “Ellery” Hathaway becomes a patrol officer in the quiet town of Woodbury in MA. Her brother Daniel who was sick with leukemia died 6 months after she returned home.  Her father had abandoned the family and left her feeling abandoned when she needed support the most.

She was rescued by now FBI agent, Reed Markham, who was only a newbie when he determined where the abducted girl might be. He received a lot praise and notoriety after the Abigail’s safe return.   

Agent Reed is struggling with his own personal issues on a “stress leave” from the department when he contacted by Ellery Hathaway. He agrees to look at the unsolved missing persons cases she believes are connected. This presents a distraction from his pending divorce from Sarit Ranupam, who is a reporter and encouraged him to write a book about the Abby Hathaway abduction. 

This second novel continues the saga of Ellery Hathaway. She is a patrol officer presently on leave after the traumatic events in book 1 where it ended with her killing the criminal responsible for series of missing persons. Reed Markham, the agent who found her years ago when she was kidnapped, went back to Quantico as FBI profiler after spending the summer assisting Ellery. She moves to Boston as she couldn’t live in Woodbury after murder. 

Reed once again comes to the assistance of Ellery much to her discomfort as she once again goes rogue to solve the unsolved. Reed makes himself at home on her couch with daily wake ups from Speed Bump, her dog. 

As a condition of her return to work Ellery must complete therapy and attend a group therapy at MGH for victims of violent crimes. She meets several people with whom she can’t help but feel compelled to meddle into their unsettling situations. To avoid dealing with the trauma which mandated her to therapy, she befriends Wendy, a victim of sexual assault who lives in fear as her offender was never apprehended. 

If that wasn’t enough to keep Ellery occupied, she begins investigating a cold case from 1980 where a fire burned down Gallagher’s furniture store. Her attempts to investigate by herself nearly gets her killed before Agent Reed once again comes to her aide. They pair up once again to resolve mysteries which seem to burden Ellery and need for justice.

I received a free electronic ARC copy of this police procedural from Netgalley, Joanna Schaffhausen, and St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books.  I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.  I am pleased to recommend Joanna Schaffhausen to friends and family.  She writes a fast-paced compelling story that keeps you turning pages till the very end.  And though I recommend that you binge read them all, each novel is complete and stands alone. 
 
No Mercy, Book #2 Ellery Hathaway follows The Vanishing Season and is in turn followed by All the Best Lies.  This series is exceptional - the action is ongoing, the personalities of the protagonists sympathetic and warm, and the need to read doesn't let up until you reach the end of Lies.  I think Prime and Netflix have ruined me for weekly series on the tube and waiting months for the next installment on my stories.  If I can binge it, all the better.  I don't know if my patience has shrunk or my memory - in any case, book two is much more enjoyable if you can remember what went on in book 1...

And this is an excellent Book 2.  We spend time with Ellery Hathaway again, and again she reaches out to FBI agent Reed Markham for advice.  Her small-town police captain has insisted that Ellery take paid administrative leave and undergo psychiatric therapy including group therapy after her traumatic trip through the appearance of the second serial killer she encounters in Book 1, The Vanishing Season.  The first line of No Mercy is really special - one I hope I can remember when it might be appropriately quoted. We are not allowed quotes from ARCs as they might be changed before actual publication.  I hope not this one! 

Reed is trying to please his three sisters as they work up a genealogical profile for the family to gift their Senator father at Christmas.  the fact that Reed was adopted into the family doesn't forgive him the whole routine of DNA testing and seeking census records for the last umpteen decades. Their father is talking about running for governor.  He might welcome a family history.  Or not. 

Winter in Boston sounds pretty but very cold.  I like to visit winter in books.  Schaffhausen paints a compelling background in and around Boston.  The mystery keeps building, and you will be compelled to read through at least one meal.  Hopefully, you will have in your possession All the Best Lies.

This is a good installment to the Ellery Hathaway series but not quite as interesting as ‘The Vanishing Season’. It’s a well written book and does keep your interest as Ellie and Reed investigate a two decade old arson death of a toddler and hunt down a violent rapist. A budding romance between Reed and Ellie is introduced in this book which I personally think could have been left out. I felt it detracted from the focus on the investigations.