I really loved The Vanishing Season, but this one not so much. Ellery's character was drastically different. In the first book she was calm and focused. In this book, she was chaotic and extremely reckless. While she did go though a horrible ordeal in the first book, it still doesn't explain such a drastic shift in personality. I was expecting Reed to be some sort of voice of reason for her, but he kept caving to her. It really overshadowed the plot for me. I am curious to about the results of Reed DNA test, but I'm not sure if I'll get the next book or not.

I was prepared to give this book a high rating....until I got to the ending.  I finished the book and had to go back to see if I missed something.  There is no closure for all most all of the threads the book follows (and there are several). In the last chapter, we are following Ellery as she talks to one of the other women in her victims' group, the next we are with Reed at Christmas morning with his family. Other problems I found with this book [SPOILER ALERT]: 1. The idea that Bobby looked like his uncle so can't be his fathers son - anyone who took high school biology knows you can inherit traits from your grandparents passed down and carried by your parents.  2. It's never revealed who really set fire to Ellery's truck or why.  3. Ellery doesn't turn in a guilty party, after she finds out the truth. 4. We are left wondering who was Reed's father, although you could have been led to believe that one of the Markham's was his mother or sister.  The author buries the fact that Camilla was his real mother in the author's note, so you're left to conclude that Reed's adoptive father was his real father.

There were so many extra side stories and so many loose ends, especially with the rushed ending, that I felt compelled to take away points from an otherwise enjoyable read.

“No Mercy,” is the second novel from Joanna Schaffhausen featuring Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham, and it is better than the first and I thought the first was fantastic. Ellery has moved to Boston after exposing and killing a serial killer with the help of Special Agent Reed Markham during the summer. She is awaiting a final decision regarding her future as a police officer when her mental health provider strongly suggests she attend a support group for victims because her last brush with  a serial killer was not her first and  the doctor is concerned her ability to process the issues she is facing. Ellery is drawn to a young woman who asks for her help to find the man that hurt her when he broke into her apartment because the police seem to have come to a dead end. Reluctantly, Ellery agrees and soon realizes she needs Reed’s help to track down the suspects. Ellery and Reed our bound together due to her first encounter with a serial killer and somewhere in his mind he feels he needs to save her again, this time from herself. I was given an advanced copy of this book, and all of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This mystery plumbs the depths of despair that families of murder/rape victims experience, and it is an interesting treatment of how bad things can go and the lengths that they will take to resolve their trauma. It has an interesting thesis: a local female cop is captured and tortured by a serial killer but survives the ordeal, only to kill another assailant years later. While she is suspended, she is forced to take group therapy with other survivors and there becomes a vigilante, trying to obtain justice. The novel takes place in Boston and is very evocative of the neighborhoods and inhabitants, and uses the metro area to a great advantage. I would highly recommend the book, it is a very unusual take on a subject that many thriller writers gloss over.

An interesting read but rather average in storyline and plot.  This is not a series that I will continue to read.

I continue to say that Joanna Schaffhausen is an underappreciated author. Her books ask questions along the way, leave parts open to interpretation, only to have them all neatly answered by the end without insulting the reader or using gimmicks.

Ellery Hathaway was kidnapped as a child, as an adult, she thought that was behind her, but as the last book, "The Vanishing Season" showed us, sometimes the past comes back. Now with her career as a Boston police officer hanging in the balance, she is in court-appointed counseling where she meets weekly with other crime victims. Once a cop always a cop so when their stories take on new meaning, Ellery calls on Reed Markham, the FBI agent that saved her.

Wendy Mendoza lives in fear that her unknown attacker will come back. She cannot forget, she wears a tattoo of the last words that he said to her. Myra, wheelchair-bound, wears the burn scars that she sustained when her furniture business when up in flames and she desperately tried to get to her child. There are other stories from the group, but this is where Ellery, with the help of Markham, starts her investigation.

The deeper they dig, the less the stories make sense. Where Wendy gives them little to go on, there are holes in Myra's case. Wholes that can bring down senior officers and prevent Markham from the promotion that will let him stay closer to his daughter.

By the conclusion, Joanna Schaffhausen tells you exactly where the next book is going. You can see it forming her in mind and you are right there with her as she delves deeper into Reed Markham's past and the adoptive family that calls him one of their own.

Author Joanna Schaffhausen’s follow-up to her first novel “The Vanishing Season” reintroduces the characters from book one, Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham. Ellery is still struggling with the aftermath of the case she solved with Reed, and working together again causes problems for both of them.

This is a book that could possibly be read as a standalone, but there is much history between the main characters that may be difficult to understand without reading the first book. Ellery carries the deep emotional scars from an abduction when she was a child, and while I usually tire of saddling detectives with physical or psychological disabilities, Ms. Schaffhausen handles the situation differently than most authors. Ellery doesn’t try to acknowledge and overcome her problems, she accepts them as part of her personality and deals with the difficulties in her life when others choose to try to change her to the person she could have been. Ellery is a strong yet dark character, and the author wisely chose to get out of the way and let Ellery experience life in her own fashion. The book is definitely stronger for that decision.

There are multiple stories threading their way through the book, and I felt that with one exception, all were resolved in a satisfying manner (won’t say which one was a bit bumpy, would be revealing too much). The book was interesting due to a number of factors. Ellery struggles to escape her recent past and convince the doctors to allow to officially return to active duty. Reed attempts to balance his work life, home life, and the hard-to-define relationship he has with Ellery. It was easy to finish this book in two sittings.

Even though I felt the first book was good, “No Mercy” is an improvement and potentially a sign of even better things to come in future books. Recommending this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with characters who will involve the reader in the story. Four-and-a-half stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
The second book in the series did not let me down. It was just as good as the first. Now I cannot wait to try the third.

I enjoyed the continuing adventures of Ellery and Reed as they find themselves immersed in 2 different cases while navigating their personal relationship.  No Mercy kept my attention although I was disappointed at points by the what seemed like obvious missed clues and blunders by main characters.  Overall, I enjoyed reading No Mercy.

No Mercy is the second book in the series following the first book,The Vanishing Season, and police officer Ellery Hathaway is now suspended from the force while undergoing a mental health evaluation to determine if she is fit to return to duty after the shooting in the previous book. 
     She becomes involved in two cases that have directly affected two people in her therapy group and ends up calling FBI profiler Reed Markham for help with the cases.  
     Together they crack both cases and the book ends with a cliffhanger involving Reed Markham’s personal life.  
     I was totally blindsided by the ending and can’t wait for the next installment in the series.  I happily recommend this book and this series to anyone who loves a great mystery. 
     Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this advance copy in exc

What a disappointment

After the excellent first book in this series, "No Mercy" is shockingly bad. Setting aside the dubious but not impossible idea that a survivor of a serial killer draws more serial killers to her, Ms Schaffhausen wants us to believe that Officer Ellery Hathaway has been accused of murder but then separated from her official duties without a trial. She's moved to Boston to undergo psychiatric counselling and while she is there snoops around into other crimes, supposedly on the side of the victim but mostly because she is nosy and bored. She drags FBI profiler Reed Markham in and he helps her to form some rather shallow profiles of some crimes. She then starts working her way down a list of known sex offenders in the neighborhoods of these crimes. I stopped reading when she makes the assumption that not one of these known sex offenders are all disgusting and could not possibly be rehabilitated. Surely one of them is guilty of these crimes.

The book is built on a series of non-sensical assumptions one heaped on the other. I thought this was stupid.

In a follow up to The Vanishing Season, Police officer Ellery Hathaway is now on leave from her job for reasons I will not mention here since it would reveal spoilers for the first book. In group therapy, she is finding lots wrong with her fellow therapy goers and once again calls on her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, with whom she shares a dangerous history to help her solve a crime or two. While I loved the first in this series, I feel like this one was rushed a bit. It's not quite as well-plotted and this one stretches belief a bit too much but overall I still like these characters and will read more in this series if written. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

No Mercy is the tragic story of a woman that was kidnapped and tortured as a young girl.
Written with strong emotions, finesse about the abuse of more women, yet it will blow you way.

Ellery has been forced to undergo counseling.  Her doctor has her attend a group session with other victims of violent crimes.  Instead of focusing on her own therapy, Ellery gets involved with another victim who asks her to find her rapist.  She also gets pulled into an old crime that she doesn't think caught the right person.  Ellery asks Reed to help once again.  While working on these cases their personal relationship takes a few turns. The book has a lot of stuff going on but it comes to a good conclusion.  There are interesting twists in the plot so it keeps you guessing.  I received a copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I enjoy Joanna Schaffhausen’s series with Ellery Hathaway, the books are suspenseful and well-written with plots that are intriguing and keep you guessing. I’ve read all three of her books in this series and think they are good, solid reads.

I recommend her books if you like a captivating, fast-paced story with likable characters.

SYNOPSIS:

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than “getting in touch with her feelings.”

For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

Ellery seeks advice from her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, who liberated her from a killer’s closet when she was a child. Reed remains drawn to this unpredictable woman, the one he rescued but couldn’t quite save. The trouble is, Reed is up for a potential big promotion, and his boss has just one condition for the new job—stay away from Ellery. Ellery ignores all the warnings. Instead, she starts digging around in everyone’s past but her own—a move that, at best, could put her out of work permanently, and at worst, could put her in the city morgue.

I am looking forward to the next book in the series! Will you be reading it too?

Order the book here!

This is the second book in the Ellery Hathaway series and liked it better than the first.  I really enjoyed The Vanishing Season and loved Ellery and I enjoyed No Mercy the tension in the story had me at the edge of my seat.  There is now a romantic twist and and a dog as a friend.  Love how the characters are developing looking forward to another.

Great follow up of the first book "The Vanishing Season"
Having liked the first book I enjoyed  this book even more. 
You get to know and understand both Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham a bit better.  The characters are well developed with their good sides and their flaws.  Ellery wanting to help a rape victim lands her in even more trouble then she already is.  This is a fast paced thriller but I feel  if you haven't yet you need  to read "The  Vanishing Season" first in order to fully appreciate this book.

No Mercy was better than The Vanishing Season.  In this book Ellery gets herself involved in the lives of two members of the victim support group she is being forced to attend after killing William Willett (Brady Archer), the Coben copycat serial killer.  Wendy is a rape victim who (understandably) is struggling significantly after the rape and whose case is growing cold, as there was little forensic evidence and no good leads.  Myra was badly burned and lost her two-year-old son in a fire at the family furniture shop over twenty-five-years ago.  The arsonist is up for parole and his niece, who is a lawyer, believes he was wrongfully convicted and is trying to secure his release.  Ellery, with too much time on her hands and a need to save everyone, starts investigating both Wendy's rape and the furniture store fire, and she ropes Reed into assisting her.  Her investigations unsettle numerous people and place her at substantial risk.  The two central mysteries -- who is the rapist and who actually set the furniture store fire -- are well crafted.  The furniture store fire plot involves quite a few surprises that leave the reader guessing up until almost the end of the book.  The book also contains further character development for both Ellery and Reed, with Ellery forced to confront aspects of her personality, how her past trauma has shaped her, and what she wants for her future self.  The book ends with a cliffhanger involving Reed, suggesting that the third book in the series might focus more on his past.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley.

“You kill one guy, one time, and suddenly everybody thinks you need therapy.”

So thinks Ellery Hathaway as she heads to Mass General Hospital for her first Survivors of Violent Crime meeting. She isn't a fan of therapy, or groups, but she doesn't have a choice—not if she wants her job as a cop back after shooting a murderer. As a teenager, Ellery managed to escape from a serial killer with the help of FBI profiler Reed Markham. But she hasn't escaped the memories of what Francis Coben did to her and she can't shut herself off from the suffering of the other group members. She also can't seem to stop being a cop, even if she is on mandatory leave. So instead of getting in touch with her feelings, she finds herself contacting Reed in hopes that he'll help her investigate a rape and an arson case she learns about during her first session. Despite his better judgment, he agrees to get on a plane and spend a night on Ellery's fur-laden couch.

No Mercy is a gripping psychological mystery that is the second book in Joanna Schaffhausen's Ellery Hathaway series. Like The Vanishing Season, this novel has plenty of twists that kept me guessing and can be read as a standalone. But No Mercy's real draw is Schaffhausen's ability to create complicated, likeable characters with stubborn insecurities and scars. While the first book in the series was faster-paced, No Mercy focuses to a greater degree on the developing relationship between Ellery and Reed. I am by no means a sentimental person (sadly!), but I found myself almost more curious about what would happen between them than about the solutions to the crimes. Ellery listens to The Violent Femmes while scarfing down Big Macs. Reed, on the other hand, is a gourmet cook who likes Bach. Yet there is a strong connection between them that only keeps getting stronger. They also approach their work in nearly opposite ways. Ellery is more impulsive and emotionally connected to the crimes, while Reed tends to be cooler, more analytical—most of the time.... And then there's Speed Bump, Ellery's Bassett Hound, who is just as cute as he was in the in the first book.

I also loved the setting in this novel. As a lifelong New Englander, I can say Schaffhausen's descriptions of Boston are spot on, from the accents to the architecture to the Dunkin Donuts coffee everyone's always drinking. The only thing I haven't made up my mind about is the plot. It's markedly looser than the the story in The Vanishing Season, which makes the story seem less compelling—but the lack of urgency is a trade off because the story seems more original, more real. I especially liked the ending of this one, both in terms of the solutions to the two crimes and the cliff-hanger ending. The third novel in the series, All the Best Lies, is due out in February and I've already started reading the ARC.

Much thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was very good book,   I personally would like to follow the character on the rest of her journey.   Very much an exciting book