This was fantastic. I really enjoyed my time with this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada and has returned home after decades away. His department is modest with twelve people.

When Becks investigation into a military drome leads him to a known hacker in the area, he is surprised to find its not only a teenager, but a teenager locked up in detention with no computer access. There’s something about the hacker that doesn’t sit quite right with Beck and when she disappears, Beck begins to think she’s in danger and time might be running out for all of them.


Bruce Borgos is back with another action packed read. I really enjoyed reading the first installment of this series last year and couldn’t wait to continue it with Shades of Mercy. I enjoy the setting of this book because when you think of Nevada, you think of Las Vegas, not a rural desert wasteland, or at least I don’t. But this book depicts just that along the Nevada, Utah state border. This book is action packed and immediately jumps in. I didn’t want to put this book down and read it one afternoon while on vacation. I absolutely love getting to know Beck’s new partner, an amazing English Lab. It’s always fun when strong characters get paired with animal companions.

This book does cover some animal death in the form of cattle being culled. This could be sensitize for some readers.

This is an action packed read you won’t want to miss.

Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos is the second book in the Porter Beck series.
Beck is the Sheriff of Lincoln County. He is a retired Military, and his father was the Sheriff before him.
One of his childhood friends dies of overdose of drugs. While another childhood friend is targeted by a highjacked military drone.
Beck starts his investigation, and the story takes off. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was well written and kept me reading. Beck uses all his knowledge, skill, and the people around him to solve the crime.
I read the first book which was good – this one was even better. I highly recommend this book and series.

Shades of Mercy is the second book in the sheriff Porter Beck series. It’s an action packed mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are well developed. It features druglord, spies, and secret government agents. Sheriff Beck is great and I can’t wait to read more in this series! Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the chance to read and review.

This second in the series book turned out to be captivating and worth the read. Plot kept the reader invested. Fast paced. Eager for the next installment. Thanks for the chance to read!

This was a thrilling and fast paced sequel to The Bitter Past. I thought it was an amazing follow-up and I'm looking forward to the next installment!

Shades of Mercy is the 2nd book in the Sheriff Porter Beck series, and this installment finds Sheriff Beck ensnarled in a wide-ranging plot centered around teenage computer hacker Mercy Vaughn. There’s a lot going on here, and the plot gets a little complicated, but the action is constant and the story moves quickly as Beck has his hands full with missing kids, wildfires, and government agents, to name a few. Although the technical jargon got cumbersome at times, it didn’t distract from the story and can be quickly dismissed. Sheriff Beck’s character is a winner and I’m looking forward to hopefully move books in this series. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, doing the same lawman's job his father once did now that he's returned home after decades away. With his twelve person department, they cover a large area that is usually very quiet, but not of late. One childhood friend is the latest to succumb to a new wave of particularly strong illegal opioids, another childhood friend—now an enormously successful rancher—is targeted by a military drone, hacked and commandeered by an unknown source. The hacker is apparently local—local enough to call out Beck by name—and that means they are Beck's problem.

Beck's investigation leads him to Mercy Vaughn, the one known hacker in the area. The problem is that she's a teenager, locked up with no computer access at the secure juvenile detention center. But there's something Mercy that doesn't sit quite right with Beck. But when Mercy disappears, Beck understands that she's in danger and time is running out for all of them.

This reader loved the first Porter Beck novel, and this one fulfills that promise beautifully. The fast pace, the twists and turns, the glimpse into life in the high desert, ll combine to make this one heck of a novel. Highly recommended. #ShadesofMercy #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthorSeries

abduction, vision-issues, retinitis-pigmentosa, espionage, hacker, exmilitary, CIA, triggers, unputdownable, invisible-disability, contemporary, lies, snarky, torture, local-law-enforcement, series, fiction, Chinese-intelligence, rural, crime-thriller, siblings, Nevada, networking, wildfires, action-adventure, punny, suspense, drones*****

Mercy is a computer genius/hacker/teenager who was doing time for her misdeeds. The most relevant of which is hacking into cartel monies, this is what gets her abducted and more. Secrets are revealed, past contacts with CIA activated, and all this has the background of wildfires fed by temperatures and drought. Fast paced and alarming. Loved it!
Can't wait till it comes out in audio so I can get a copy to keep!
I requested and received an EARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
#PorterBeckMysteriesBk2 Available 16 Jul 2024

I received this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved the first Porter Beck, The Bitter Past, and hoped this entry would not be a sophmore disappointment. It was not. Although I feared it might be heading over the top with a computer genius and hacked drones, Borgos kept it totally within the realm of possibility, slowly cranking up the level of suspense. Borgos is now firmly on my pre-order list. Highly recommended.

Shades of Mercy is book two in the Porter Beck series. Porter Beck is a sheriff in a small Nevada county. When a hacker redirects a military drone and targets a ranch in the area, various government agencies ask for Porter's assistance in solving the crime. Porter elicits the help of a teenaged hacker serving time in the local juvenile facility to assist with the case. The opioid epidemic has also hit his area and he's trying to find out who the supplier is. There's a lot going on in this book, but it moves at a good pace and held my interest. This book outshines the first one, and I expect the series will get better and better. I definitely look forward to reading the next one in the series. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

High octane second instalment of the Porter Beck series. Man, was I excited to get this book as the first book was a stellar debut for sure! This time he has to deal with his failing night vision, and his father’s dementia. Still love the Nevada desert setting, characters, and the action. With a sherif like Beck, he will do what is necessary, even if he has to break some rules.

Can’t wait for book three!

Thanks to st Martin’s press, Minotaur books, NetGalley, and the author for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was good to spend time with Porter Beck again as he dealt with some complicated issues in his role as sheriff and in his personal life. His night vision is failing and his father is sinking deeper into dementia. In his professional life, he is dealing with a drone strike that killed a prize bull and the deaths of two friends from drug overdoses. The plotting is tight and Beck acts intelligently to get to the bottom of who is controlling the drone and who is supplying the drugs. Colombo ("Bo"), the new character in the series is an English lab gave Beck the opportunity to use some of the witty dialogue I enjoyed in the first book in the series. I didn't see the twist coming at the end of the book, but since I was really invested in that character, I'm glad it did.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Sheriff Beck. He’s a good guy. He’s highly intelligent, kind and an all around good man. And I like his sister, Brinley. But really….. this book went on way too long. And quite convoluted by the end. I liked the first Sheriff Beck book and so was happy to receive this second edition from the publisher. But the length and how it went on and on, distracted me from a review above 3 stars. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review consideration. # ShadesofMercy, # St.Martin’sPress.

Fast paced and thrilling, with some crazy hacking too. Bruce Borgos creates interesting characters and situations with lots of plot twists. Well done.

Following the author's spectacular thriller debut, The Bitter Past, this second book is no less thrilling.

The opioid drug running from Mexico has hit Sheriff Beck's patch as a childhood friend succumbs to badly formulated fentanyl. Then Beck is called to another childhood friend's ranch where the friend has become a wildly successful rancher, raising some of the finest grade of beef for miles around. That is until someone threatens that success by taking out the prized breeding bull with a hijacked military grade drone. Meanwhile, lethal drugs are coming into the region and munitions are heading out to Mexico. What has Beck's friend gotten himself into and who is trying to put a stop to his success? And what's with all the Chinese agents?

Yet again, author Bruce Borgos has done a spectacular job of setting the scene, steadily building tension throughout the story, bringing it to a full climax and then gently easing it to a satisfying conclusion. The writing is excellent and the characters are well developed. There's a certain charm to protagonist Sheriff Beck. He's not perfect and all the more admired for it. This was yet another satisfying thriller by a deftly skilled writer.

Triggers: some rough language and graphic grisly detail involving animals

I am grateful to Minotaur Books for having provided a complimentary uncorrected digital galley of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.


Publisher: ‎ Minotaur Books
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
No. of Pages: 352
ISBN-13:‎ 978-1250848093

Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos is the second book in the Porter Beck Mystery Series. To my knowledge it's the first thing I've ever read by this author (so, obviously, I didn't read the first Porter Beck mystery). This one wasn't at all what I was expecting; that is neither a good thing nor a bad thing just a point of information. I was thinking it would be something along the lines of a Neo-Western or Rural Noir when it's actually more of an espionage/adventure novel.

A team of seemingly regular small town cops form a ragtag elite team with a plethora of special skills and deep connections to various intelligence agencies. It's one of those things where most everyone has a friend, associate, or former lover who has just the right connections to bypass official channels and make things happen.

A series of events with international (if not global) implications brings in a man-in-black type who represents an unspecified government agency which, in turn, leads to an inter-agency tug of war. At the center of it all is a teenage hacker with a murky past.

Not bad at all but not really my cup of tea... Tumbler of Scotch... Shot of whiskey... You get the idea.

As with most series there's a bit of backstory that comes into play but it's not excessive. The hacker character, Mercy Vaughn, is an enigma that more or less drives everything for reasons that are essential to the plot and fairly convoluted. In the end it all gets explained.

It was an okay read. Not really my kind of story but not a bad experience.

Another excellent read from Bruce Borgos. Shades of Mercy was an excellent book, and I could not put it down. Beck finds himself in a tangled web of old friends, criminals, and mystery. The characters are well thought out and I absolutely love this series!

I haven't read anything in this series and didn't need to. I got the background of everyone without a ton of exposition.

This was a fun read but did tackle some heady issues (and didn't explore them enough, but with all the action there wasn't enough time). Beck is a likeable (if overly qualified) MC, and the cast of character around him were fun. The only nitpick I have is the racial commentary; it was pretty clunky. I understand why it was there but it just didn't feel organic.

Recommended for those who like action and intrigue.

I really love this series! The characters are so great and so well defined, I can picture them so well, and love them all, even the evil ones! I love the stories, but especially like character driven novels. This was a great addition to this series. Keep writing and keep Beck from losing his eyesight!!! Maybe a new operation or something? Hope so! Beck and Charlie are great together! Keep writing, and I promise to keep reading!