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Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Bitter Past and Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos

I read the second book first and really liked it, so I looked for the first book by Bruce Borgos. 

The Bitter Past has some problems that are corrected in Shades of Mercy, but also has a fascinating plot that provides a great deal of historical information.

A gruesome opening that I didn't like, and I found Porter Beck too full of himself, but...

when the book really gets into the plot, it is fascinating!  The background of Project 57 and Operation Plumbob, the effects of atomic testing on animals and humans, especially the Downwinders hooked me.

Who was the Russian spy that foiled a disaster and then went into hiding?  Why is the government trying to find a man who is now between 80-90 years old a half century later?  A dual timeline kept me guessing and great research made The Bitter Past a compelling glimpse at the early atomic age and a thrilling mystery in the present.  The twist was one I did not see coming.

I was also interested in the Nevada setting including Big Rocks Wilderness and the Moon Caves in Cathedral Park.  The links helped me visualize several interesting scenes.  

310 pages
Published 2023 
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As I mentioned in the above review, I read Shades of Mercy first, before picking up the first in the series.

The characterization is much better and the plot equally exciting in Shades of Mercy.  The author has toned down Porter Beck's snark, but leaves his wit; the minor characters all have more depth; and the plot involves a hacker that that commandeers a military drone and targets...a prize bull.  

As you can imagine the military and the government are all up into the search for the hacker, but Sheriff Porter Beck (whose background in military intelligence and familiarity with his county and its geography) has a childhood connection to the man whose prize bull was targeted and something isn't adding up for Beck.  

Beck suspects sixteen-year-old Mercy Vaughn is the hacker, but he's not ready to reveal all he thinks he's figured out, especially since Mercy herself becomes a target.  With help from his small team and his sister Brin, he needs to keep some of his suspicions to himself, especially when Mercy disappears.

Full of action, with much better character development than in the first book, Porter Beck's team has progressed into a familiar ensemble of characters that a reader wants to see more of--accompanied by plots that keep the reader guessing.  While I ended up liking The Bitter Past, Shades of Mercy is even better and shows the author's growth in melding plot and characters while dealing with some problematic topics.

(A new character who hopefully will be seen in future books is Charlie Blue Horse.  Beck never calls her just Charlie, he always uses her full name and gets a kick out of saying it.  It seems that the author has a Golden Retriever by the name of Charlie Blue Horse.)

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, & Minotaur Books

Review scheduled for April 29, 2024                                                                                     

336 pages 

Publication date:  July 16, 2024

8 comments:

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    1. Both were good, and I like learning something while being entertained. :)

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  2. Shades of Mercy does sound like the better book.

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    1. The plot in the first book, with the history, was worth it. I'm glad Borgos developed the characters in the second book. I want both characters and plot. :)

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  3. These sound interesting. It might have been a lucky break for you that you read the second book first because, from what you say, the first one may have scared you off the series if you had read them the other way around. I've often wondered about the "downwinders," especially after learning that they were making The Misfits with some major movie stars of the day relatively near where a lot of the testing was going on.

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  4. The character development is much better as is often the case with second books. The plot in the first one has so much interesting information, though!

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  5. This is a new author to me. The topic of the books and the setting sound good, and it is good to hear that book 2 improves so much compared to book 1.

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  6. I'll read more of this author. His plot topics are informative, and by the second book, I was liking all the characters.

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