Bruce Borgos's second novel featuring Nevada Sheriff Porter Beck barely gives his well-defined characters a moment to breathe as Shades of Mercy delivers a heady brew of police procedural, rural noir, and international espionage.
Lincoln County's proximity to Las Vegas brings big-city problems, including an increase in drug overdoses, and the latest death is one of Beck's oldest friends. Beck has hardly begun to investigate the drugs' source when he's asked to accompany Special Agent Ed Maddox of the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations to the remote, opulent ranch owned by Beck's childhood friend Jesse Roy. The night before, a remotely piloted aircraft exploded during Shiloah Roy's ritzy 17th birthday party. The only casualty was Jesse's prize bull. More high-tech, remote attacks on Roy's property point to Mercy Vaughn, a 16-year-old hacker serving time at a juvenile detention facility where Shiloah volunteered. Mercy's computer skills attract the attention of a Mexican drug cartel and a Chinese espionage agent.
Shades of Mercy smoothly glides from local crimes to global intrigue, led by expertly crafted characters. Beck's military background makes him insightful, leading him to wonder how Roy suddenly became so rich, his ranch filled with signs of "wealth in a wealth-less county." Mercy's murky motives become a linchpin in the area's crimes. Beck's sister Brinley Cummings's expertise with guns, which led to a career as a weapons expert on movies, is another skill that Borgos folds naturally into the plot.
Borgos's clear vision of Shades of Mercy begins on a high note that elevates to a rousing finale. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer