🎧 Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos @BruceBorgos @jbabzbabson @MinotaurBooks @RecordedBooks #LoveAudiobooks

Posted July 20, 2024 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review / 14 Comments

Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


🎧 Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos @BruceBorgos @jbabzbabson @MinotaurBooks @RecordedBooks #LoveAudiobooksShades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos
Narrator: James Babson
Series: Porter Beck #2
Published by Minotaur Books, Recorded Books on July 16, 2024
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 336
Length: 10 hours, 21 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

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.

Obviously, I enjoyed everything about this next in the Porter Beck series.  The main point of view being a sheriff, with lots of military intelligence training, set in a small town with lots of natural beauty, are all positives.  Shades of Mercy has both spies, from China, and drug cartel gangsters from Mexico causing problems in the sheriff’s area.

The story begins with a drug overdose by one of Beck’s school friends.  Next, there is a takeover of a government drone which blows up a prime bull of one of his other high school friends.  I can’t go into details without spoiling too much but Beck is kept hopping and I don’t think he hardly sleeps for a week.

Between hackers and drug overdoses, he has some tricky problems to solve.  Then there’s a missing teenager who is known for hacking.  Beck does have an excellent team of his own, plus a state agent, and his sister is helping too.  The federal agents are not so helpful.  Beck doesn’t trust them because they aren’t sharing what they know.

The end is nearly a war with plenty of bad guys.  I’m thrilled with the suspenseful action, and Beck’s intelligence in figuring things out and staying alive.  His choices are not always easy ones.  He manages justice for everyone, not just the powerful.  I love the fast paced story and well-developed characters and can’t wait for more.  Beck has personal challenges and it will be interesting to see how he manages them over time.

Narration:

I enjoyed the narration, and have listened to both books in the series.  The narrator is Beck for me. He also keeps me in the story with voices which are distinct but fitting for the characters.  I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.

Listen to a clip: HERE

 

 

About Bruce Borgos

Bruce Borgos lives and writes from the Nevada desert where he works hard every day to prove his high school guidance counselor had good instincts when he said “You’ll never be an astronaut.” He has a lifelong obsession with words and stories and a fascination with how telephones work. When not writing, you can usually find him at the local wine store.

Rating Breakdown
Plot
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Writing
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Characters
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Narration (Audio)
One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Overall: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Anne - Books of My Heart
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Posted July 20, 2024 by Anne - Books of My Heart in Book Review / 14 Comments


14 responses to “🎧 Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos

  1. Sophia Rose

    Yep, this one ticked off all the boxes for me, too. I’ve been reading the series, but I’ll look into the audio narration for the future.