Ellery Hathaway was just a child when Reed Burnham rescued her from a sadist's clutches Now a police detective in a small town, on disciplinary leave for unapologetically shooting a murderer, Ellery is forced to attend a therapy group to "share your feelings." She's not there very long before she starts to feel like one of her fellow group members is an arsonist, and another living in fear of the second-story rapist who s been quietly terrorizing the town. She turns to Reed, a profiler in line for a big promotion, whose unresolved feelings about the child he saved and the woman she's become draw him to her side again.

i was given Book 1, The vanishing from NetGalley and really enjoyed it, so jumped at the chance for this one, Book 2! I must say, this one is even better. Great plot involving a serial rapist. I really like Ellery and am curious to see how her relationship to Reed plays out. I look forward to Book 3!

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books and Joanna Schaffhausen for this copy!

Book 2 of the Ellery Hathaway Series is No Mercy, by Joanna Schaffhausen. Book 1 was very good, Vanishing Season and featured the two main characters: Ellery Hathaway and FBI Profiler on leave Reed Markham. Reed is Ellery's rescuer from when she was 14 years old.

About the series: To me, it seems that these books are as much about their individual journeys to healing and recovery as they are about the mystery to solve. I love the way Ellery thinks...her mind is brilliant and she works well with Reed.

While in group therapy of course Ellery gets embroiled in drama and crime and decides to ask for Reed's help because it gets more complicated. I love the way everything interconnects and makes sense at the end! The bit of sparkly chemistry between Ellery and Reed keep things interesting... Definitely a fun read!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Joann Schauffhausen, and St. Martin's Press for this digital advanced reader copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are my own!

After reading the Vanishing Season I went right in to this book. This author has a way to pull you in and not let you go. The relationship between Ellery and Reed with always be one to try to figure out, however the tension in this is out of control. I am hoping this goes into more books.

This is not a stand alone.


** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**

Ellery has reached out to Reed again and he comes running...he always does. Neither can help it...they need each other..they are good for each other...but neither will admit it. Ellery embroils Reed in another case, in fact two cases, one a rape another a fire. Another excellent stand alone book by Jo Schaffhausen. I look forward to her next book.
I received an arc of this book from Netgalley and St. Martins Press. The review and comments are my honest opinion.

This second in the series ends on a cliffhanger that is bound to throw Reid’s lie into chaos. He and Ellery once again join forces to solve two crimes. It is another page turning story that keeps you on your toes. In the end the author has structured the narrative that you will not easily identify the bad guy. These two are walking a fine line in their relationship as the more time they spend together the closer they seem to get. It leaves the reader with great anticipation for where the story will lead next.

I'd recommend starting from book 1 to get the background story for Hathaway and Markham Reed. Joanna definitely doesn't leave her readers without tension, anxiety, and relationships that flourish. She does it again with this high packed tension mystery! No Mercy is very well written and a fast paced read! I couldn’t put the book down every time I pick it up because the cases they work on are fascinating.

No Mercy is the second in series and the characters are getting more likable. You'll develop close feelings for what they have endured. Will they come out on top and solve their issues. You'll enjoy finding out.

From victim to law enforcement officer, Ellery Hathaway has been through a lot but continues to persevere with the assistance of her FBI rescuer. Another great read in the Ellery Hathaway series. Can’t wait to read the next one.

Oh this book was better than book one. Eller is still dealing with her demons but she is trying so hard to help other. I can’t wait for the next book to see what battles she is going to face. Thanks for writing such a great book Joanna!

4 stars for an entertaining mystery/thriller. This is book 2 in the series and I have previously read book 1, The Vanishing Season . I enjoyed that one also and decided to continue reading this series. Ellery Hathaway was abducted when she was 14 by a serial rapist/murderer. She was rescued by FBI agent Reed Markham. She is now required to attend group therapy sessions for people who experienced violent crime. The crime in this case happened in book 1, and I cannot explain more without a spoiler for book 1. She befriends Wendy, a victim of a rapist who wants Ellery to help find Wendy's rapist who has never been caught. Ellery is a police officer in fictional Woodbury, Mass., but she is not allowed to perform any duties until she completes mandatory counseling/group therapy.
She calls Reed for help in finding the rapist.
They do find the rapist, but there are several twists and turns in the plot. In addition, there is a developing relationship between Ellery and Reed.
Thanks to Joanna Schaffhausen and St Martin's Press for sending me this eBook through NetGalley.

There were so many good reviews for this book, I feel a little guilty for not liking it more, but I was confused from the get-go. Finally, at 1/3 of the way through, I discovered there was another book, a pre-story to this one and skipped to it. I really liked it! THEN this one made a lot more sense, but I mainly finished just to learn if Carnivale was really the arsonist.

I was so thankful to have this one to jump into once I read the spine tingling thriller of the first one. Ellery will get you to the very core staying there even after you have to put it down for a minute. She has fiber and more scars than anyone but still she has a bigger heart than she shows. Oh and the slow dance I see between her and Reed turns a corner in this one. The both of them are so addictive with the things they are investigating on the flip. The group of hers is colorful and at first was a bit perturbed she even had to go to it but it is part of the story. The mysteries and such they are looking into are so riveting you too are trying to help them. As the answers slowly come to light you slowly are left with your mouth catching flies. This author is a fantastic insight on the human mind and the directions they will go.

The second-in-series was every bit as engaging as the first. The topic is, once again, violence against women - this time, focusing on rape. I usually won't pick up a story if I know that is the underlying conflict in the book. It's a storyline that I find haunting and usually one I avoid at all costs. I really enjoyed the way Schaffhausen addressed the violence against Ellery as a child in the first book though, finding it to be cautious and careful and avoiding of the type of salacious details that seem to be slapped into so many narratives dealing with sexual violence. It felt like she realized she didn't have to be gory or gruesome to make the story horrific - it already was, and readers would be able to fill in the blanks on their own. I can and I did, and this delicate touch of trauma is what led me to think I could try to read this one. I'm glad I trusted my instincts, as I found this an equally powerful narrative and a great development in Ellery's story.

I am impressed with the way Schaffhausen tackles violence against women and children. It seems every thriller has to have at least one obligatory female victim, but in these books she manages to give her victims more personhood than many do. Her characters are solidly three-dimensional, full of complexities, quirks, and the all-too-human shortcomings that plague real people - as opposed to the idealized characters too often appearing in thrillers, in which the women flail about waiting for men to save/hurt/destroy them... None of that for Schaffhausen. Her victims are full of vinegar, in the best possible way, living with the damage that's been done to them to the best of their ability and surviving the worst the world can throw at them. In no one is this predilection for survival more evident than her protagonist, Ellery Hathaway. I really enjoy seeing how Ellery's mind works - it's a peek behind the curtain at the steely backbone that keeps someone going despite (because of?) the trauma they've had to live with, and it's fascinating.

I'm thoroughly enjoying learning more about her past and watching her detective skills develop into her future, and can't wait to see what book three brings!

I immediately began reading No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen after finishing The Vanishing Season. I am loving the author and her characters and eagerly begin.

We start where we left off in The Vanishing Season. Each book can stand alone, though I highly recommend beginning at the beginning, because once Ellery got under my skin, I had to know… Each mystery, in this case two mysteries, end with my complete satisfaction and leave me wanting more. Now…let’s get to it.

Ellery Hathaway is on leave because of what happened. And that you will need to find out for yourself. Even though No Mercy is Book II, Joanna Schaffhausen will fill you in on the necessities.

Reed Markham is getting a divorce. He is an FBI profiler, so for those of you who watch Criminal Minds, you can see the complications that would entail for those left at home.

I love Joanna Schaffhausen’s ability to show me Tula, Reed’s daughter. I can see the little firecracker racing around, not happy with her pigtails daddy did because they are a bit lopsided. She’s ready for mommy to pick her up, but she’s so caught up in just being, she forgot she doesn’t have any shoes on. Joanna’s ability to show me the event had me smiling as I watched her.

Ellery had never been on a date. After her abduction at fourteen years old, I can understand why. Sure, she has sex. But she uses it like a weapon. Romance? She doesn’t believe it can ever happen for her after what Francis Coben, the serial killer did to her. Even though he is in prison, so is she. He is always with her…in her mind.

Something happens. I won’t tell you what, but Reed comes rushing to her side, leaving with just the clothes on his back. He saved her once, and he is determined to not let anything else happen to her. Little does he know, trouble seems to find her…or does she go looking for it? There is no romance between them, but, I wonder….

A note…

“You really think I’m unlucky enough to attract the attention of a third serial killer?”

Imagine yourself and everything about you splashed all over the internet. You even have a Wikipedia page, telling of the horrors inflicted on you by a serial killer. People building websites devoted to you…of HIM…the trolls, the filthy, disgusting…

Even though this is fiction, it reads like a true story. I don’t know how Ellery could even step outside her home. Especially on a dark night. I don’t know if I would every leave my house again. Could you? I would have alarms on every access point, the outside lit up as if it’s daytime and, at least, ONE BIG guard dog.

When it came time for Reed to leave, his boss giving him an ultimatum, I knew he couldn’t do it. There’s a rapist on the loose, an old arson case, and someone is messing with Ellery.

I love that he cooks for her, and stays with her. He’s a good cook and it is a definite improvement over the fast food she lives on. He refuses to leave her home alone.

Joanna’ Schaffhausen’s characters are the lowest of the low and the highest of the high. They range from the pond scum that doesn’t deserve to breath air to the knight in shining armor that all children dream about.

Ellery’s need to help others makes her a target all too often, but it leads to lots of non stop action and intense mysteries. Danger lurks around every corner and even comes knocking on her door. Joanna Schaffhausen stacks mystery on top of mystery, because one isn’t enough. LOL

Reed: “I want you to stop taking chances with your life.”

Ellery: “You forget. I’m living on borrowed time.”

OMG. Joanna Schaffhausen continues to blow me away with her in your face, can’t put down, take my breath away suspense.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen.

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I love this series. Second book and it really delivered. I really like the characters and the interaction between them. Great bit of suspense and suspects. Looking forward to the next book. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

No Mercy is the second book in the Ellery Hathaway series by Joanna Schaffhausen, and as with The Vanishing Season (book 1), there is plenty of suspense packed into these pages!

"You kill one guy, one time, and suddenly everyone thinks you need therapy." She had me with that opening line! Ellery Hathaway is now 29, 15 years out from her survival and rescue from an infamous serial-killer. A shooting over the summer has caused her to be suspended from her job with the police department. Whether she will be reinstated depends largely on how her mandated therapy goes.

She attends group sessions for victims of violence. Among the members of the group are Wendy (a rape victim, whose rapist is still active, one who knows better than to leave any physical evidence behind) and Myra, who lost her young son years 25 ago in a fire, the work of an arsonist soon up for parole. Ellery is drawn into both of these cases for different reasons. Unable to use her normal channels for information, she calls FBI agent Reed Markham for an over-due favor.

The relationship between Ellery and Reed is interesting to watch as it unfolds, closes tightly again, changes, grows, evolves into a many headed thing; very nuanced, very believable - one of the delights of the book.

Ellery, is still trying to find her place in a world where everyone recognizes her, making it difficult for her to have any semblance of a normal life. There are admirers and then there are the ones who threaten, and her life is still at danger. She is not at peace with herself or with others.

As she and Reed look into the two disparate cases, they uncover more than they had bargained for. Their quest for information has certainly riled some people up and Ellery finds herself targeted again. Can Ellery stay alive to see these cases through? Can justice be found for Wendy and Myra?

A very good second book in the series, I'm already looking forward to reading the third book, All the Best Lies, due out in February 2020.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Book two in the mystery-crime series, No Mercy by Joanna Schauffhausen was a wonderful addition to the series! It's not very often I can say that the second book in a series is as good as the first, but I am happy to say that about "No Mercy."

Meet Ellery Hathaway. The most unlikable, and yet kind of likeable main character. As mentioned in my review of the first book, I found her attitude off-putting. She is not the kind of person that most people would feel comfortable swapping stories with. Yet, in the framework of her character (the only survivor of a serial killer that is currently in jail), she behaves in an understandable way. In book two, Ellery is as stubborn and frustrating as always, but she also experiences some character growth as she helps others and continues to learn how to be better for herself. If you liked/tolerated Ellery in the first book, you will likely like her in this book as well.

There is a definite added awkward romance with FBI profiler Reed Markham that has been added to book two that wasn't as apparent in book one. I still don't know whether I liked it or felt the need to cringe through it. I'll go with the former, since I am interested in knowing what happens to the relationship building in book three.

The episodic mystery was resolved satisfactorily, but there was a small cliffhanger at the end. I really, REALLY don't enjoy cliffhangers! Thankfully, book three will be released soon, so I can survive the anticipation ;).

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well I got my wish that there was a follow up of the first book, now I want to see another one!! This book can be read independently of the first book but it enhances the story of you know the history of the characters. Great read. I do think Ellie needs to lighten up a bit and 'mind her own business'. The two issues with her peers that she went nosing in was almost too much. Read the jacket cover for the content, it covers the basics. Great characters,movement,conversations and storyline. Just enjoy the book. Ready for the next one now!!
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author,publisher,and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received an uncorrected ARC for an objective review. This is the second book involving characters Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham. Ellery's suspended until she successfully completes therapy for what happened at the end of The Vanishing Season and Reed's back home until Ellery calls again. He can't ignore her, no matter the damage to his career or family life. Ellery is running an off-books investigation on two issues brought up in her group therapy and needs Reed's help. The character development and evolution are what I love most about these books and when I finished, I was dismayed to see I have to wait until February 2020 for the next book. I will warn you there was one scene especially, that I saw coming a mile away so I was a little perturbed that they (cop/FBI) couldn't figure it out. Regardless, I think it is still a great book.