This book did not disappoint! So much better than the first. The story line and characters were well done and made for a great read

2 stars = 'it was ok' - and that's being generous for me

I was given book 1 & 2 in this series as ARC's in exchange my my review prior to book 3 coming out. I was excited, as this series has fairly high reviews and the descriptions sounded interesting. Reading book 1 was a chore, and I hated the main character so much after a few chapters, I had to force myself to finish the book. It wasn't thrilling or suspenseful, just annoying. But I had book 2, and I hoped that it would pick up. IT didn't, and it took me more than a month to read this book.

It didn't. I don't understand the 4 and 5 star reviews for this book. The main character is so annoying, I want to smack her. She doesn't act like a cop or an adult, let alone someone who has had life experiences that make her more worldly.

I'm grateful for the author and publisher for the eARC of these books, but they are just not for me at all.

I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

After reading the first of the three books in this series I immediately requested the second and third.

The heroes are both flawed in their own ways, BUT it works to make them a great team. This book does not disappoint. It continues the development and maturation of this duo with yet another great story.

The book doesn't give away anything early. It kept me trying to guess who done it until the last pages.

Looking forward to the 3rd book1

After reading Ms. Schaffhausen's first book, I was given the opportunity to read the second in a series. For the reader who is considering reading this book, make sure you read the first book. There are many references to the first book especially as it pertains to how the two main characters met. This book is not a gripping police detective read but a quick, poolside obra that does not require much attention to detail. Ellery is a victim as well as a cop with her own hang-ups. FBI agent Reed was her rescuer years ago and returned in the first book as well as this one to help solve the crimes. I hope that the series focuses more on Ellery as opposed to both her and Reed. IMHO.

Wow.. so I wasn’t expecting this at all! I was kept in suspense, and just loved Ellery. Great writing, perfect story. I enjoyed this one more than the first. Just really exciting, and I will definitely recommend it!

I barely took a breath between finishing the first and starting this second book in a really exciting crime thriller series. Because it is so engrossing, I couldn't put it down so spent today enjoying this new installment. This could be read without having read THE VANISHING SEASON, but I prefer to start at the beginning and read the books in order.

Ellery Hathaway is a police officer whose badge has recently been taken away because she shot a man at the end of the last book. Despite the fact that he was intent on killing her, the department has decided she needs some therapy to earn back her job. "You kill one guy, one time, and suddenly everyone thinks you need therapy." Ellery isn't sorry and she basically lies about how it all went down, but was forced to move out of her home and is licking her wounds marking time. At one of her mandated group meetings, she meets other victims who've been through tragedy and ends up getting involved in their personal stories. Two of them ask for her help and of course she can't say no as she really understands their pain. Who is she going to call to get some inside information? FBI profiler Reed Markham, of course. They have a strange bond because he's the one who rescued her from the serial killer's closet when she was just 14-years-old. Even though his boss is threatening his continued career in the FBI because of his last involvement with Ellery, Reed can't help himself as he's committed to caring about her well-being. So, they embark on their own side investigations that deal with a violent serial rapist and a long-ago fire that resulted in the death of a three-year-old boy.
NO SPOILERS.

Even though I am 100% sure that no two people could get away with what these two do on the outside of any law enforcement agency, I do enjoy the plot and the drama of their search for truth and justice. Ellery is quite an interesting character and I can definitely understand why she feels and acts the way she does -- she can't help herself, so she is dedicated and intent on helping others. Reed is protective and feels responsible for Ellery though I sense that his motives are becoming far more personal the more time they spend together. Getting to know one another more intimately while they pull all sorts of shenanigans to get information. I actually quite like them both and am eager to see what happens next as the end of this one gives us quite the twist!

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing this e-book ARC for me to read, review and recommend. And off I go to start #3 -- and then, darn it, I'll be waiting...

I loved this book almost as much as The Vanishing Season. The mystery is complex and well-plotted. I did have an inkling of who the killer would end up to be, but that might have been just chance. Having Ellery be forced into therapy is a good way to have her interact with other people who have been the subject of violent crimes.

This would have been 5 stars for me except for 2 things: 1) Ellery's extreme recklessness got a little annoying, and 2) the ending. Not of the mystery--that was fine. But if Reed's results make him a relative of someone already involved in the story, that's just going to push the bounds of believability way too far.

So, I eagerly await book 3, and I hope I'm wrong about the ending. The Ellery Hathaway books are suspenseful and emotional and devastating...but never grim.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hmmm. Let's just say I was hyped to read book 2 in the series, but No Mercy didn't meet my expectations. There were 2 mysteries at play in this book, but both just felt like they were quickly resolved without the drama and excitement I need in a book of this type. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm not okay with Ellery and Reed as anything but colleagues connected by a horrible event. The hints that have been dropped in books 1 and 2 of them being attracted to each other? Ugh. Not for me. Here's hoping book 3 delivers.

Powerful follow-up novel to her award winning Debut novel: "The Vanishing Season" Sleuth Ellery Hathaway finds herself stuck in a "support group" because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refused to apologize. While attending group therapy for victims of violent crime, rather than "getting in touch with her inner feelings" she is exposed to two miscarriages of justice … that must be set right. Wendy was brutally raped and left a shell of a woman .. and, yet, the rapist is out there plying his trade unimpeded. Myra is confined to a wheelchair and severely covered in burns, while mourning the loss of her son, who perished in the same fire, and yet the arsonist is up for parole.
Ellery once again reaches out to her friend and savior FBI Profiler Reed Markham … Reed was instrumental in freeing the teenaged Ellery from the clutches of a serial killer.
Schaffhausen seamlessly supplies the necessary backstory to allow the reader to jump immediately into the action and enjoy this novel as a standalone. What follows is a suspenseful narrative with unsuspecting twists and dolloped with witty dialogue and a smidge of romance … and culminating in a satisfying denouement. Ellery relentlessly powers through multiple, mounting obstacles. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing an Uncorrected electronic proof in exchange for an honest review. I'm looking forward to Ellery's third scheduled encounter with crime. (

Another great story.
More Ellery and Reed.
More suspense.
More intrigue.
More tension.
More want.
More need.
More of everything!
I give it 4.5 stars and a strong recommendation!

While you could technically read this as a standalone, I recommend reading this after the first book in the series, The Vanishing Season. You will gain a better understanding and appreciation for our pair of protagonists.

Reeling from the events of the first novel, Ellery is sent to therapy. Rather than working through her own personal demons, she begins investigating two mysteries that plague other members of the group.

I liked the writing and fast paced nature of the book. There are a ton of twists, turns, and thrills here. However, I just felt like the two mysteries were too isolated from each other. The book didn't have quite the same magic of the first one.

That being said, still a great read and I highly recommend it. I'm hoping for a solid third book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen follows The Vanishing Season in which she introduced Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham.

Suspended from her job for shooting a murderer, Ellery must attend therapy sessions for victims of violent crimes where she meets Wendy, victim of a rape in which her assailant has not been caught. Wendy can't resume her normal life as she remains in fear that her assailant will return. Ellery's suspension means she has limited resources, but she does have FBI agent Reed Markham.

She is also interested in an older woman whose young son died in an arson fire decades ago. But was the right person convicted of setting the fire? Ellery has questions.

No Mercy works fine as a stand-alone, so it isn't necessary to have read The Vanishing Season to understand or appreciate the plot.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Suspense/Thriller. 2019. Print length: 320 pages.

I really loved The Vanishing Season, but this one not so much. Ellery's character was drastically different. In the first book she was calm and focused. In this book, she was chaotic and extremely reckless. While she did go though a horrible ordeal in the first book, it still doesn't explain such a drastic shift in personality. I was expecting Reed to be some sort of voice of reason for her, but he kept caving to her. It really overshadowed the plot for me. I am curious to about the results of Reed DNA test, but I'm not sure if I'll get the next book or not.

I was prepared to give this book a high rating....until I got to the ending. I finished the book and had to go back to see if I missed something. There is no closure for all most all of the threads the book follows (and there are several). In the last chapter, we are following Ellery as she talks to one of the other women in her victims' group, the next we are with Reed at Christmas morning with his family. Other problems I found with this book [SPOILER ALERT]: 1. The idea that Bobby looked like his uncle so can't be his fathers son - anyone who took high school biology knows you can inherit traits from your grandparents passed down and carried by your parents. 2. It's never revealed who really set fire to Ellery's truck or why. 3. Ellery doesn't turn in a guilty party, after she finds out the truth. 4. We are left wondering who was Reed's father, although you could have been led to believe that one of the Markham's was his mother or sister. The author buries the fact that Camilla was his real mother in the author's note, so you're left to conclude that Reed's adoptive father was his real father.

There were so many extra side stories and so many loose ends, especially with the rushed ending, that I felt compelled to take away points from an otherwise enjoyable read.

This mystery plumbs the depths of despair that families of murder/rape victims experience, and it is an interesting treatment of how bad things can go and the lengths that they will take to resolve their trauma. It has an interesting thesis: a local female cop is captured and tortured by a serial killer but survives the ordeal, only to kill another assailant years later. While she is suspended, she is forced to take group therapy with other survivors and there becomes a vigilante, trying to obtain justice. The novel takes place in Boston and is very evocative of the neighborhoods and inhabitants, and uses the metro area to a great advantage. I would highly recommend the book, it is a very unusual take on a subject that many thriller writers gloss over.

An interesting read but rather average in storyline and plot. This is not a series that I will continue to read.

I continue to say that Joanna Schaffhausen is an underappreciated author. Her books ask questions along the way, leave parts open to interpretation, only to have them all neatly answered by the end without insulting the reader or using gimmicks.

Ellery Hathaway was kidnapped as a child, as an adult, she thought that was behind her, but as the last book, "The Vanishing Season" showed us, sometimes the past comes back. Now with her career as a Boston police officer hanging in the balance, she is in court-appointed counseling where she meets weekly with other crime victims. Once a cop always a cop so when their stories take on new meaning, Ellery calls on Reed Markham, the FBI agent that saved her.

Wendy Mendoza lives in fear that her unknown attacker will come back. She cannot forget, she wears a tattoo of the last words that he said to her. Myra, wheelchair-bound, wears the burn scars that she sustained when her furniture business when up in flames and she desperately tried to get to her child. There are other stories from the group, but this is where Ellery, with the help of Markham, starts her investigation.

The deeper they dig, the less the stories make sense. Where Wendy gives them little to go on, there are holes in Myra's case. Wholes that can bring down senior officers and prevent Markham from the promotion that will let him stay closer to his daughter.

By the conclusion, Joanna Schaffhausen tells you exactly where the next book is going. You can see it forming her in mind and you are right there with her as she delves deeper into Reed Markham's past and the adoptive family that calls him one of their own.

Author Joanna Schaffhausen’s follow-up to her first novel “The Vanishing Season” reintroduces the characters from book one, Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham. Ellery is still struggling with the aftermath of the case she solved with Reed, and working together again causes problems for both of them.

This is a book that could possibly be read as a standalone, but there is much history between the main characters that may be difficult to understand without reading the first book. Ellery carries the deep emotional scars from an abduction when she was a child, and while I usually tire of saddling detectives with physical or psychological disabilities, Ms. Schaffhausen handles the situation differently than most authors. Ellery doesn’t try to acknowledge and overcome her problems, she accepts them as part of her personality and deals with the difficulties in her life when others choose to try to change her to the person she could have been. Ellery is a strong yet dark character, and the author wisely chose to get out of the way and let Ellery experience life in her own fashion. The book is definitely stronger for that decision.

There are multiple stories threading their way through the book, and I felt that with one exception, all were resolved in a satisfying manner (won’t say which one was a bit bumpy, would be revealing too much). The book was interesting due to a number of factors. Ellery struggles to escape her recent past and convince the doctors to allow to officially return to active duty. Reed attempts to balance his work life, home life, and the hard-to-define relationship he has with Ellery. It was easy to finish this book in two sittings.

Even though I felt the first book was good, “No Mercy” is an improvement and potentially a sign of even better things to come in future books. Recommending this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with characters who will involve the reader in the story. Four-and-a-half stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.

No Mercy is the second book in the series following the first book,The Vanishing Season, and police officer Ellery Hathaway is now suspended from the force while undergoing a mental health evaluation to determine if she is fit to return to duty after the shooting in the previous book.
She becomes involved in two cases that have directly affected two people in her therapy group and ends up calling FBI profiler Reed Markham for help with the cases.
Together they crack both cases and the book ends with a cliffhanger involving Reed Markham’s personal life.
I was totally blindsided by the ending and can’t wait for the next installment in the series. I happily recommend this book and this series to anyone who loves a great mystery.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this advance copy in exc

What a disappointment

After the excellent first book in this series, "No Mercy" is shockingly bad. Setting aside the dubious but not impossible idea that a survivor of a serial killer draws more serial killers to her, Ms Schaffhausen wants us to believe that Officer Ellery Hathaway has been accused of murder but then separated from her official duties without a trial. She's moved to Boston to undergo psychiatric counselling and while she is there snoops around into other crimes, supposedly on the side of the victim but mostly because she is nosy and bored. She drags FBI profiler Reed Markham in and he helps her to form some rather shallow profiles of some crimes. She then starts working her way down a list of known sex offenders in the neighborhoods of these crimes. I stopped reading when she makes the assumption that not one of these known sex offenders are all disgusting and could not possibly be rehabilitated. Surely one of them is guilty of these crimes.

The book is built on a series of non-sensical assumptions one heaped on the other. I thought this was stupid.