The Absence of Mercy: A Novel Epub Free

The Absence of Mercy: A Novel [Kindle Edition]

Author: John Burley | Language: English | ISBN: B00BATKQRM | Format: PDF, EPUB

• Description
• Book Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

The Absence of Mercy: A Novel Epub Free
Posts about Download The Book The Absence of Mercy: A Novel Epub Free from 4shared, mediafire, hotfile, and mirror link

John Burley’s The Absence of Mercy is a harrowing tale of suspense involving a brutal murder and dark secrets that lie beneath the surface of a placid, tight-knit Midwestern town.

When a brutally murdered teenager is discovered in the woods surrounding a small Ohio town, Dr. Ben Stevenson—the town’s medical examiner—must decide if he’s willing to put his family’s life in danger to uncover the truth. Finding himself pulled deeper into an investigation with devastating consequences, he discovers shocking information that will shatter his quiet community, and force him to confront a haunting truth.

With its eerie portrait of suburban life and nerve-fraying plot twists, The Absence of Mercy is domestic drama at its best for fans of Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, Jennifer McMahon, and Lisa Gardner.

Books with free ebook downloads available The Absence of Mercy: A Novel Epub Free

• File Size: 625 KB
• Print Length: 355 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0062227378
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (November 19, 2013)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
  
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00BATKQRM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,668 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #74
    in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Medical
  • #79
    in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Medical
• #74
  in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Medical
• #79
  in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Medical

John Burley's "The Absence of Mercy" is a remarkably assured debut novel about a Midwestern town in crisis. In Wintersville, Ohio, a psychopathic predator is slaughtering high school students. Dr. Ben Stevenson, the medical examiner, is horrified at the wounds that the perpetrator inflicts on his victims; he cannot imagine what kind of monster would kill in such a violent frenzy. Ben fears for the safety of his loved ones--his wife Susan, a family physician, and their two sons, sixteen-year-old Thomas and eight-year-old Joel. How can Ben protect them from a nameless and faceless predator who has no conscience and is lying low until the urge to murder overtakes him once again?

Burley is an emergency room physician who provides realistic details about physical and emotional trauma, forensics, and a pathologist's grisly tasks, all of which contribute to the novel's authenticity. The graphic depiction of an autopsy in progress will not appeal to the squeamish, but it does drive home the horror of what has occurred. Like Stephen King, Burley knows that thrillers set in quiet, rural areas, places where nothing much happens, where everyone knows everyone else, can be more frightening than those that take place in large cities. "The Absence of Mercy" is fast-paced and pared down to its essentials; the dialogue, descriptive writing, and exposition all flow naturally and effortlessly. In addition, the author makes good use of foreshadowing and dream sequences. He ratchets up the suspense until, at last, he punches us in the gut with the big reveal.

Told in the third person, "The Absence of Mercy" is all the more powerful because its protagonist, Dr. Stevenson, is a loving family man, dedicated professional, and a respected member of the community.

Burley’s first thriller starts out with a harrowing chase through the woods of Wintersville, Ohio, a boy pursued by a killer who ravages and mutilates the victim’s body. Beyond the outrage and repulsion of authorities who discover the victim, the town is horrified that such a thing could happen in their community. Given the brutality of the attack, officials are determined to find the monster that would inflict such damage on another human being before more victims suffer the same fate. Without knowing the identity of the victim, anguished parents await the return of their students from local schools, frantic to have their children safe at home. Among them are medical examiner Ben Stevenson and his wife Susan, who have moved their boys, Joel and Thomas, from Pittsburgh to avoid the stresses of big city life. Grateful to know their older son, Thomas wasn’t the body found in the bloody snow, the grateful couple cannot help but imagine the grief facing the parents of the dead boy. After a call from the Chief of Police, Sam Garston, Ben heads to the coroner’s office to receive the tattered remains of the killer’s prey.

Burley sets the tenor of his mystery from the start, the savage brutality of the crime, the medical examiner’s empathy for both victims and those left to mourn them, a father relieved that his family is saved and a member of a community shocked to the core. With only a few peeks into the mind of the killer, the author focuses primarily on Stevenson’s reactions and how the case impacts his wife and family, the grueling examination causing haunting nightmares as he struggles to imagine the savagery of the perpetrator. His fear affects the family, as Ben tries to limit Thomas’s nighttime excursions, causing rebellion and resentment on the home front.

Book Preview

The Absence of Mercy: A Novel Download

Please Wait...