Suspense/Intrigue
Without Mercy
By Wendy
Mar 8, 2010 - 2:39:36 PM

Julia "Jules" Farentino doesn't trust the school that her half-sister Shaylee has been sent to.  Blue Rock Academy is well known for helping troubled teenagers, and Shaylee had the choice of either the school or juvenile detention.  She thought she chose the better of the two options, but Jules disagrees.  A teenager recently disappeared from the school, and her body still hasn't been found.  Jules suspects foul play, but she can't prove it.  In fact, ever since Jules found her father murdered, she has been plagued by nightmares. It makes her wonder if her suspicions are all in her head.

Jules has been looking for work lately and during her perusal of the school's website, she sees that they are looking for a teacher.  She impulsively applies; the school soon contacts her, and she is hired.  But on her way to the elusive school, she gets a phone call.  A second student has been found dead and another one is in critical condition.  Jules is desperate to get her sister released from the school, but she wants to get to the bottom of the disappearance of one student and the murder of another.  

Cooper Trent used to be a good ole boy, ranching and riding in rodeos.  He and Jules once had a hot and heavy relationship and were very much in love.  But Jules couldn't handle the relationship and her father's death, so she broke it off.  Now, Cooper is working as an undercover detective at the school to gather clues about the disappearance of a student.  He is shocked when Jules takes a position there.  Even though the two of them still have feelings for one another, they try to put it on the back burner until they solve the sinister evil behind the murder and disappearance of the students. However, the killer sets his sights on the lovely Jules, and they will have to work together to rid the world of an evil presence before he kills again.  

Lisa Jackson is a master of suspense and WITHOUT MERCY is no exception.  The pages literally fly by, as you find yourself caught in her web of suspense.  The plot is solid and tight, the characters real and vibrant.  The thoughts in the killer's head had me shivering with apprehension, as I turned the pages late into the night.  If you love an edge-of-your-seat thriller, you will love WITHOUT MERCY!