Beg for Mercy
Jami Alden
Forever, Jun 1 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780446572804

Seattle Police Detective Cole Williams investigates the r*pe and murder of twenty-one year old Evangeline Gordon. There was not much to do as the overwhelming evidence pointed to decorated war veteran Sean Flynn. The King County prosecutor Krista Slater wins a death sentence verdict against the convicted Sean. Only his sister Megan believes he is innocent and does all she can to save her sibling's life. As for Cole, the case cost him his beloved Megan.

A few years later, Sean has accepted his fate and wants no more appeals. Instead he demands the state set a date. Silently Megan rejects his decision, but knows time is running out for her brother. She finds homicide patterns that match the Gordon murder, but the politicians and the media are satisfied as neither group wants to be proven wrong especially by a mad woman. However, her court appointed case teenager Devany Sinclair changes the dynamics when she hysterically calls her advocate Megan re a bloody corpse. Cole arrives to investigate. He always regretted how he dealt with Megan three years ago and prays he has a second chance knowing his job or his woman were at stake. Cole is unaware that his woman's life is at also on the line.

This is an exhilarating investigative thriller that grips the audience from the moment Sean drops any future appeals once the state Supreme Court rejects his latest and never slows down as the reader feels the desperation that Megan has to save his life. Filled with action, but character driven by the heroine, sub-genre fans will appreciate this taut suspense that keeps the second chance at love in the background, and look forward to Slater's follow up case.

Harriet Klausner