Amanda Shofner

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/08/21/review-beg-for-mercy-by-jami-alden/Beg for Mercy just pulled me in. I started this in the evening and lost track of all time. At about halfway in, I went to find out more about the second book (and spoiled myself for this book, boo) because I was THAT IN LOVE with it. I don’t know that the characters were all that memorable, but I loved Megan’s determination to save her brother, and I loved Cole’s slow spiral into realizing how much he truly cared for Megan. I love when the men fall and fall hard. Oh hey, that’s a pun. I like it.Oh, this book. I love when an author crafts a crazy madman (redundant? sure. whatever. it’s my review, leave me alone) who chills you with his insanity. Not insanity like “that person is clearly fucked up,” but the kind of insanity that masquerades as sanity. Insanity you can cover up and disguise as sanity is so much scarier. That said, I think I would have liked to have gone a little bit longer not knowing who the madman was (yes, I spoiled myself, but I was already heading in that direction), just because I want to experience the shock right along with the main characters. It’s THAT PERSON?! (Yes. Yes, it is.) It’s revealed before the main character finds out, so… not quite as fun.I think the only complaint I had was that some of the plot slowed in the second half of the book and I was actually able to set the book down (and, you know, go to bed). But otherwise, Beg for Mercy was the perfect balance of romance and suspense (and yes, mystery) with just enough extra that we can see room for more books. And since this is the beginning of a trilogy, it all worked perfectly. I will definitely be searching out the next book in this series.