Review: The Absence of Mercy By: John Burley

The Absence of Mercy: A Novel by John Burley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A small town finds itself slowly terrorized with bizarre and twisted deaths of some of it's residents. Dr. Ben Stevenson, the town's medical examiner, is central to the story and to the unraveling of the darkness that has crept into town.
The book begins with the boy in black and from that moment on I could not put this thriller down. At times I felt horrified and devoured the pages knowing that I had to reach the end in order to find some rest, some ending to what was occurring. And what I was left with was a chilling sensation, a need to discuss this (so please choose this for book club, you will want to talk about this one!!), and a new author that I am looking forward to experiencing another book from.
A great quote that the title comes from, "In fact, it was as if the conscience - the ability to care about right and wrong - were automatically absent from the brain. The same was true for the absence of mercy - not because mercy was something such individuals chose to withhold, but because it was a faculty they simply did not possess."
Sometimes fiction is too close to truth and that is where the horror lies - this is that book.

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