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Valerie Law #1
No Mercy
Book #1 from the series: A Valerie Law FBI Suspense Thriller
🎧Listening Length = 7 hours and 2 minutes
From #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Blake Pierce comes a gripping new series: when a serial killer escapes from a mental hospital, the FBI creates an elite unit to target criminally-insane killers. FBI Special Agent Valerie Law, a rising star, is the perfect candidate—but for Valerie, this case may just hit too close to home.
With an insane killer on a spree, the clock is ticking for Valerie and her partner—and the brilliant psychiatrist on their team—to enter his mind and stop him before he strikes again. The twisted pathway to his psyche takes them down the dark road of the killer’s past, into orphanages, alienated family members, and shattered survivors. It is a road that may be too dark for even Valerie—one of the best BAU agents—to head down. She has tried too hard to escape her own past to withstand much more on her psyche. And when the killer sets his sights on her, it may just be her final undoing. Is Valerie one step ahead of this killer? Or has she walked right into a trap?
A page-turning crime thriller featuring a brilliant and haunted new female protagonist, the VALERIE LAW Mystery Series is packed with suspense and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you turning pages late into the night. NO MERCY is book #1, and books #2 and #3 in the series—NO PITY and NO FEAR—are now also available.
🎧Listening Length = 7 hours and 2 minutes
A brutal serial killer is on the loose after escaping from a psychiatric hospital, and FBI Special Agent Valerie Law and her team must infiltrate his psyche to determine his next move. But this deep dive will tap into the darkest corners of Valerie’s own past… Not for the fainthearted, this engrossing thriller is perfect for fans of J. D. Robb!
From #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Blake Pierce comes a gripping new series: when a serial killer escapes from a mental hospital, the FBI creates an elite unit to target criminally-insane killers. FBI Special Agent Valerie Law, a rising star, is the perfect candidate—but for Valerie, this case may just hit too close to home.
With an insane killer on a spree, the clock is ticking for Valerie and her partner—and the brilliant psychiatrist on their team—to enter his mind and stop him before he strikes again. The twisted pathway to his psyche takes them down the dark road of the killer’s past, into orphanages, alienated family members, and shattered survivors. It is a road that may be too dark for even Valerie—one of the best BAU agents—to head down. She has tried too hard to escape her own past to withstand much more on her psyche. And when the killer sets his sights on her, it may just be her final undoing. Is Valerie one step ahead of this killer? Or has she walked right into a trap?
A page-turning crime thriller featuring a brilliant and haunted new female protagonist, the VALERIE LAW Mystery Series is packed with suspense and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you turning pages late into the night. NO MERCY is book #1, and books #2 and #3 in the series—NO PITY and NO FEAR—are now also available.
Audible Audio
First published April 7, 2022
2476 people are currently reading
2807 people want to read
About the author
Blake Pierce
825 books5,901 followersBlake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seven books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); and of the new KERI LOCKE mystery series.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
December 10, 2022
Valarie Law is an FBI profiler. Having been the key reason a serial killer was caught on her last case, Valerie and her partner Charlie Carlson are promoted to a new unit intended to find the criminally insane, the Criminal Psychopathy Unit. Their first case is a criminally insane killer, Blake Harlow, who escaped out of a criminal psychiatric institution by killing his psychologist and two guards. Another psychologist, Will Copper, is sent in to help out the investigating team.
Where to start on this book? There was quite a few things that Pierce did right but there are many things that were completely off.
For the most part the characters were pretty good.
Valorie Law was a fairly interesting character. She has her own monsters in her past that surface during this investigation. I like that she is constantly questioning herself and her learning vs intuition.
Charlie Carlson is a great partner for Valorie. He has ideas that are different than Valorie’s and together they make a more complete picture. He is brave and quick. He saves Valorie several times.
Will Copper was a super pointless character. At first he seems like he would completely take over the investigation. Then he just takes off several times to help his patients. He also isn’t great with investigations or “police” kinds of work. There is also something odd or kind off with Will. I kept wondering if he were the bad guy the entire book. He seems to be lying but who knows I could be completely off.
Blake Harlow is the escaped criminal. He seems very crazy and irrational. He was an intriguing bad guy. I loved Valorie’s wonderings about Blake at the very end of the book. I felt like her questions were very valid and sad for Blake
Plot - The plot was pretty good. It was kind of predictable even though there really wasn’t many clues for the reader to figure out before the FBI agents. The fighting and action scenes were really hard to follow. It was kind of hard to understand what was happening until the action was over and you would find out someone was stabbed or had a broken arm.
Location confusion- The location seems completely off. It is supposed to be in America but the narrator has an accent, possibly Australian. Valarie constantly uses the term “mum” which is very unusual in the US. There was also an orphanage. I don’t think there are even Orphanages at all in the US anymore. There are foster parents or boys/girls homes which are probably similar to an orphanage but we do not use the term orphanage anymore. These small inconsistencies made me really question where the author is from.
FINALLY
The Audio book. I don’t usually comment on the audio unless the narrator is just amazing. Unfortunately I am talking about this auto book because it was actually HORRIBLE! I cannot recall a book that was edited so horribly. I do not necessarily have a problem with the narrator. She isn’t my favorite but she wasn’t horrible either. The problem comes in the editing. There are thousands of incidence where the reader makes a mistake while reading and the mistake was left, it wasn’t edited out. She will make the mistake, leave an empty silence and repeat the line with a specific character voice inflection or change the pronunciation. It happened frequently and actually made it difficult to follow the story. I felt like this was a huge mistake on the part of the publisher. Also at the end and beginning of each chapter the narrator said the name of the book, the author, the narrator and book 1. It became mind scratchingly annoying.
Triggers and Rating
Triggers - Violent murders. A persons eye is gouged out. Stabbings. Children are punished secretly. Mental health issues.
PG-13 - Murder. Violence. Adult situations.
Where to start on this book? There was quite a few things that Pierce did right but there are many things that were completely off.
For the most part the characters were pretty good.
Valorie Law was a fairly interesting character. She has her own monsters in her past that surface during this investigation. I like that she is constantly questioning herself and her learning vs intuition.
Charlie Carlson is a great partner for Valorie. He has ideas that are different than Valorie’s and together they make a more complete picture. He is brave and quick. He saves Valorie several times.
Will Copper was a super pointless character. At first he seems like he would completely take over the investigation. Then he just takes off several times to help his patients. He also isn’t great with investigations or “police” kinds of work. There is also something odd or kind off with Will. I kept wondering if he were the bad guy the entire book. He seems to be lying but who knows I could be completely off.
Blake Harlow is the escaped criminal. He seems very crazy and irrational. He was an intriguing bad guy. I loved Valorie’s wonderings about Blake at the very end of the book. I felt like her questions were very valid and sad for Blake
Plot - The plot was pretty good. It was kind of predictable even though there really wasn’t many clues for the reader to figure out before the FBI agents. The fighting and action scenes were really hard to follow. It was kind of hard to understand what was happening until the action was over and you would find out someone was stabbed or had a broken arm.
Location confusion- The location seems completely off. It is supposed to be in America but the narrator has an accent, possibly Australian. Valarie constantly uses the term “mum” which is very unusual in the US. There was also an orphanage. I don’t think there are even Orphanages at all in the US anymore. There are foster parents or boys/girls homes which are probably similar to an orphanage but we do not use the term orphanage anymore. These small inconsistencies made me really question where the author is from.
FINALLY
The Audio book. I don’t usually comment on the audio unless the narrator is just amazing. Unfortunately I am talking about this auto book because it was actually HORRIBLE! I cannot recall a book that was edited so horribly. I do not necessarily have a problem with the narrator. She isn’t my favorite but she wasn’t horrible either. The problem comes in the editing. There are thousands of incidence where the reader makes a mistake while reading and the mistake was left, it wasn’t edited out. She will make the mistake, leave an empty silence and repeat the line with a specific character voice inflection or change the pronunciation. It happened frequently and actually made it difficult to follow the story. I felt like this was a huge mistake on the part of the publisher. Also at the end and beginning of each chapter the narrator said the name of the book, the author, the narrator and book 1. It became mind scratchingly annoying.
Triggers and Rating
Triggers - Violent murders. A persons eye is gouged out. Stabbings. Children are punished secretly. Mental health issues.
PG-13 - Murder. Violence. Adult situations.
August 15, 2022
I'VE READ OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR; THIS WASN'T BAD BUT IT JUST SEEMED TO BE MISSING A SPARK. IT WAS INTERESTING BUT NOT SUPER INTERESTING. THE CHARACTERS WERE NOT BELIEVABLE FOR ME, THEY SEEMED LIKE SOMEONE OUT OF A COZY MYSTERY. VERY BLAND. ;{
September 18, 2022
NO MERCY [2022] By Blake Pierce
My Review 2.5 Stars**
This selection by the prolific author of this series (and many others) was offered as a free book. I downloaded it because it was described as an FBI Suspense Thriller. It is the launch of Pierce’s newest series which features FBI Agent Valerie Law. The short novel was just released this year and the description on Amazon noted that it was Book 1 of 9. That puzzled me until I learned that four of the selections will be released this year (Book 4’s release date is this month) and the remaining five in the series are scheduled to be published and parsed out in 2023. Genre designations are “Women Sleuths” and “Suspense.” I dislike the word “sleuth” because it reminds me of “sloth” but I digress.
The brief intervals between the release of the installments in this series explains a lot. There were proofreading problems noted in addition to grammatical errors (“appraise” used instead of “apprise” for instance). Setting that aside the gist of the plot is the creation of a new unit within the already specialized departments of the FBI, namely the “CPU”. The FBI loves it acronyms, and this designation of CPU does not stand for our desktop computer’s “central processing unit” but rather “Criminal Psychopathy Unit.” The first two agents that are recruited to this elite new division are Valerie Law and her partner Charlie. Dr. Cooper, a celebrated civilian consultant is added to the equation. The latter is a famous forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed several psychopathic killers in prisons, but lacks field experience. The new “team” is assigned the daunting task of capturing a dangerous psychopath who has just escaped from a maximum security forensic psychiatric facility. Blake Harlow executed a brilliant escape and slaughtered two guards and his psychiatrist in the process.
Pierce is obviously a successful writer of crime fiction and quite prolific as previously mentioned. This novel was a quick read. It is my opinion that the unsophisticated writing style is comprised not only of short sentences, but is also repetitive and peppered with unimaginative dialogue. Charlie repeatedly asks Valerie what they are going to do, and she responds that they need to get some rest. Charlie does volunteer at some point during this mundane back and forth that perhaps a nightcap would be in order. Finally, after another question-and-answer session between the two about getting some sleep during their frantic hunt for a murderous psychopath they check in and rent separate rooms. They retreat to the hotel bar and proceed to have several drinks. The boss calls and when he detects that she has been imbibing, Valerie assures him they only had a couple drinks (while she nurses her third during the conference call).
It is like when you watch a movie and find yourself consciously aware of the soundtrack you know that it is a low budget film. There were so many elements to the narrative that I found irritating, such as Valerie and Charlie’s mutual commitment to cover any mistakes that either of them makes (like Charlie losing his weapon while chasing the killer). Their mutual ineptitude in attempts to capture the fugitive are reminiscent of the three stooges (Dr. Cooper leaves the safety of his vehicle and enters the fray to clock the bad guy with some object he picked up to save the two seasoned agents in one instance).
Valerie is a superlative example of the heroine carrying around so much emotional baggage that it is a miracle she can walk upright. Protagonists in crime fiction (male or female) who are guilt ridden and weighted down with past professional mistakes, personal losses, family problems, with or without superimposed substance abuse or other self-harming coping strategies, are unwelcome cliches to me. Crime fiction writers decided that the heroes had to be “flawed,” and the more flawed the better.
Character development was also largely absent thus the characters were one dimensional. The plot was riddled with forensic psychiatric insights that were both confusing and, in my opinion, inaccurate. The plot twist at the end did not make a lot of sense to me either. The term “psychotic break” is used to describe clinical psychiatric symptoms that are consistent with DID. The killer the team is chasing loses not “where” he is but “when” it is. He reflects on these episodes as “the child” manifesting, depicted as the weaker alter, and yet Blake Harlow cannot repress “the child” indefinitely. Valerie addresses the rare condition of DID later in the narrative and reports that a lot of criminals attempt to fake it. There is an implausible plot twist at the end which I will not disclose. Terms like “temporal psychosis” and “Hoffman’s Immersion Technique” are also bandied about. It suggests that the author does not think the reading audience has any knowledge of appropriate terminology or forensic psychology whatsoever.
Finally, the team investigates the reform school where Blake Harlow had been confined when his family could no longer withstand his psychopathy and violence in the home or school setting. This facility had been rightfully assessed as using severe measures in controlling the more dangerous and violent boys, “back in the day,” a time when Harlow had been the recipient of such methods as “solitary confinement” for periods of time that varied with the severity of his infractions. Valerie’s sympathies appeared to be skewed. It is obviously appropriate to alter any inhumane methods of treating violent pre-teens or teenagers when they are killing every domestic pet in sight, setting fires, siblings are terrified, and the parents are afraid to go to sleep at night. I get it. I do not get why a seasoned FBI Agent would be so quick to judge the facility especially when clearly Blake Harlow was the most violent boy the reform school had ever admitted.
I know many readers adore Pierce’s books, but they are clearly not for me.
My Review 2.5 Stars**
This selection by the prolific author of this series (and many others) was offered as a free book. I downloaded it because it was described as an FBI Suspense Thriller. It is the launch of Pierce’s newest series which features FBI Agent Valerie Law. The short novel was just released this year and the description on Amazon noted that it was Book 1 of 9. That puzzled me until I learned that four of the selections will be released this year (Book 4’s release date is this month) and the remaining five in the series are scheduled to be published and parsed out in 2023. Genre designations are “Women Sleuths” and “Suspense.” I dislike the word “sleuth” because it reminds me of “sloth” but I digress.
The brief intervals between the release of the installments in this series explains a lot. There were proofreading problems noted in addition to grammatical errors (“appraise” used instead of “apprise” for instance). Setting that aside the gist of the plot is the creation of a new unit within the already specialized departments of the FBI, namely the “CPU”. The FBI loves it acronyms, and this designation of CPU does not stand for our desktop computer’s “central processing unit” but rather “Criminal Psychopathy Unit.” The first two agents that are recruited to this elite new division are Valerie Law and her partner Charlie. Dr. Cooper, a celebrated civilian consultant is added to the equation. The latter is a famous forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed several psychopathic killers in prisons, but lacks field experience. The new “team” is assigned the daunting task of capturing a dangerous psychopath who has just escaped from a maximum security forensic psychiatric facility. Blake Harlow executed a brilliant escape and slaughtered two guards and his psychiatrist in the process.
Pierce is obviously a successful writer of crime fiction and quite prolific as previously mentioned. This novel was a quick read. It is my opinion that the unsophisticated writing style is comprised not only of short sentences, but is also repetitive and peppered with unimaginative dialogue. Charlie repeatedly asks Valerie what they are going to do, and she responds that they need to get some rest. Charlie does volunteer at some point during this mundane back and forth that perhaps a nightcap would be in order. Finally, after another question-and-answer session between the two about getting some sleep during their frantic hunt for a murderous psychopath they check in and rent separate rooms. They retreat to the hotel bar and proceed to have several drinks. The boss calls and when he detects that she has been imbibing, Valerie assures him they only had a couple drinks (while she nurses her third during the conference call).
It is like when you watch a movie and find yourself consciously aware of the soundtrack you know that it is a low budget film. There were so many elements to the narrative that I found irritating, such as Valerie and Charlie’s mutual commitment to cover any mistakes that either of them makes (like Charlie losing his weapon while chasing the killer). Their mutual ineptitude in attempts to capture the fugitive are reminiscent of the three stooges (Dr. Cooper leaves the safety of his vehicle and enters the fray to clock the bad guy with some object he picked up to save the two seasoned agents in one instance).
Valerie is a superlative example of the heroine carrying around so much emotional baggage that it is a miracle she can walk upright. Protagonists in crime fiction (male or female) who are guilt ridden and weighted down with past professional mistakes, personal losses, family problems, with or without superimposed substance abuse or other self-harming coping strategies, are unwelcome cliches to me. Crime fiction writers decided that the heroes had to be “flawed,” and the more flawed the better.
Character development was also largely absent thus the characters were one dimensional. The plot was riddled with forensic psychiatric insights that were both confusing and, in my opinion, inaccurate. The plot twist at the end did not make a lot of sense to me either. The term “psychotic break” is used to describe clinical psychiatric symptoms that are consistent with DID. The killer the team is chasing loses not “where” he is but “when” it is. He reflects on these episodes as “the child” manifesting, depicted as the weaker alter, and yet Blake Harlow cannot repress “the child” indefinitely. Valerie addresses the rare condition of DID later in the narrative and reports that a lot of criminals attempt to fake it. There is an implausible plot twist at the end which I will not disclose. Terms like “temporal psychosis” and “Hoffman’s Immersion Technique” are also bandied about. It suggests that the author does not think the reading audience has any knowledge of appropriate terminology or forensic psychology whatsoever.
Finally, the team investigates the reform school where Blake Harlow had been confined when his family could no longer withstand his psychopathy and violence in the home or school setting. This facility had been rightfully assessed as using severe measures in controlling the more dangerous and violent boys, “back in the day,” a time when Harlow had been the recipient of such methods as “solitary confinement” for periods of time that varied with the severity of his infractions. Valerie’s sympathies appeared to be skewed. It is obviously appropriate to alter any inhumane methods of treating violent pre-teens or teenagers when they are killing every domestic pet in sight, setting fires, siblings are terrified, and the parents are afraid to go to sleep at night. I get it. I do not get why a seasoned FBI Agent would be so quick to judge the facility especially when clearly Blake Harlow was the most violent boy the reform school had ever admitted.
I know many readers adore Pierce’s books, but they are clearly not for me.
February 3, 2024
This was a good read! I enjoyed this book, was a typical crime novel but kept me interested the entire time
December 31, 2022
This was captivating. Really enjoyed it. FBI agent dealing with demons from her past while working on a case consisting of an escaped serial killer from the psychiatric hospital. A recommended read.
March 21, 2022
No Mercy is another first book in a series designed by Blake Pierce. It has a well-put-together plot, lots of action, many crimes, deceit, lies, and quite a few tortured minds, including that of the lead investigator - Valerie. The next story promises an opportunity for the agent and her team to catch a serial killer that she let walk free in the past and if she succeeds in this hunt, her career can be revamped. Will she be able to overcome her own problems and mend her family ties whilst chasing killers? How will her team oblige a leader obviously disputing her own problems? I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.
I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.
September 2, 2022
I rounded up from 2.5 stars. I received the kindle version free from Amazon. It was not the thriller I was expecting. I found the characters dull. Although I will probably not continue reading the series I would like to know more about Valarie's "mum".
May 21, 2022
Mediocre reading. Glaring misspelling. Even the chief protagonist has her name spelled wrongly!!
September 24, 2022
This sucked me in from the beginning. No slow start here!
July 30, 2024
Pretty solid
I appreciate a quick read. Had decent pacing that propelled the story. Liked the references to other cases that ended up proving relevant. Decent, if somewhat telegraphed, twist. Set up for future installments, while still concluding this story.
I appreciate a quick read. Had decent pacing that propelled the story. Liked the references to other cases that ended up proving relevant. Decent, if somewhat telegraphed, twist. Set up for future installments, while still concluding this story.
July 24, 2025
It was ok but the ending sucked.
March 15, 2024
I found this pretty quick to read and generally speaking enjoyable. It was pretty fast paced , was well written and the characters were good, interacting well too while the outcome was interesting. My only gripe is that, like so many books, the lead character is a female with ‘issues’.
March 21, 2022
A Psychopathic killer, Blake Harlow, gruesomely murders 2 security guards and his psychiatrist at the Culver Institute that houses these psychopathic killers so they can be studied and hopefully learn more about them and possibly more about their victims.
Valerie Law & her partner, Charlie Carlson, are called in to start a new unit, the Criminal Psychopathy Unit (CPU), along with a psychiatrist, Dr Will Cooper. Trying to find Blake before he kills again is their first case.
This is really an exciting, page turning book. Keeps you interested right until the end! Thanks Blake Pierce! Ready for the next one in this series.
Valerie Law & her partner, Charlie Carlson, are called in to start a new unit, the Criminal Psychopathy Unit (CPU), along with a psychiatrist, Dr Will Cooper. Trying to find Blake before he kills again is their first case.
This is really an exciting, page turning book. Keeps you interested right until the end! Thanks Blake Pierce! Ready for the next one in this series.
August 18, 2022
DNF. The plot itself was good but the problem was that I was listening to the audiobook and it needs a lot of editing. About halfway through, it got to the point that almost every sentence was repeated at least once. Another issue with audio book is that and the beginning and ending of every chapter, the narrator gave the name of the book, the author, and the narrator which became irritating after awhile. From what I did get through, it could have been good if it hadn't been for the lack of editing. I tried to push through because the plot hooked me and I may end up getting a printed copy to finish sometime but I could handle anymore of the audiobook.
January 18, 2025
I discovered Blake Pierce when I was searching my library app for a psychological thriller on audio book. All the series that I have been listening to so far from this author revolve around Female FBI Agents as the lead character tracking down serial killers. (Quite a few of them have a troubled past and are on their way to becoming an alcoholic that need the insight from incarcerated serial killers to help solve their cases.) These are average story lines, nothing spectacular, but decent enough to listen to.
I have concluded that this author is a group of writers, (too many stories coming out way too fast to be one person) most likely British. I am not saying this because most of the narrators I have heard so far are speaking with an English accent, but because these characters are American and their wording for many descriptions is definitely British. This is my one main complaint on these books. You may speak with any accent you'd like, but if you're writing a book about an American, then the language (slang included) should be American, not British. And the editor needs to do a better job on editing American pronunciations that are spoken as an Englander would.
I have concluded that this author is a group of writers, (too many stories coming out way too fast to be one person) most likely British. I am not saying this because most of the narrators I have heard so far are speaking with an English accent, but because these characters are American and their wording for many descriptions is definitely British. This is my one main complaint on these books. You may speak with any accent you'd like, but if you're writing a book about an American, then the language (slang included) should be American, not British. And the editor needs to do a better job on editing American pronunciations that are spoken as an Englander would.
August 9, 2022
Kept Me Guessing
No Mercy began strong, stayed that way throughout, and ended the way it started. I love to read but I really dislike books that take a third or even half of the book to get interesting. No Mercy didn't do that. Blake Pierce doesn't waste words with describing what someone is wearing or what they are driving when it doesn't pertain to the story. Agent Valerie Law is a imperfect human as well as as imperfect FBI agent. She has problems of her own that need her attention as well as a high profile case. She can't face both at once so she has to choose the one where people are being murdered. Her family doesn't agree with her choice. Anyone who enjoys thrillers will like No Mercy.
No Mercy began strong, stayed that way throughout, and ended the way it started. I love to read but I really dislike books that take a third or even half of the book to get interesting. No Mercy didn't do that. Blake Pierce doesn't waste words with describing what someone is wearing or what they are driving when it doesn't pertain to the story. Agent Valerie Law is a imperfect human as well as as imperfect FBI agent. She has problems of her own that need her attention as well as a high profile case. She can't face both at once so she has to choose the one where people are being murdered. Her family doesn't agree with her choice. Anyone who enjoys thrillers will like No Mercy.
August 23, 2022
Valerie was a crime fighting FBI again.She come across a case of a man named Blake known as a horrible crazy man . He had issues in the fostor home, detention center and jail. He had mental issues all his life due to his life from when he was a child. Valerie also had some of the same issues as a child but worked to help evaluate this kinds of people for the FBI. Blake escaped and was on the run. The mistress from the housing was found murdered and 2 guards. Where was he going to next for revenge of his horrible life. His brother , his dad, or his real mom who was next. Sometimes things are not what they seem. Valerie come to think hard about what her life was since she was young. Was she headed for the same as her sister was, in a institution for unstable people?
April 17, 2023
It’s a good story line, but there were a several things that didn’t work for me. I couldn’t really visualize the action scenes, they were just … meh. There were too many flashbacks and dreams with the protagonist. The scene at the orphanage where the agents are interviewing what is described as a young small boy didn’t seem realistic to me. Though the boy’s actions are that of a very young boy, his verbal responses were quite mature. How the one agent spoke to the child, especially after realizing the boy didn’t know a murder had occurred, asking the boy what else the ‘killer’ said, had me shaking my head. No trained agent would have used the word ‘killer’ to a small child, rather would have said ‘man’ or something of that nature.
November 2, 2023
Book: No Mercy
Read By: Ebook
Author: Blake Pierce
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Recommend: Yes
Spice:🌶️️
< b>Age recommendation: 18-30+ Years
My feelings:
Mystery and Crime are by far my bread and butter when it come to reading.
There is something about the suspense that just makes me happy.
"My name is Chester, Chester Quill, I'm the custodian of the Stevenson Reform School.”
Ive read a few by this author now and I love them all. I was captivated from the start. The books are not super long which mean you can read in one sitting and the audio for each one is fantastic!
Narcissistic, glory hunting, lack of empathetic emotion: These were not ideal traits for a teacher.
Highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2026
3,75 Stars for Valerie Law
It's a captivating story and it might be unfair that i expected more. But I did. It's a new team in the FBI crime department. I get that we see more of Valerie along the series but i didn't Bond to the other two members Charlie and Will.
The murder case at the beginning ....wow, I got a feeling for the brutality of the main suspect. And I was fascinated by the insight in his fractured mind.
Then I missed the smallish hints, some true puzzle moments or hours of hard work to solve the case. Something was missing to give me satisfaction in the suspemse part.
But i Go Back and try the whole beginning of the world and then maybe Go along to the next book and watch Valerie a bit more.
It's a captivating story and it might be unfair that i expected more. But I did. It's a new team in the FBI crime department. I get that we see more of Valerie along the series but i didn't Bond to the other two members Charlie and Will.
The murder case at the beginning ....wow, I got a feeling for the brutality of the main suspect. And I was fascinated by the insight in his fractured mind.
Then I missed the smallish hints, some true puzzle moments or hours of hard work to solve the case. Something was missing to give me satisfaction in the suspemse part.
But i Go Back and try the whole beginning of the world and then maybe Go along to the next book and watch Valerie a bit more.
August 11, 2022
Blake Pierce does it again. A heart pounding search for a brutal killer.
Valerie Law is a skilled profiler for the FBI. She, her partner and a shrink sidekick are tasked to find a violent sadistic murderer who escaped a psych ward.
Together they search his past in hopes bin capturing him. Together they discover the horrific ingredients needed to create such a monster.
In the course of the plot, there are references of previous cases, and hints of previous news worthy information. Not sure if it was clever writing or from previous books in other Pierce series. The author is quite prolific so who knows.
Valerie Law is a skilled profiler for the FBI. She, her partner and a shrink sidekick are tasked to find a violent sadistic murderer who escaped a psych ward.
Together they search his past in hopes bin capturing him. Together they discover the horrific ingredients needed to create such a monster.
In the course of the plot, there are references of previous cases, and hints of previous news worthy information. Not sure if it was clever writing or from previous books in other Pierce series. The author is quite prolific so who knows.
November 25, 2022
Decent story but so poorly written
I read almost exclusively in this genre and was amazed that I had never even heard of this author who has published dozens of books in a variety of series. Then I began reading and wondered why anyone would read even one. There was absolutely no editing and the text was riddled with grammatical errors. One FBI agent was awakened in the early AM and got up to remove her gun from a dresser drawer. Later, an agent looked at a body propped up against a wall in a corridor and then looked at the same body on the floor. Maybe minor irritation to some but enough to make me quit at the 15% mark.
I read almost exclusively in this genre and was amazed that I had never even heard of this author who has published dozens of books in a variety of series. Then I began reading and wondered why anyone would read even one. There was absolutely no editing and the text was riddled with grammatical errors. One FBI agent was awakened in the early AM and got up to remove her gun from a dresser drawer. Later, an agent looked at a body propped up against a wall in a corridor and then looked at the same body on the floor. Maybe minor irritation to some but enough to make me quit at the 15% mark.
July 24, 2024
4.8⭐️
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Coming out of a reading slump and 3 DNF, this definitely kept me engaged and ready to sit down and read for the evening.
It's definitely an easy read, nothing too crazy or complex, but with twists and turns, good visual description, some audible gasps, and some "I knew it"
It was the kind of end plot that was a little predictable, but in a fun way, a way that made you want to keep reading to see if you were right.
Loved that it wrapped up the story of the case nicely but left you on a bit of a cliffhanger for her personal life. Ready to jump into the next one!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Coming out of a reading slump and 3 DNF, this definitely kept me engaged and ready to sit down and read for the evening.
It's definitely an easy read, nothing too crazy or complex, but with twists and turns, good visual description, some audible gasps, and some "I knew it"
It was the kind of end plot that was a little predictable, but in a fun way, a way that made you want to keep reading to see if you were right.
Loved that it wrapped up the story of the case nicely but left you on a bit of a cliffhanger for her personal life. Ready to jump into the next one!
August 14, 2022
I quite enjoyed this book. There is something about serial killers that just grab my attention. Blake Harlow escapes from a high security psychiatric facility and goes on a rampage killing people who have wronged him in the past. Valerie Law is tasked with a new job and the opportunity to apprehend this killer. It is a cat and mouse game trying to figure out where he will strike next. The twist was not so much of a twist in my mind, but if you didn't see it coming, it might be a surprise.
August 15, 2022
Valerie or Valeria or Valley ? The proof reader really dropped the ball in this story. I get all my books free on Bookbub so I'm not going to criticise too much though. A troubled mind looking for another troubled mind and finding a twist at the end. The story is good with Charlie and Will playing their part in the team but Valerie is definitely the lead. The FBI really should teach agents to fight though, and I still maintain they should have their gun on a lanyard to save them getting knocked out of their grip by psychopaths.
September 2, 2022
This started with a bang and had me burning through the pages. However there were some inconsistencies that caused the plot to lose momentum. One murder scene came up briefly that was never explained or even mentioned again. It was glossed over as if it didn't really happen as the team of agents recounted events trying to get into the mind of the killer. Also a few editing errors later in the book (i.e. "Here me out") annoyed me. I think this had so much potential and I may give this author another chance.
March 14, 2023
Intense Thriller
FBI Special Agent Valerie Law, has a seriously mentally disturbed escaped serial killer to find. Bent on revenging his past tormentors brutal childhood treatment he revceived at their hands. Seemingly switching between his various personas, how is he functioning highly one moment, then childlike the next. Can Law and her team track and capture him before he succeeds? Parallels of her troubled childhood also raise their heads to test her own mental fortitude. Gripping storytelling from the outset. Great read.
FBI Special Agent Valerie Law, has a seriously mentally disturbed escaped serial killer to find. Bent on revenging his past tormentors brutal childhood treatment he revceived at their hands. Seemingly switching between his various personas, how is he functioning highly one moment, then childlike the next. Can Law and her team track and capture him before he succeeds? Parallels of her troubled childhood also raise their heads to test her own mental fortitude. Gripping storytelling from the outset. Great read.
November 15, 2023
So, I picked this book to read at random from my kindle library when no other partially read book was taking my fancy. I ended up reading this in under 2 hours!
Blake Pierce is a new author for me, I hadn’t heard of them before – though it appears that they have written quite a lot!
I enjoyed this book – especially the psychological aspects. I’m a sucker for anything that shows insight to how the brain works.
I will, hopefully, enjoy reading this series and perhaps it will open me up to reading more books by the author.
Blake Pierce is a new author for me, I hadn’t heard of them before – though it appears that they have written quite a lot!
I enjoyed this book – especially the psychological aspects. I’m a sucker for anything that shows insight to how the brain works.
I will, hopefully, enjoy reading this series and perhaps it will open me up to reading more books by the author.
July 31, 2024
🌙🔪🏃🏻
ah the old nature vs nurture debate. i had such high hopes for this with such a bone chilling prologue, the rest of the book ended up being pretty procedural with cookie cutter characters. it felt like it was trying to give hannibal vibes with an fbi agent that could “get in the mind of a killer” and a consulting psychiatrist (coincidentally named will) but it just didn’t have the umpf. twist ended up being interesting, just felt a lot of aspects were not used to the full potential. nevertheless an entertaining fast read.
ah the old nature vs nurture debate. i had such high hopes for this with such a bone chilling prologue, the rest of the book ended up being pretty procedural with cookie cutter characters. it felt like it was trying to give hannibal vibes with an fbi agent that could “get in the mind of a killer” and a consulting psychiatrist (coincidentally named will) but it just didn’t have the umpf. twist ended up being interesting, just felt a lot of aspects were not used to the full potential. nevertheless an entertaining fast read.
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