Cruel Mercy

Written by David Mark

Narrated by John Curless

The latest installment in David Mark's internationally acclaimed Detective Sergeant McAvoy series, Cruel Mercy is McAvoy's first adventure on American soil. In the New York Police Department's 7th Precinct on the Lower East Side, Detective Ronny Alto is investigating a crime that's left one man dead and the other in a medically induced coma after surviving a shot to the head. One hope is that Brishen Ayres, a boxing coach and legend in the gypsy community in England, will wake up and reveal the person--or people--responsible for the murder of his protege Shay Helden and his own mutilation. Another hope is Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy. Far away from his home in the U.K., from his familiar Hull, and from the guidance of his boss Trish Pharaoh, McAvoy is flown in to assist with the case, but he has his own motives for the trip: find a man named Valentine Teague--another amateur boxer, a rival of the Helden family, and, perhaps most important, his brother-in-law. But every step toward locating Valentine is a step deeper into a sinister underground network of misguided loyalty, faith, and honor that pulses beneath the streets of New York. The latest installment of the Detective Sergeant McAvoy novels, and the first to be set in the United States, Cruel Mercy finds Hull's most enigmatic detective treading unfamiliar ground in this wicked stateside thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781501938504

David Mark

David Mark spent seven years as crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post and now writes full-time. A former Richard & Judy pick, and a Sunday Times bestseller, he is the author of the DS Aector McAvoy series and a number of standalone thrillers. He lives in Northumberland with his family.

Reviews for Cruel Mercy

[rowingrabbit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book #6 in this excellent series finds DS Aector McAvoy on a personal mission across the pond. It all begins when Irish boxing coach Brishen Ayres & his protege Shay Helden travel to NYC. Within days, Brishen is in a coma & Shay is dead. Det. Ronald Alto of the 7th precinct is handed the case & it’s a head scratcher. So when he hears an English detective is coming over to check in on the investigation, he welcomes the help.Aector has no clue what happened to Ayres & Helden. It’s a third Irishman he’s interested in. Valentine Teague is another boxing prospect & Shay’s rival in the ring. He followed them to the Big Apple & promptly disappeared. Back in Ireland, Shay’s relatives are certain Valentine is responsible for the attack & declare war on his family. And that includes his estranged sister Roisin McAvoy, Aector’s wife. What follows is an incredibly complex plot with multiple narrators adding their two bits to the overall story. The murder investigation is just the first step down a path that leads to plot lines involving illegal boxing, a disillusioned priest with mob ties, old unsolved murders, a Chechen hit man & the twisted character known as “the Penitent”. Each is given plenty of space to tell their story with some beginning in the 1970’s. As these slowly develop & begin to intersect, ties to the present day investigation become clear.As usual, Aector is the emotional core of the story. He’s a big Scottish fish out of water, bewildered by the teeming streets & mobs around him. He’s homesick & desperately misses his family but Roisin’s safety is at stake. He’s on shaky ground professionally with no official status & depends on Alto to keep him in the loop. It’s a clash of cultures as the 2 men work together & they make an interesting pair. Alto is a battle worn New York cop whose wife left due to his inability to leave the job at the office. Initially he’s bemused by the seemingly naive DS but comes to appreciate there may be a brain behind all that brawn. This is a book that rewards the patient reader. The back story is huge & it takes awhile for the big picture to come into focus, kind of like one of those 1000 piece puzzles. And if you’re a “cozy” fan? Run! It’s a dark, gritty read full of characters desperate to get what they want whether it’s money, power or redemption. At times there’s not much moral ground separating the good guys from the bad. Fortunately the author provides moments of comic relief in the chapters narrated by Brishen as he ruminates on events from inside his coma. This can be read as a stand alone but I recommend starting with “The Dark Winter”. Aector has a colourful past & each book adds to the development of this compelling character.