Angel of Mercy

This is the first one I've read, but now I'm going to have to find the 1st book in the series and I can't wait for the 3rd one coming this fall 2009. Mercy embodies my kind of woman, smart, strong willed, moral & not afraid to help others. Its also nice to see the bad, wife beater & incest/child pornographer dad get a one way ticket to meet his maker. No mambee pambe "oh he needs help & therapy" junk here. Although Mercy occasionally rushes in where angels might fear to tread, she's got a good heart and conscience Jiminy Cricket would be proud of.

Angel of Mercy is a fast-paced, intelligent and dark story about a woman with the ability to convince others. Most of the time, her talent is used for good purposes, but sometimes, she needs to venture into some shady areas. Toni Andrews has created a heroine unlike any other, balancing paranormal, urban fantasy and romance in a taut thrill ride. The writing is sleek, smart and cheeky, humor and darkness mingling in a combination that makes the Mercy Hollings story absolutely unique.

In the Balboa Peninsular of California, hypnotherapist Mercy Hollings with the help of her best friend Sukey operates a clinic that helps people overcome their problems using her special skill "presses" to make suggestions to stop smoking. Only Sukey and Mercy's boyfriend Sam knows of her ability, but neither of them understand how much she fears this gift that comes from a dark source. Mercy errs on the side of caution when she manipulates people for what she assumes is better for them because she is frightened of going too far and obtaining amoral control while even a slight nudge could turn tragic. However her biggest phobia re her skill is losing her temper although that is rare as she can turn mentally ill. When Mercy meets battered spouse Tiffany, she has two deep feelings; first she needs to get the woman to a shelter and second she needs to control her gut urge to hurt the abusive husband. At Haven House women's shelter, Mercy also wants to assist these sad victims; especially getting inside her soul are Anna Green and her daughter, Grace. Grace's preadolescent pleas to keep the children safe touches Mercy, but she finds the Green females are involved with something that not only is beyond the hypnotherapist's press control, but sends her into a dark shadowy realm that few if any ever escape. This latest Mercy thriller (see BEG FOR MERCY) is an exhilarating paranormal tale with a deep look at victims hiding at a shelter. Thus there are two types of villains in this strong novel; first abusive spouses and second those essences that frequent the dark places of the soul. Toni Andrews provides a gripping story as readers get inside Mercy's head due to her first hand viewpoint. Harriet Klausner

Good read for late night. It was hard to put the book down once I satrted reaging.

This is the second book in the Mercy Hollings novels by Toni Andrews. The first book was "Beg For Mercy" which was a fast-paced, exciting read; and now we have "Angel of Mercy". Mercy is a hypnotherapist with the special ability to 'press' her will on others. It's taken her most of her 30-couple years to come to grips with and control her use of the 'press'. Sure, she can help people, but does that make it right? And now she's dealing with a lover! Sam is everything that's right for Mercy, but he doesn't know about the 'press'. So before she can really commit to a relationship with him, this orphan really needs to know...is she human?...and where did this power come from? But before she can dig into her search for her past, she becomes embroiled in an investigation into battered women...and possibly worse! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although it can certainly be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading "Beg For Mercy" first as it will provide a little more background into Mercy's past and motivations. Apart from the main story, this book also dealt with battered women and molested children...two very weighty subjects that I thought were handled well by the author. I'm not sure quite how to categorize this book. Is it a romance? Well, sure, there's romance in the book. Is it a mystery? Well, yeah, there's that too. Is it paranormal? Well, umm, there's the 'press' thing and all. So even though I'm not sure what to call it, I know I liked it and will be waiting for Ms Andrews June 2009 release, "Cry Mercy"!