source of income. Instead, it’s the guns smuggled to Mexico in cattle trucks destined for the rancher’s cartel partners and the drugs that come back.

Sheriff Beck’s efforts to stop the smuggling ring might have made for an entertaining novel. However, the author has far grander ideas, starting with a cast of supporting characters who seem like the creations of Tom Clancy. First, there’s the teenage super hacker named Mercy (hence, the novel’s name), whose abilities expand as Shades of Mercy continues. She commandeers a drone in the book’s first chapter and uses it to blast the rancher’s prized breeding bull to bits (cattle fare even worse in this book than humans). That incident first brings the sheriff to the scene. Then, U.S. government black hats from shadowy agencies pop in and out of the story every few chapters and always know considerably more than they reveal to Beck. Finally, there’s the Chinese “tourist” and his later-arriving associates. He’s straight out of Central Casting from the days of The Manchurian Candidate, spouting often-cliched dialogue about the glories of the homeland.

Compared to some of the supporting cast, Porter Beck is a likable, well-developed character. His skill set seems much greater than you’d expect for a sheriff of a Podunk county in the middle of nowhere. But the author takes care to give him some weaknesses and limitations that play into the storyline later. He also has an adopted sister named Brinley, who is an expert on all sorts of firearms and the in-demand weapons master on film sets. (Brinley appeared in the author’s first Beck novel, so the character predates the recent tragedy on the Rust movie set. However, I couldn’t help thinking of that real-life shooting when she was first introduced in Shades of Mercy.) Beck also has an aging father with dementia and a four-legged deputy named Columbo. Beck’s carefully established character traits make him a likable personality instead of a cartoon action hero.

The author keeps the plot moving for most of the novel, successfully juggling these characters and their subplots. Shades of Mercy has plenty of action with various shootouts and characters hiding in a mining ghost town and an abandoned ranch. Mercy is a likable but sometimes confused 16-year-old, even though I had difficulty accepting her skill level. But then, about two-thirds of the way through the book, the storyline gets too convoluted. Readers’ understanding of the characters changes every five pages as someone reveals new information. The villains’ masterplan, in which Mercy plays a significant role, never wholly makes sense. Mercy also enters into some high-stakes negotiations with a cartel boss over a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, a scene that seems more appropriate for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Fortunately, the author finishes the book on a solid note, with a major showdown featuring Beck, Brinley, and friends taking on assorted cartel members and Chinese agents as a forest fire rages around them.

I enjoyed Shades of Mercy. The novel has several solid action sequences and a core group of likable, charismatic characters who could anchor this series for a long time. Although the Nevada desert is a vast landscape, the book is, at heart, the story of a small-town sheriff. Hopefully, the author will show some mercy to his readers and rein in some of the more outlandish plot elements.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.