A former sniper can’t settle down to South Dakota life without stirring up trouble. The military didn’t prepare Mercy Gunderson (No Mercy, 2010, etc.) for life back home.
Instead of battling Iraqis, the vet is stuck as a bartender/bouncer in her old friend John-John’s local spot, Clementine’s. And in spite of the fact that she’s hooked up with Sheriff Mason Dawson, the man her late father hand-picked as his replacement, Mercy still can’t help but get involved in investigating local crime. This time, it’s the murder of her Army buddy Jason “J-Hawk” Hawley, which Dawson insists was a mugging gone wrong. Not only does Mercy have a personal connection to J-Hawk, her old friend Anna “A-Rod” Rodriguez’s former lover, but she’s forever indebted to him for that one crazy night where he ended up saving her life. Seems to Mercy the least she can do is repay the favor by investigating his death. But her adversaries aren’t limited to J-Hawk’s former employer, the unpopular Titan Oil, or locals from off the reservation. Mercy is dealing with her own demons in the form of a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Things only get more complicated when town locals encourage Mercy to run against Dawson for the sheriff’s job while the poor vet is still learning the ropes of her family’s farm. Her hapless sister Hope is no help, too caught up in her new baby, Joy, to offer assistance.
Another surprisingly twisted tale leads readers into a thicket of relative good and evil.
