No Mercy
Martina Cole
Headline 2019
433 pages
Martina Cole’s No Mercy reads like a low-budget mob miniseries. It is interesting. The characters are generally well-developped. The story itself, that of a British mob matriarch and her passing on the family business to her son, is pretty good. No Mercy is pretty good but not memorable and not a keeper.
No Mercy’s greatest quality is its lead character. Diana Davis a section of London from her mob boss husband and she has developped it into a thriving family business. She eventually lets her son Angus take over. Angus shares the family business with his brother Sean and sister Eilish. Will the siblings be able to keep the family business going?
Part of the problem with No Mercy by Martina Cole is the prologue featuring Eilish Davis and her being pregnant goes nowhere. In fact, it is dismissed with one line.
The main problem however is the ending. Something major happens but the reader has no idea how the culprit was able to pull it off or why. One main character knows the how and why but Martina Cole chooses not to reveal anything to the reader. It makes for a rather disappointing ending.
With chapters rarely more than four or five pages long, No Mercy by Martina Cole is quite easy to read and get back to later. You will want to get back to it but will probably choose to leave it behind you once your beach vacation is over.
Also by Martina Cole: Faces