Kill Without Mercy

by Alexandra Ivy

"Rafe Vargas is only in Newton, Iowa, to clear out his late grandfather's small house. As the covert ops specialist for ARES Security, he's eager to get back to his new life in Texas. But when he crosses paths with Annie White, a haunted beauty with skeletons in her closet, he can't just walk away--not when she's clearly in danger"--Page 4 of cover.

• ISBN13: 9781420137552
• Publish Date: 29 December 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 19 April 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Zebra Books
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

3.5 stars

This is my first Alexandra Ivy story. She is an author that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time now, so when I saw that she had a new romantic suspense out with a narrator that I already knew I liked, I decided to jump on the chance to try her out. I’m really glad that I did. I really enjoyed her story. It has also been a little while since I read a romantic suspense, which is a genre that I do love, so it was really nice to get back into it.

Rafe Vargas is straight out of the military and back from Afghanistan. They not only had to deal with the trials of war, but also with being prisoners of the Taliban. That is something that will bring a group of guys together better than anything else, even better than blood will. Rafe and his friends are determined to stay together, so that they can continue to have each other’s back. They decide to use their unique skill sets to start a security company in Texas. Rafe, however, is called to go cellout his estranged grandfather’s house in Iowa after his death.

Annie White comes back to Newton, Iowa after she starts to dream of women getting killed again. He father was known as the Newton Slayer. He was known to have killed seven women when Annie was just ten years old. Her father was killed in jail before he could ever stand trial. Now 17 years later, it all seems to be happening again.

Rafe and Annie stumble upon each other while in Newton together. They didn’t know each other before. Rafe had never even been there, since he didn’t know his grandfather and had no use for the man. He is quickly attracted to Annie and goes into alpha/protect mode very quickly. There are several people in the town who are not real happen to see Annie back, especially since the killings are back. Rafe makes it his business to protect Annie from these people. Plus, she seems to have a secret admirer.

This was a fun story. It has action, suspense and plenty of drama. We get to meet the heroes of future books as members of the ARES team refuse to let Rafe handle this situation on his own. The romance is a little quick and a little over-the-top alphamale. Rafe decides that Annie will be his, no matter what. But, it was a great story. I think the other stories will be fun as well.

Narration
Jim Frangione is a narrator that I’ve liked for a long time. If you’ve ever listened to J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, you’ve listened to Jim Frangione. I know that there are some people who are not a fan of his work, but I like him. I always thought his fit the Brothers. He fits these guys too. The ARES guys even wear the same Shitkickers. LOL. There were points where one of the guys were saying “True” in the actual sense of the word, and I was thinking more along the lines of the BDB guys, but that’s okay. It was only like once. Anyway, I like Frangione. If you’ve never tried him, I suggest you give him a shot.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[EBookObsessed]

This was a great beginning to a new series. This first story had mystery and intrigue, strong characters and a great introduction to the secondary characters who will be featured in the next few books. I am looking forward to more.
In this new series, Alexandra Ivy introduces us to five men, all former military. These men were all serving in Afghanistan when they were taken as prisoners and tortured. Together they escaped and their time together forged a bond stronger than any mere friendship. They are now brothers. Upon returning to the United States, they have agreed to put their specific skill sets together and created ARES Security.

They are still putting the finishing touches on what will be their headquarters, when Rafe Vargas gets a call. The realtor has a buyer for his grandfather’s house and he needs to go the small town of Newton, Iowa, to clear it out. Rafe is having dinner at a local diner when he sees a young woman who is getting quite uncomfortable with the nosy waitress’s harassing questions. He comes to her rescue and tries to distract the waitress. After a few more chance meetings about town, Rafe finally learns that the woman is the daughter of the man known as the “Newton Slayer.” It has been fifteen years since her father was arrested for the murders and killed in prison. Is it luck that brought them both back to the same small town, or is it something more?

More than just Annie and Rafe have been drawn back to Newton. Someone has started where the Slayer has left off and women are again being abducted. Is that the same person who is leaving gifts for Annie? Rafe is by nature a protector. Yet, he is drawn in by more than his desire to protect the lovely Annie. The more Rafe gets to know her, the more sure he is that he wants to take her home with him to Texas.

As Rafe and Annie hunt for the missing women, they start to unravel more and more of the mysteries from the past murders. There was more going on fifteen years ago and someone wants the truth to stay buried with all of the victims. As the dangers to Rafe and Annie increases, Rafe’s partners won’t let him face them alone and are all coming to Newton to assist. But will they be too late?

THOUGHTS:
This was a great first book of the new series. The story itself drew you into the mystery of who is abducting women and does this have anything to do with the murders 15 years ago. Although there was a bit of insta-love between Annie and Rafe, we do get a bit of background on these characters and an understanding from Rafe’s other partners that it would be very much Rafe’s nature that once he fell in love, he would fall hard. Because of Annie and Rafe’s natures, we can forgive the swiftness of the forever love and focus on their chemistry.

As a first book, it also does a great job introducing us to the other partners in ARES. We spend enough time with them in assisting Rafe that we come to know them and like them. We also get a brief peek into other happenings to peak our interest in future books: one partner has a lost love he won’t discuss and another is receiving threatening letters that may or may not go back to what happened to them in Afghanistan. We also don’t get any background of what exactly happened to them in their imprisonment. Whether Alexandra is saving that for another story or she has decided that we don’t need to have explicit details of their torture, we’ll have to wait to see.

Although I am a fan of Alexandra’s Guardian’s of Eternity series, I never got into the world building on her Sentinel series nor had a chance to check out her Bayou series which she co-writes. I like her writing and am looking forward to more on this series. In jumping to a contemporary story from her usual paranormal, I now have another group that I can share this author with.

If you like books such as Maya Banks’s KGI series or Elle Kennedy’s Killer Instincts, you should definitely give this a try.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[thebookdisciple]

I LOVED this book! To me, this is a PERFECT romantic suspense book! The danger is present from page 1, it moves along at a good pace, and it unfolds like pieces of a puzzle you slowly put together. I loved Rafe and Annie, and I can't wait to find out more about the other ARES guys! Alexandra Ivy just moved to my automatic 1 click list!