Member Reviews
Reviewer 679083
Some books start slowly but improve as they go. 'Mercy' is the opposite - a book with a really promising start that deteriorates and I ended up thinking less of than I expected. It's a challenging read, due to both the subject matter and the style. There's a strong opening - a young woman escapes after being held prisoner and tortured in a basement for eight years. As she returns to the world, the UK is debating the legalisation of euthanasia. Against this backdrop, another character, Myles, decides to take his own life by jumping off a roof - only to end up in an even worse position than when he started.
All of this is very compelling, with everything you'd expect from a good thriller - fast paced writing, more twists than a helter-skelter, and some really interesting ethical questions to give your brain a bit of work too. I liked the two main characters, Erica and Myles, and was intrigued about what would happen next. If only it had gone on a bit longer in that vein and then finished.
Instead the story continues, becoming weirder and less plausible, often seeming more like an excuse to write about torture than the urge to tell a good story. The topic of euthanasia is a hugely controversial and interesting one, and there are so many opportunities to write very moving and thought provoking novels around it. Instead, 'Mercy' uses it as a pretext for horror-film style writing. Numerous plot holes emerged, I stopped liking the characters, and I felt slightly dirtied by reading it. By the end I was annoyed that someone would take such a sensitive subject and use it in this way.
There's no doubt Costelloe has a lot of talent as a writer - the first part is excellent, she conjures up a horribly unsettling atmosphere, and the book is full of the sort of literary trickery that book prize givers love. But this just wasn't for me. If you enjoy horror and dark thrillers, you may well like it. Readers who don't want to read about torture, suicide and abuse need to steer clear.
