Lori Armstrong

Former Black Ops army sniper Mercy Gunderson isn't adjusting well to the laid-back rhythm of civilian life on her family's ranch in South Dakota. To fill her time, Mercy accepts a temporary bartending gig at a local watering hole. Yet her attempts to settle in back home are tested when Titan Oil, a Canadian company proposing to run an underground pipeline through Eagle River County, sends Jason Hawley, Mercy's former army buddy, to the area to convince ranchers to get behind the project. While local business owners support the pipeline, Hawley's presence riles the landowners, and Mercy is torn. After ugly threats and multiple altercations escalate tensions in the county, Mercy discovers Hawley's brutally mutilated body in the bar parking lot. When it appears Sheriff Dawson cares more about campaigning for reelection than investigating the case, Mercy vows to find Jason Hawley's killer -- even if she has to run against Dawson for sheriff to ensure justice is served. But Mercy soon learns her former military pal had plenty of secrets. Her search for the truth brings unwanted exposure to the county's dark side and risks deadly repercussions for the entire community.

F ormer Black Ops army sniper Mercy Gunderson isn t adjusting well to the laid-back rhythm of civilian life on her family s ranch in South Dakota. To fill her time, Mercy ...

Publishers Weekly

In Armstrong's sharp second mystery to feature former army sniper Mercy Gunderson (after 2010's No Mercy), Mercy stumbles late one night on the shot and slashed body of Maj. Jason "J-Hawk" Hawley, who once saved her life in Indonesia, outside Clementine's, the bar where she's been stuck for months in a dead-end temporary job. When her boyfriend, Eagle River County (S.Dak.) sheriff Mason Dawson, doesn't do enough to investigate, Mercy goes into action. Concerned that J-Hawk's murder may have been related to his job as a front man for Titan Oil's controversial project to run a pipeline through the county, Mercy uncovers some disturbing information about her old army buddy. While the flashbacks to Mercy's military career slow the action in places, an intriguing new character, FBI agent Shay Turnbull of the Indian County Special Crimes Unit, will leave readers eager to see how their relationship plays out in the next installment. (Jan.)

Former Army sniper Mercy Gunderson, who is having trouble adjusting to civilian life, agrees to fill in as a bartender at Clementine's, and when an employee of an oil company with a controversial plan for a pipeline is found dead, Mercy searches for answers Former Army sniper Mercy Gunderson struggles to adjust to civilian life at the height of a development project that has violently polarized her neighbors and resulted in a military friend's murder