Catch the Girl (Mercy Harbor #3)

Catch The Girl is the third book in the Mercy Harbor thriller series by Melinda Woodhall. I somehow finished the book because I had agreed to post a review in exchange for a free copy. 

Never again! The next time I face such a situation, I will mark DNF and move on. I will not read the fourth book in the series. 

This is not to say that the writing or the plot is bad. Either the genre is not right for me or the time I chose to read this series. That is all!

Note: BookSirens provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Girl Eight (Mercy Harbor #2)

Girl Eight is the second book in the Mercy Harbor thriller series by Melinda Woodhall. I started reading it in the hope that I would like it better than River Girls, the first book in the series. 

It had pretty much the same positive and negative points as River Girls. The only difference was that the victims here were young drug addicts instead of abused women. 

It was nice to see Leo and Eden’s relationship evolve. However, the lack of clarity about the villain’s motive was disappointing. 

Once again, I liked the plot and writing but not the book. 

Note: BookSirens provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

River Girls (Mercy Harbor #1)

When I first came upon The River Girls by MelindaWoodhall, I was excited because it was the first book in a thriller series (Mercy Harbor). I thought thrillers would give me the respite I wanted from the memoirs that I was reading in 2020. I was wrong.

Let me begin with the positives.

• The book had two strong female protagonists. Eden Winthrop who runs a shelter for abused women and detective Nessa Ainsley. Although Eden seemed fragile, she turned out to be strong in times of crisis. Nessa, the only female detective in her unit, was tough and dedicated. 
• The mystery was intriguing because of multiple plot threads. 
• The secondary characters were well-developed and helped move the story along.

However, I disliked the book probably because this was not the right time for me to read it.

The instances of innocent girls being abused—forcible use of illegal drugs, domestic violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, murder, human trafficking—were unbearable.
That some law enforcement officials were lackadaisical/corrupt/evil also added to it.

I was already reeling from an excess of fear, anger, and sadness. This book gave me no relief, no hope.

Note: BookSirens provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review.