Review #327: The Merciless- Danielle Vega

Title: The Merciless
Author: Danielle Vega
Series: The Merciless #1
Pages: 279
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Summary: Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned
Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.
Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.
Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .
In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us?
Review: I saw this book floating around in a lot of book hauls and I knew that with it's bright pink naked cover that I needed it. I devoured this story in about an hour and a half, I could not put it down. This book was so messed up, but in a good way. It had my heart pounding the whole time I was reading it. I was definitely cringing at the shock value that's for sure. There were so many twists and secrets that I wasn't expecting. I can't wait for book two (well I hope there will be more). I was left with some unanswered questions. Where did Josh and Charlie disappear to? Will there end up being love interests? What will become of Brooklyn and Sofia? What about Sofia's grandma? Was Sofia's secret linked to what was revealed at the end of the book?
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this amazingly good author. Fans of Supernatural will love this story. I would recommend this to those readers who do not get squeamish easily.

About this author

Danielle Vega spent her childhood hiding under the covers while her mother retold tales from the pages of Stephen King novels. Now an adult, she can count on one hand the number of times in her life she's been truly afraid. Danielle has won numerous awards for her fiction and nonfiction, and earned a 2009 Pushcart Prize nomination for her short story “Drive.” She lives in Brooklyn.