Another Karen Rose book, another 5-star read!
My first Karen Rose book was the first book of this series, the Sacramento series, and this was book #2 so I was SOOO excited when I learned it was coming out! This book did not disappoint at all, and that’s saying a lot since there’s like 600 pages in this book, but I devoured it!
This is a romantic suspense novel, and let’s just say that it was steamy!!!! Which I’m all about! I already loved the character from book #1 but really loved this book because it dug deeper into Mercy’s and Gideon’s past. In addition, I feel like we get to know the Sokolov better as well! Excellent book! Couldn’t put it down and amazing ending! I cannot wait for the third book in the series!
Also, I am making it my mission to read all of Karen Rose’s book! So stay tuned! If you haven’t read anything from her, please just pick one up! They are by far my favorite books!
Mercy Callahan thought she’d escaped the cult decades ago, but its long fingers are reaching out for her again in this electrifying novel in the Sacramento series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.
Seventeen years ago. That was the last time Mercy Callahan saw Ephraim Burton, the leader of the twisted Eden cult where she was raised. But even though she escaped the abuse and terror, they continue to haunt her.
When her brother Gideon discovers new evidence of the cult’s–and their victims’–whereabouts, Mercy goes to Sacramento to reconnect with him. There, she meets Gideon’s closest friend–homicide detective Rafe Sokolov. From Rafe, she receives an offer she never knew she needed: to track down Ephraim and make him pay for everything.
But Ephraim, who had thought Mercy long dead, discovers she is in fact alive and that she is digging around for the cult’s secrets. And now he’ll do anything to take her back to Eden–dead or alive.
SAY NO MORE by Karen Rose
Berkley Hardcover; August 11, 2020
Excerpt
Amos Terrill rubbed his thumb over the
lines of the script he’d just carved into the lid of the hope chest. He was
almost finished with it, this special project on which he’d been laboring for
the past five months, mostly in secret. He’d made countless hope chests, coffee
tables, kitchen cabinets, armoires, and jewelry boxes over the thirty years
he’d lived in Eden. All of them had been gifts for the membership or items to
be sold to bring money into the community coffers.
This was the first time he’d ever made
something for himself. Something he didn’t intend to share with anyone.
No one except his Abigail. His heart.
A splinter caught at his thumb and he
pulled it out, sucking at the small wound before returning to his task. He
could sand the hope chest later. He didn’t have much more time to himself.
Everyone knew he stopped working at suppertime, and then people would start
dropping by.
Amos, can you fix this? Amos, a minute
of your time? Amos, need a pair of strong hands to help with… It
didn’t matter what. It was all the same after thirty years.
He picked up the detail blade, his
favorite of all of his carving tools. He’d brought it with him to Eden, when he
was young and full of hope, ready to change the world.
Now he knew the truth and every day
had become a struggle, each harder than the day before.
He had to stay positive. Had to keep
smiling. Had to stay patient. Had to nod and pleasantly reply that all was well
when he was greeted in passing.
In other words, he had to lie.
He finished carving the last word and
took a look at his work. It had become something of a trademark, a personal
signature he’d added to all the larger pieces of cabinetry he created.
The words were carved in a scrolling,
old‑fashioned
script: Surely Goodness And Mercy Shall Follow Me All The Days Of My Life.
Psalms 23:6. Anyone in the community would think it simply a beautiful
Bible verse, one that matched the song that used to be in his heart.
But it wasn’t. It was a tribute.
Penance, even. His way of trying to make it up to a beautiful little girl whom
he’d failed. So utterly.
Mercy. He
thought of her often, especially after the birth of his Abigail, whose name
meant father’s joy. As with most things in his life, Abigail’s birth had
been bittersweet, losing her mother just minutes after they’d held their baby for
the first time.
He’d thought he’d lose them both. Like
he’d lost his first family. Mercy. Gideon. Rhoda. Dammit, Rhoda, I’m so
sorry. You tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen.
He hadn’t wanted to listen.
But now he knew the truth and he
needed to get Abigail out. To safety. To freedom.
He wouldn’t fail her like he’d failed
Mercy, Rhoda, and Gideon.
He picked up the hope chest and turned
it over effortlessly, a lifetime of woodworking giving him more strength than
most men. He began to carve his true signature into the base of the chest, no
larger than a dime. A small olive tree with twelve branches. It was exacting,
but, at the same time, something he could do with his eyes closed, he’d done it
so many times.
“Papa!”
Amos startled, the knife in his hand
skipping over the wood, and pain ripped into his finger. “Ugh!” he cried,
unable to stifle the sound. “Papa?” Abigail bounded into his workshop, with the
same energy with which she tackled everything else in her life. “Tackled” being
the operative term. Abigail never walked when she could run, never sat when she
could stand. Never whispered. Ever.
His lips curved up into a smile even
as he grabbed a clean rag to press to his finger.
“Abi‑girl,” he said with genuine
warmth. Abigail was the only one who could summon anything close to happiness
for him. She was the only thing that was real and had been for the past six
months. Ever since Amos had witnessed Brother Ephraim calmly breaking the necks
of Sister Dorcas, her husband, and their sixteen‑year‑old son, three
of the dearest people in the world. Amos’s throat burned every
time he remembered Brother Ephraim so carelessly tossing their bodies into an
unmarked grave.
After which Ephraim had returned to
tell the membership that Dorcas and her family had chosen to return to the
world after the untimely death of their dear Miriam.
Miriam, who’d walked around with
shadows in her eyes. Who, the last time Amos had seen her, had been bruised and
bloody and begging to die.
Sister Dorcas had begged Amos for his
help. Please help us get her out of here. Please.
Amos had done his best, or he’d
thought so at the time, working through the night to fashion a hope chest
similar to the one he was now building for Abigail. It wasn’t ornate and hadn’t
had a false bottom,
but it had been large enough that Miriam had been able to hide inside. Her
father and brother had hoisted the hope chest into the bed of Brother DJ’s
truck when no one was around to see their muscles strain under the added
weight. Miriam was supposed to have climbed from the back of the truck and run
for freedom the moment that Brother DJ had slowed enough to make it possible.
But it had all been for naught. Miriam
must have been attacked by an animal because her body had been returned to
them, too damaged to be identified. And, as punishment for their part in her
escape, Sister Dorcas, Brother Stephen, and their son, Ezra, had been murdered
in cold blood.
I failed them, too.
But he would not fail again. He would not fail his Abigail.
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