C. C. Marks

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review**

Book Description: Charlie hides her true identity, but her very presence places everyone around her in danger. With no other choice but to remain where she is, she stays with a community that might not be as benevolent as it appears. In this new and dangerous version of the world, where a friend might be an enemy and an enemy might be a friend, seventeen-year-old Charlie protects her baby sister and herself from grotesque monsters outside the community as well as human ones inside. Will the truth she discovers about her protectors save her or ultimately doom her to a fate worse than death?

Review: 4 stars

General: I hate zombie stories- they’ve been done to death and back and I’ve sworn off al zombie related products. But this was a gift so to speak and thank goodness or else I never would have picked it up myself. Edge of Mercy puts a human spin on the zombie curse, showing the world of the people fighting to continue to live and not so much just senseless fighting off zombie attacks.

The novel has a few weak links and I figure start there so you don’t keep reading how awesome it was if you don’t like the weaknesses. The first weakness is perhaps the biggest flaw and almost had me putting the book down at first.The world building isn’t done upfront. Only little tidbits of information are given at first and I almost felt it not enough to understand the world. I pushed past it and slowly things fall into place but the aggravation I felt didn’t quite leave as it didn’t seem to serve any purpose to play hide and seek with the information to the reader. Now there is a secret in the book other than Charlie’s and I don’t reference that, just the world building. The other is the logistics of her being in a compound for 8 months and actually hiding her femininity from the men. I’m all for the occasional joke that men are blind and don’t pay attention but boobs? Not questioning why she didn’t shower or pee in front of them? Some things were addressed but for the most part I felt it implausible.

Now on for the good stuff. The world once built was amazing. It was a nice spin on the zombie side that they had more limitations than strengths in this book. It was also awesome to see the dystopia actually play out, it was a perfect addition like Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games to show just how humanity can fall in the right circumstances.

Charlie “Charlotte” is new to the compound and doesn’t have many people she can trust and not to many she even likes. On top of that she despises the Council, the rulers who decided the fate of everything. She’s learned to not question anything but has millions of them running through her head. And why are there no women in the compound but her little sister can stay? This book served mainly to enter into the world and build a fondness for Charlie and it worked perfectly. My only real complaint…CLIFFHANGERS. I’ll leave it at that.

Characters: Charlie- So much of this character is wonderfully believable. As a female posing to be a male there were so many moments when the young lady slipped through and made it so much more true to the reality of it. She was obstinate and fearful at the right moments. Confused and lost as someone who had lost their whole world would be.

Thomas: I loved Thomas from the get go. Silent and with eyes that never aren’t watching his hero attitude goes no further than that, wanting to help. His manner suits someone who holds the knowledge he holds and I cannot wait to see more of him.

Zeke: Zeke I’m on the fence about. I know I should love his jovial manner right away. But in the face of such circumstances he read more like a pest to me than a comedian. His acts of heroism were plentiful and seemed to counteract and contradict his goofiness and possibly why I found it hard to connect with him.… (mais)