Review--The Merciless IV by Danielle Vega

The fourth book of the scream-worthy cult series The Merciless combines Stephen King level terror with true crime stories like the Amanda Knox case.

The ropes tighten on Berkley Hubbard's wrists. Blood drips down her fingers and lands with a smack on the cold floor of the church basement. She's trapped, bound, and petrified by fear. A knife punctures her fragile skin as Berkley's captors search for the mark of the devil on her body. They say they want to save her--drive the devil away and cleanse her soul--but will she make it out alive?

When Berkley arrived in Italy a week ago, the last thing she expected was that she'd end up fighting for her life. After spending six months at the Institute, confined to a room with the dangerous-yet-alluring Sofia Flores, Berkley was certain that a vacation in Italy with her two best friends would be the perfect getaway. But Berkley is hiding a terrible secret, one that threatens to undo everything. As she's forced to face her wicked past, she learns that the devil is always watching, and no one is coming to save her.

 

Danielle Vega's The Merciless series reaches a chilling conclusion with The Merciless IV: Last Rites. In this final creeptacular tale we learn why we should always be good and follow the rules, because holy cow this book got downright chilling! I will again advise that this series is not for the faint of heart, it takes some seriously dark turns.

Berkley Hubbard just got out of the hospital and is ready to spend two weeks of her summer with her friends in Italy where they are already at, as they are participating in a college-related program for the summer. The story gets told in a semi-back and forth matter from her time in the hospital and her current adventures in Italy. While in the hospital she ends up rooming with one, Sofia Flores.Things start off nice and well during her stay at the hospital, but then she's forced to stay longer than intended when certain things come to light. Berkley had an "episode" at a club one night shortly after her best friend committed suicide. Her parents wanting the best for her, send her to the hospital so the doctors can help her.

But now that she's free, she wants to enjoy her freedom. She ends up meeting a cute boy at a club and goes to different events with her friends. Yet, she can't help but feeling like her friends don't really want her there at all. There's something very strange about the quiet little Italian town that they are staying in too. There is of course, a legend to the story about a young girl who was sacrificed for the "good of the town."

Berkley's vacation ends up taking a seriously bad as the book's description will tell you. Yet, even knowing these things and really how this entire series has run, the turn of events are ultimately pretty shocking! I mean this ending, holy cow, what just happened?! I mean I'm still kind of baffled by how things twisted and turned into what they did! This is a seriously twisted read that even if you read carefully, you still might be able to catch what happens! I was happily reading and being shocked by event after event and then THAT ending happened and I was seriously blown out of the water!

This was definitely a fast paced read! I loved how quickly it read honestly. When you're dealing with horror you really want things to move along asap because you're dying to know the outcome. As I mentioned already, this one gets seriously sinister too! It almost makes you wonder at times what kind of person are you when you react to events post sinister ones! Sorry for the vagueness, trying to emphasize how truly twisted this read was without getting into too many details!

The ending was seriously of ye old classic horror. I won't dive into more than that, and it may not even really be the classic horror you know. I'm just thinking of the very, very few that I ever saw and how those ended in certain ways! Lol.

I'm kind of sad that this series is over already. It makes me wonder what direction it would have taken next. It doesn't end in a way that leaves you hanging. Oh now, this series is definitely done, but it has one of those endings that gives you "hope" for future adventures. But if you've made it this far into the series, then you know that you really don't want any future adventures for anyone involved!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars