num_pages: 513
description: Houston is shattered by a shock wave of  unbelievably vicious sex killings.  And this time the pattern is unique--way out of line with traditional violent-crime psychology.  In Detective Carmen Palma's experience, a psychopath always chooses anonymous targets.  But the Houston victims know and trust their killer:  They meet willingly in hotel rooms, even in their homes.  They don't fight when the leather cuffs are fastened to their wrists and ankles.  They don't even struggle when the first blows fall . . .Palma's first lightning instinct is that the victims expected their torture.  They were practicing masochists, apart of a secret clique that includes some of the city's most prominent women.  They helped choreograph their own punishments-every blow.  They just didn't expect to die. . .
language: English
title: Mercy
titlecomplete: Mercy
genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Horror, Crime, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
ratings_count: 761
awards: awardedAt: 694252800000
name: Deutscher Krimi Preis
category: 3. Platz International
publisher: Doubleday