Have No Mercy

Rating:
Summary: It will leave you begging for more!
Review: "Author Bobby Ruble breaks the mold in his thriller, Have No Mercy. If you've ever wondered what motivates evil people to commit crimes, look no further. Mr. Ruble uses his police training to give us an in depth look at what makes these criminals tick. But don't look for an easily solved mystery here. Just when you think you have the plot all figured out, the author twists things again, leaving you begging for more."

Rating:
Summary: A great, page-turning mystery!
Review: Bobby Ruble is an excellent author whose novel kept me reading late into the night. His characters and settings are so real that I couldn't put the book down until I had read through to the last page. I highly recommend "Have No Mercy" for anyone who loves a great mystery.

Rating:
Summary: "Have No Mercy" is unputdownable!
Review: Bobby Ruble's background in law enforcement shines through this book. The twists and turns in this mystery/thriller keep one turning the pages for more. The surprise at the end leaves one hoping that there will be more from this writer and very soon! I have seldom enjoyed a thriller as much as I enjoyed Have No Mercy. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, I realized, I didn't know anything after all!

Rating:
Summary: Twisting. Well-developed!
Review: Bobby Ruble's first mystery novel, Have No Mercy is amazingly well developed. The characters are deep and fleshed out. The pacing is calculated and precise. From start to finish, Ruble lets the tension build and build and build until everything begins to unravel.



Filled with character history, we see two friends. David has it all. Todd has nothing, but wants it all. Todd's jealousy becomes overbearing and obvious. Since there was never truly a friendship to begin with, it's hard to say the friendship ended. Instead, their relationship demised.



Years later, David married to Ann, a woman he may not even love. Having her for a wife ...works. He is an established psychiatrist. He likes to stay home. From the beginning of his marriage he had been against his wife working. It wasn't her place. Eventually, however, after doing all he can to keep her entertained, like with building a new home, he decides to let her find a job.



Rennie is a wealthy woman. She inherited most of her wealth when her father died. Writing books for children, Rennie met and fell in love with Matt. Matt worked in a coffee shop as a manager, with dreams bigger than life, with no capitol to fund his ventures. No capitol, that is, until he met Rennie. When the two marry, Rennie quickly learns Matt's truth behind his claims to love her. He never loved her. He loved her money. Though she funded his dreams, her own unhappiness became overwhelming. Seeking the help of a psychiatrist, Rennie and David meet. As the doctor-patient relationship grows into something of a friendship, David winds up getting a job for his wife with Rennie's husband. But who, exactly, is this guy Matt...



A novel with twists and turns like an amusement park ride, Have No Mercy is an engrossing read. A plot filled with revenge, cons, lust and anger, Ruble glues the reader to the pages of his thriller and successfully delivers a wonderfully entertaining story, Have No Mercy


--Phillip Tomasso III, author of Johnny Blade & Third Ring

Rating:
Summary: Twisting. Well-developed!
Review: Bobby Ruble's first mystery novel, Have No Mercy is amazingly well developed. The characters are deep and fleshed out. The pacing is calculated and precise. From start to finish, Ruble lets the tension build and build and build until everything begins to unravel.



Filled with character history, we see two friends. David has it all. Todd has nothing, but wants it all. Todd's jealousy becomes overbearing and obvious. Since there was never truly a friendship to begin with, it's hard to say the friendship ended. Instead, their relationship demised.



Years later, David married to Ann, a woman he may not even love. Having her for a wife ...works. He is an established psychiatrist. He likes to stay home. From the beginning of his marriage he had been against his wife working. It wasn't her place. Eventually, however, after doing all he can to keep her entertained, like with building a new home, he decides to let her find a job.



Rennie is a wealthy woman. She inherited most of her wealth when her father died. Writing books for children, Rennie met and fell in love with Matt. Matt worked in a coffee shop as a manager, with dreams bigger than life, with no capitol to fund his ventures. No capitol, that is, until he met Rennie. When the two marry, Rennie quickly learns Matt's truth behind his claims to love her. He never loved her. He loved her money. Though she funded his dreams, her own unhappiness became overwhelming. Seeking the help of a psychiatrist, Rennie and David meet. As the doctor-patient relationship grows into something of a friendship, David winds up getting a job for his wife with Rennie's husband. But who, exactly, is this guy Matt...



A novel with twists and turns like an amusement park ride, Have No Mercy is an engrossing read. A plot filled with revenge, cons, lust and anger, Ruble glues the reader to the pages of his thriller and successfully delivers a wonderfully entertaining story, Have No Mercy


--Phillip Tomasso III, author of Johnny Blade & Third Ring

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales review
Review: By TT reviewer Hattie Boyd

David Epstein grew up in Mt. Pride, Colorado; the only child of parents who loved and spoiled him. David was an introverted child growing up and only had one childhood friend, Todd Reams. He was a friend with Todd until he asked Todd to move into the house his parents left him when they relocated to Israel. He came home one day and Todd was stealing a necklace, the only thing David had belonging to his mother. He and Todd fought and he threw Todd out of the house. David's psychiatry practice located in his home grew and he became a multimillionaire. He had everything but a wife. He went looking for the perfect wife and he found her in Ann Roitstein. Ann was beautiful and intelligent with a job as a linguist with a government agency. Ann fell in love with David, but love was not on David's agenda. He had Ann sign a prenuptial agreement saying that if she divorced him, she would not be entitled to anything he had before he married her. When Ann discovered there would be no children, she became bored with staying at home. David decided to build them a house on property he bought in High Cliff Estates, using a design he contracted before the marriage. This would be the beginning of Ann's problems.

Rennie and Matt Lain met when Rennie visited a new coffee shop in Mt. Pride where Matt Lain was working. Rennie grew up in Mt. Pride, was the author of several children's books and was wealthy but lonely. Matt didn't think Rennie was good to look at, but since she had money and could give him his dream of his own business, Matt used his charms on her. Now they had a chain of coffeehouses across the country and a beautiful home in High Cliff Estates. Rennie became depressed and abused alcohol and cigarettes. She decided to consult a psychiatrist and chose David Epstein because he lived in the same neighborhood. Eventually Rennie began to think of David as her friend and when she found out Ann had the qualifications Matt was looking for in an assistant and was looking for a job, both Rennie and David thought Rennie should suggest Matt hire Ann.

HAVE NO MERCY is the twisted story of four people whose lives spin out of control because of the desire for revenge by one person. The four main characters, David, Ann, Rennie, and Matt are a lesson in how twisted the mind can become when you become consumed with revenge and jealousy. The only good character in this story besides the police is Rennie's friend and attorney Daniel Boone Riddle. The story is fast-paced and will keep you turning pages from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: Suspense with a bit of a twist
Review: David and Todd were friends, best friends, or so David thought. Quiet and studious, David came from a comfortable, loving background and had everything he ever wanted. Todd was different, he had no permanent home, in and out of foster homes from an early age, he was jealous of David and of everything that David had. Especially the money. Todd was very fond of money.

David catches Todd trying to steal from him and almost kills Todd.

Fast forward to a few years later. David has a very comfortable living as a psychiatrist, has married the beautiful Ann, not because he loves her, but because he thinks she'd be a suitable wife. He doesn't know what has become of Todd, but he cares very much. He is filled with rage over Todd's betrayal of their friendship and he wants revenge. Badly.

He gets his chance when he has a new patient, Rennie Laine, the wife of Matt Laine. But once, Matt had another name, Todd Reams...

I would class this a suspense rather than a mystery, because you know everyone's motives from the outset. The first few chapters are filling in background on the characters, which I felt went into too much detail for too much time. I would have preferred perhaps Todd and David meeting again years later, without us knowing what had happened betwen them yet, just knowing that something did.

The first few chapters seemed to be setting the scene where you were waiting for something to happen, and happen it did. Once the plot got going, it was a corkscrew of twists and turns, secrets, betrayals and murder. The pace moved faster after that and it felt as if you were being washed away by a raging current and hardly had time to take a breath.

The ending has an excellent twist and if you like suspense, you'll love this.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of Silent Screams and Shadows of the Rose.

Rating:
Summary: A chilling psychological thriller - Very highly recommended
Review: David Joseph Epstein and Todd Reams grew up together. When David's parents plan to spend their retirement years in Israel, David feels betrayed that they would abandon him. David does not know that Todd manipulated his parents into their departure so that he could move in as a roommate and begin his plan to steal items to fund his own goals.

When David catches Todd stealing, a nasty fight ends irretrievably ends their friendship. Both men go onto very successful lives, but neither forgets the events of the past. Indeed, the fires of hatred drive David to a complex plan for vengeance. By all appearances, David is a successful psychiatrist, blessed with wealth, a showcase home and a beautiful wife. Quietly, David orchestrates his revenge, revealing that he "has no mercy".

Author Bobby Ruble pens a tense psychological thriller in HAVE NO MERCY. Ruble understands the intricacies of the human psyche, drawing upon his background as a US Marine Criminal Investigator, a FBI Academy Graduate, and experience as Chief of Police in Kennesaw, Georgia. Ruble's first hand experience with the most dangerous elements of society and the intricacies of the law brings HAVE NO MERCY a chilling reality. Ruble's characters spring vividly to life, carefully concealing their hidden agendas, yet revealing devastating motivation. The juxtaposition of innocence and evil, as women trust and men betray, provides a haunting tale with surprising complexities readers will not want to put down. Add this one to your keeper shelf! HAVE NO MERCY comes very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the sequel
Review: Have No Mercy
by Bobby Ruble

Review by Joan Moore Lewis, author of southern fiction

Greed, deceit and murder are the three main ingredients in "Have No Mercy." There is more than one crime committed, however. Crimes without bodies, crimes against spouses, crimes within the law for which there are no penalties. Although it's not obvious in the beginning, all major characters seem to have an ulterior motive for most of their actions.

Ann thinks she has landed the perfect husband, one whose money and social position is exactly what she has always expected. David thinks he has the perfect wife, one who is brilliant, beautiful and loyal. Both are disappointed.

Todd needs money; Rennie needs a home and children. Theirs could be the ideal marriage, but their money and house do not make a home. They are childless, and not a single other need is fulfilled.

The way the four lives are intermingled is complicated. I could not finish the book in one night, but neither could I put it down. It's one of those "turn on the light at 3AM" books. The suspense is deafening.

Bobby Ruble, author of "Have No Mercy," retired from the Marines where he served ten years in the Criminal Investigation Division, and he is an FBI National Academy graduate. His achievements are too many to list, but it is obvious that he has the credentials to write this book.

I usually try to guess what is going to happen in a suspense novel. For those of you who think you can figure out what's going to happen before the end, you will be in for a surprise. Bobby Ruble has no mercy.

Rating:
Summary: "Have No Mercy" is unputdownable!
Review: In my more than 42 years in journalism I must have read at least 5000 thrillers and reviewed at least 500 of them for leading English dailies and weeklies of India.
But if I am asked to list the 10 best thrillers I have read and reviewed, I should have no hesitation in including "Have No Mercy" in the list.
Frankly, I had not imagined that any writer could combine the best of Hadley Chase, Peter Cheney and Dickson Carr in one book. But after reading "Have No Mercy" I am sure Bobby Ruble has done that!
My only regret is that Alfred Hitchcock could not get to read this thriller, for, if he had, he would have made another box-office hit out of it.
MV