The Mercy of Snakes (Nameless: Season One Book 5)

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 18,604 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 12-16-2024


About this item

A series of suspicious deaths in a retirement home draws Nameless into the confidence of a terrified former resident—and into the dark heart of a shocking conspiracy. In part five of the Nameless series, it’s time to hunt.

Oakshore Park is Michigan’s most exclusive assisted-living community. Presided over by two killer angels of mercy, it’s also the go-to facility in assisted dying. For a cut, they make impatient heirs happy. Nameless must concoct a scheme just as cunning. But righteous retribution stirs disquiet in the avenger as light starts to shine on the black hole of his past. Should he welcome it or keep running?

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes The Mercy of Snakes, part of Nameless, a riveting collection of short stories about a vigilante nomad, stripped of his memories and commissioned to kill. Follow him in each story, which can be read or listened to in a single sitting.


Top reviews from the United States

trickivic
5.0 out of 5 stars Joints does it again!
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2024
I absolutely love the hero "Nameless". Another great read by Dean Koontz! This is a fantastic series. Don't miss any.
A Lady
4.0 out of 5 stars THE MERCY OF SNAKES: An Amazon Original Short Story by Dean Koontz (Nameless Season One Book 5)
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
THE MERCY OF SNAKES is the fifth installment in Koontz's "Nameless" series and another quick and thrilling read by this amazing author. I did put off reading it for a while, I think mainly because the fourth book just failed to really engage me. However, since this one deals with an evil doctor/nurse and a senior living facility I immediately felt a connection to the story since my parents are about these victims age.

Truthfully though, calling the villains "people" is giving them a humanity that neither possessed. They were some of the most cold hearted and wicked individuals I've come across and that's really saying something. I love that they both got their comeuppance but in my opinion I think the nurse got off a little too easily.

All in all it was a highly entertaining little short story though and there were a couple of highly emotional scenes too as well as flashbacks from Nameless's previous life. I'm really looking forward to the sixth and final book in the first season and have no doubt that Mr. Koontz is going to throw in more than one curveball. If you haven't read any of the books in this series I recommend starting from the beginning and enjoy the ride... =)
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this one too
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2024
I love the twisted justice that happens in this series. A carefully laid out plan to pit the criminals against each other never gets old
Columbusbabe
5.0 out of 5 stars Retribution Hurts
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2024
Nameless is sent on another story, and brings worshippers of greed, lust and power to atonement, but something is now starting to gnaw at his memory, and he asks Ace to build the wall between him and his unknown past stronger!
Laurel
3.0 out of 5 stars Good audio to pass the time and get interested...
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2024
So Dean Koontz is a great author - we know this from Odd Thomas in my perspective. Though I might quip about a few other instances. However these were purchased to pass the time while driving a truck a little and listen into a good story when driving was quiet. I didn't fully get to do as intended but they have come in useful a few times. Will get around to finishing them all at some point.
M P Atkins
4.0 out of 5 stars Good One
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2024
Great story. It kept my interest, as all of them did. Dean Koontz can write a story that keeps your interest. All five are great. Enjoy.
Mark F. Noble
5.0 out of 5 stars Dean Koontz channels Dutch Leonard in The Mercy of Snakes
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2019
The Mercy of Snakes is the 5th story in Dean Koontz’s Nameless series. By now, the format of the story is familiar. The Ace of Diamonds has identified another evil person who manages to avoid the grip of justice. Nameless is dispatched to ensure that the truth is outed and that the evil is punished or eliminated. The villains in this story euthanize unsuspecting elderly residents in a very upscale assisted living residence that caters to wealthy patrons in Charlevoix, Michigan. Dr. Murdock Pennyman is the founder and owner. In addition to the home, he has started two other businesses that are far more lucrative: he sells drugs to the black market in Detroit and offers a euthanasia service to young heirs who are too impatient to wait for their wealthy relatives to die of natural causes. He has enlisted the help of a nurse, Teresa Jean Garland, a former pole dancer who killed a pimp while she was in college and who decided to become a nurse so she could marry a rich doctor. She never found a doctor to marry but has a hot relationship with Pennyman while making more money than she ever dreamed possible as his partner. They use a local private investigator with absolutely no morals, Robert Dufraine, to investigate the families of residents to find likely targets.

Nameless arrives in upper Michigan with the full support of the Ace of Diamond’s research and resources as well as a clever plan that will trick the bad boys (and girl) into punishing each other, leaving Nameless with just one piece of evil to dispatch directly. The plot is grim but Koontz uses a high level of humor to soften the impact. The villains in this story are not the smartest. It reminded me a bit of some vintage Dutch Leonard, who also used Michigan as a setting. Of course, good triumphs over evil. At the end of the story, Nameless has the most vivid encounter yet with the ghosts or spirits of the woman and kids who have haunted him through the series. He is afraid to learn the truth about these people and is contemplating asking The Ace of Diamonds to help him push this memory back into oblivion. With only one more story left, I am hoping that we finally get to know what caused Nameless’s amnesia. Each story has focused on uncovering the truth hidden by corrupt, immoral and evil people. It is only fitting that this truth that Nameless is so fearful of uncovering is finally revealed.
Thomas G. Cummings
5.0 out of 5 stars Fifth in the series
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024
Nameless is sent to look into a high end retirement community that has an abnormal number of mysterious deaths. Lots of fast paced action with a surprise ending. A fun read.

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