Mercy

the long version

This book has two separate plots, united by mercy. The first is the trial of a man who has killed his wife out of love for her, and at her request, as her cancer is deemed terminal. The second is that of a man whose wife finds out about his infidelity to her with her own assistant. Mercy in the one case means euthanasia; in the other, forgiveness. Jodi Picoult fans might like this book, but it has too many extraneous elements - ghosts of the past, new age healing, among others - to rank among her best novels.