(Mercy Thompson #8)
Patricia Briggs
Release: March 11, 2014
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An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.Review:
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
The Mercy Thompson series has always been one of my favorites. When it comes to solid urban fantasy, Briggs' series is always a hit for me and this eighth installment, Night Broken, is no exception.
In this book, Adam's ex-wife is back and town and just as manipulative as ever. She's such a realistic character, not evil but crafty in the way she uses the Pack's sympathy to her advantage. She drove me crazy, but what was more interesting was reading Mercy's reactions to Christy. Christy really undermines Mercy's tenuous relationship with some of the Pack members and Mercy struggles with balancing being the bigger person and standing up for herself. Readers get to see a more vulnerable side to Mercy in Night Broken, still just as cool but not quite as confident. That was worth dealing with the Christy plot alone. However, I really just wanted Mercy to call Christy on her BS the whole book.
The main plot of the book has to do with Christy as well, although not directly. She has garnered herself a stalker, and a super scary one at that. Mercy, Adam, and the Pack have to figure out who the man really is, which, of course, leads to wonderful investigative quests, grisly crime scenes, and epic battles Mercy-style. I love the way the action is written in these books, although I did feel the absence of Mercy in her coyote form a little.
Tad seems to be in this one a lot, as Mercy spends a lot of time at her garage hiding from having to be around Christy. He's a great side character and recently we have learned a little more about him in each book. Some events in Night Broken set up a possible plot thread involving Tad for book nine and I'm curious to see where his story goes. The same is true with Stefan, who I love. Some new information involving him comes to light and I hope this story line gets explored in the next book.
Night Broken is another strong book in the Mercy Thompson series. When you're in the mood for some werewolves, a coyote, a good supernatural mystery, and one super cool heroine, the Mercy series is the one to pick up!
Recommended for fans of: werewolves, urban fantasy, Fey, Coyote, and walking sticks.
This review is based on an early finished copy of the book provided by the publisher.
I give it 4, maybe 4 1/2 stars. Many reviewers and commenters hated the Christy angle and how Adam handles it. I thought Adam and Mercy stayed true to their characters. Adam was respectful of Mercy's feelings, but he felt obligated to help Christy as she is the mother of his child. He never forgets Mercy is his wife and mate.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to smack Adam a few times but I enjoyed NB more than the last two books.
ReplyDeleteI felt that Adam did most of the right things by standing by and showing Mercy that he had her back and felt she could fight her own battles. If he would have just kept his phone away from Christy, I would have had zero issues with Adam. While this wasn't my favorite book in the series, it wasn't my least favorite either. I thought over all it was a good story and I can't wait to see where Mercy and the gang go next. I think it will be interesting to see where we go with Tad, Gary Laughingdog, Stefan and even the "new addition" to the pack.
ReplyDeleteThis book had way more angst than I'm used to in this series, nevertheless I truly enjoyed it, I just LOVE Mercy and I'm always thrilled to visit her world.
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