Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Synopsis:

Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman--the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack--has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more. 

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam--or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted. 

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related--and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclasses and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely. 

Review:

I am a huge fan of Patricia Briggs, I love her writing style and I love the way the characters have evolved over the years. To say I am a big fan of Mercy would be an understatement. I have to admit I was a little worried about how this next book was going to go, the last one wasn't my favorite, and less face it the longer a series goes on the harder it is to keep the characters interesting and exciting while still keeping the things we love about the characters in tact. I have to say that I did enjoy Frost Burned a lot more than I was expecting. 

The action in this book starts from page one and then just when you think it's all over and you have everything figured out, it turns out there was so much more going on behind the scenes and the action continues on. Briggs has always done a great job with fight scenes and building up suspense that keep the reader wanting to turn the page. She brought those skills to his book definitely. 

As for the characters, she brought back a lot of my favorites. You have Stefan finally acting a little like himself. Wulfe makes an appearance, and let's face it, he's just as creepy as he has ever been. Jesse and Mercy definitely are starting to have a stepmother/daughter relationship, which is fun to watch. I loved that Ben was back on the scene, he's such a great departure from the standard werewolf. And even better Briggs brought The Moor over from Bran's pack, and I really love him in this. Oh and Tad and Zee make an appearance, which always makes me smile, what's a Mercy Thompson book without a little fae in your life? 

On the down side, the book has a couple of things I wish were a little different. But primarily I thought that there was not enough time between Mercy and Adam, or Mercy and the pack. It was action all the time, and for most of it Mercy was separated from the pack, so you don't really get to see the relationships between the characters evolve. Also if you don't have a great memory of the books you have read in the past, you may have a hard time recollecting all the character dynamics because Briggs doesn't waste a lot of time rehashing the past, nor does she introduce new characters. 

One thing I have to mention, because I really enjoyed it, was Adam got a couple of chapters to himself. Briggs through in a couple of Adam's POV, and it's in those chapters that you really get to see how much Mercy and Adam really love each other. I really appreciated those pages. 

Long story short, I always recommend picking up a book by Briggs, she is awesome. And this is a pretty good book, not my favorite of the seven, but definitely worthy of Mercy Thompson. I look forward to what comes next for Mercy. 

River Marked by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #6)

Spoilers ALWAYS included

Patty Briggs is one of my favorite writers, and I think Mercy is one of my favorite characters. She is ballsy and doesn't take any prisoners. But she is not super woman, I think one of the hardest scenes I ever read was where Mercy was sexually assaulted in a previous book, her recovery from that incident I think is some of Briggs' best writing.

But on to the actual book, it started out a little slow for me. I think Briggs was trying to establish an intimate relationship with Adam and Mercy, but it honestly just felt to drag on. The last half of the book picks up and became a very enjoyable read. Briggs is one of the fantasy writers that doesn't stay in one or two of the supernatural categories, she is willing to include any and all supernatural elements, and she blends them in such a way that is still cohesive for the reader as well as entertaining. This book is no exception. There is interaction with her vampire friend who needs Mercy's help, the werewolf pack Mercy is no married into, the fae sending Mercy and Adam to the honeymoon spot as well as the Fae villains, as well as the exploration of Mercy's heritage which brought in a whole new supernatural element never explored before.

Mercy has always been an outsider in the books, she is the only one of her kind, or so she thought. As a coyote raised by wolves, I believe that Mercy has always been content with the road her life went down. She has even mentioned in prior books that she has looked in mildly to her heritage but never really took it further. This book changes all of that, her heritage rises up to meet her.

I love the Native American culture, and I love that Briggs did not just make this about one specific tribe, in fact in the end Mercy is the child of all of the tribes because her father is one of the remaining immortal figures Coyote that serve the Great Spirit that all of the Native Americans believe in. The extensive culture that Briggs explores in this book is amazing, and it is great that she was able to not only make a plot that was interesting to the reader but also gives Mercy more depth and a clear and remaining link to her past, that is sure to show up in the following books.

The book was full of small sentimental moments that long time fans of these series would appreciate. I believe my favorite of these moments would be Bran at Mercy's wedding, acting all parts of the father he really feels he is to Mercy. Seeing the bond Mercy had developed with the most powerful werewolf in the world is something so sweet and special. I also love that Mercy is becoming more and more like a mother to Jesse, they have always had a good dynamic together, but it has begun to really evolve into a parent and child dynamic that has been so great to watch evolve.

I also really love the small moments Mercy has with Stefan. Stefan was a main element in the prior book. One of my biggest issues with a lot of series writers is they forget the prior books existed for some characters, the main character always remains changed but the others just seem to be along for the ride. Briggs never does that to her characters. While Stefan was not a main player this time around, she didn't forget him and showed him as the damaged vampire he should be. And true to her form Mercy does everything she can to help him heal. And in the end when Mercy herself is healing from the situation within this book, Stefan comes along to help her as well. The moment between the two of them at the end was sweet not just because of Stefan caring for Mercy when he was still clearly not completely well himself, but also the interaction Coyote and Stefan have together. Mercy is clearly a character that has the ability to unite elements of the supernatural that prefer to remain separate and also typically at odds.

Over all this is a book I loved reading, even though it to in my opinion, took far to long to pick up. The continual mundane activities that Mercy and Adam go through for so much of the beginning of the book reminds me almost of how Harry Potter's last book seemed to go on forever when they were on the run, it was just more and more of the same over and over again for far to many pages. I also think she made the river monster far to large, I think she could have made the monster even slightly smaller and way more believable within that context. But overall I think the book was great, probably my second favorite of her books.

Buy River Marked on Amazon!