Bone Crossed

You can close your eyes and see everything.

The running theme of the Mercy Thompson books is that there are consequences for everything. While recovering from the end of Iron Kissed, the events of Blood Bound come back to bite Mercy. Quite literally, given that the vampires are gunning for her this time. She's not quite back to the sass level from the first two books, but she's getting there, and I hope her mom (and her pretty pink gun) get more screen time in future books.

love mercy. love Adam. love Samuel. love all the characters and all the pages.

I really enjoy the Mercy series, and devoured this book in one sitting. Briggs is, as usual, an engrossing, clean voiced, thrilling and fun author. Her characters are well developed, constantly growing and changing. I feel like one of Briggs greatest talents is that she doesn't let her characters get stuck in a rut. Unlike many heroines, Mercy feels real. She isn't a Lora Croft Heroine -- the ultimate mix of awesomeness all rolled into one. She struggles. She gets in over her head and while making a dent in her opponent can't do it alone. She has flaws and issues, prejudices and weaknesses. She has learned lessons in the last three books, grown and changed into the person who can solve the mystery in this storyline. I really like that half of Mercy's motivation comes from the fact that she understands that her past actions have consequences. That those consequences effect not only her, but everyone connected to her, and she is ultimately responsible to resolve said issues. The only criticism I can think of might be more directed to the Genre as a whole. I think that Urban fantasy as a genre often falls into the Woman-Adored-By-Men-But-Fiercely-Independent story line. Mercy's series doesn't necessarily break this mold - all of the permanent figures in her life are male. However, unlike some other authors within this Genre Briggs doesn't take a negative view of women or their relationships with other women. When you read the Mercy books it feels more like Mercy just gets along better with men, which is something I can totally appreciate. It feels natural. Bone Crossed adds to the Mercy's story by completing several ongoing plot lines, letting Mercy learn more about what it means to be Walker, lover, friend, who she is, and what her place in the world could be. Bravo, Patti! I can't wait for the next one.

The Fourth Installment in the Mercy Thompson series is a direct follow-up to Briggs well-written Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3). Mercy is still dealing with the many problems in her life and trying to recover from a horrific assault that was the climax of the previous book. The situation is ripe with opportunities for the author to wave a magic wand and make things all better, but Briggs doesn't and my respect for her writing climbs as a result. Mercy is coping and dealing with her new role as the mate of the local Werewolf pack. She is still suffering side-effects of previous events, but that doesn't mean that she's giving up. Briggs does a great job of keeping the story moving, introducing the next elements of the story and mixing in how the recent changes in her life require Mercy to re-evaluate and adjust. It's wonderful because too many authors don't bother to address these issues. Many authors in this genre let change happen and everything magically work out with any real effort by the main character. Life keeps giving us problems even when we might wish otherwise and Briggs doesn't let Mercy rest. New issues continue to creep into the story and past choices by supporting characters come back to haunt Mercy and her friends. It's neat to see an author who is willing to let the Main Character actually cope with the second and third order effects of having broken with tradition and made enemies in previous stories. It's not like Mercy is just on a non-stop wheel of pain, it's just that Briggs doesn't let her just skip through life without paying the bill for being the agent of change that she often has been. The story is not terribly long and Briggs doesn't cover tons of new ground, but there is still plenty to absorb. Complications between inter-species conflicts remain a central theme of Mercy's life and her relationship challenges don't simply fade away. Again, this effort by Briggs to keep a certain ethic of reality enforcement really deserves high marks because it increases the level of realism in a genre not known for it. Briggs deserves a lot of credit for keeping both feet on the ground while leading us on another exciting chase through an Urban Fantasy world that is as well-developed as any I have read.

"My soul was a lot more battered than my body, but I couldn't see it in the mirror. Hopefully nobody else could either." Patricia Briggs put her werecoyote heroine Mercy Thompson through the grinder in the past, complete with a brutal rape. "Bone Crossed" has Mercy dealing with a slew of new personal problems -- plus some very nasty vampire politics. It's a pretty busy story, but Briggs juggles the subplots -- and Mercy's internal troubles -- with unusual deftness. A week after Tim's death, Mercy and Adam are trying to hash out the whole Alpha-mate situation, when a couple of unexpected guests arrive -- her mother, and a tortured, starved Stefan. Mercy destroyed Marsilia's right-hand man Andre, and the vampire has retaliated by almost killing Stefan and by roundabout attacks at the wolf pack (including a crazed snow elf). To make matters worse, Mercy investigates a haunting at her old college buddy Amber's house... and discovers that the freakishly powerful vampire called the Monster is manipulating Amber. Stefan decides to take some drastic action to protect Mercy from other vampires... but it may not be enough to keep her safe from her new enemy. Patricia Briggs has always had a knack for giving a unique spin to the staples of a genre, and fortunately "Bone Crossed" shows no diminishing of that. Instead, Briggs ties a bunch of subplots into a complicated knot, and slowly unravels it as Mercy discovers the answers to all the various mysteries. All through it, she continues to juggle the subplots without dropping them. And Briggs' smooth, detailed style is well-suited to Mercy's world, which is described with mellow humor. Lots of chilling moments (including a claustrophobic climax with Blackwood), but also some warmer moments with Adam and Stefan. And she never lets a tense plot get in the way of some tongue-in-cheek humour ("what kind of stupid person puts white carpet in a house frequented by werewolves?"). Having dropped a big trauma on Mercy, Briggs also devotes some time to exploring how this has affected her heroine -- panic attacks, unease with touch, and the new way people regard her. But fortunately Merry never becomes an emo victim, nor does she just "get over it" out of sheer determination. She works on this gradually, and Briggs does it with utmost sensitivity. Adam serves as the rock to cling to, since he is trying to support and heal Mercy in her time of need, although he goes overboard on the protectiveness early on. And poor abused Stefan goes through the wringer both physically and mentally -- although he has some lighter moments, such as debating the merits of Scooby-Doo vs. Dragonball Z with a deaf boy. "Bone Crossed" is a pretty brilliant urban-fantasy/mystery, with plenty of chills, humour and a likably down-to-earth heroine. Patricia Briggs does it right.

I get so excited when my favorite authors break into hardcover. In fact, I'm pleased as punch to shell out the bigger bucks because it means that the awesome I've been basking in for awhile now has finally caught on and is being recognized on a wider scale. So it was, in a word, thrilling to open up the package from Penguin and see the words "#1 New York TimesBestselling Author" atop Patricia Briggs' shiny new hardcover BONE CROSSED. Mercy Thompson starts her fourth adventure staring herself down in the mirror trying to decide where to go from here. The closing events of Iron Kissed left our favorite VW mechanic feeling, at best, very conflicted. She managed to make several key decisions, but can't quite seem to outrun her demons. Of course occupying the place of honor as lone walker, Alpha's declared mate, and vampire public enemy #1 doesn't help. She doesn't have long to fret, though, when an old acquaintance shows up on her doorstep convinced Mercy can banish a ghost for her. Meanwhile, a pair of crossed bones show up on the door of her shop branding her traitor, her place in the pack is still perilously unclear, and her mother drops in unannounced. On the positive side, Stefan plays a much larger role in this one. In fact, Stefan really stole the show for me and it was good to have him back after his rather conspicuous, though necessary, absence in Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3). His friendship with Mercy remains a highlight of the series for me. If you haven't guessed by now, these books are hands down my favorite urban fantasy series out there. I am ridiculously fond of them. And a big reason why is the nimble way Ms. Briggs walks that infinitesimally fine line between keeping things interesting and staying true to her characters. Beset on all sides by the supernatural, the macabre, and the horrific, her characters continue to feel so real to me. Like I could step into their world and accept it lock, stock, and barrel because Mercy's there in her garage. And what could be more normal than that? BONE CROSSED had the same gritty feel that Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) had, as well as the dry humor and breathtaking timing of Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2). Being the fourth installment, these characters know each other pretty well by now and so the interpersonal issues swirl around the arc of the mystery, lending it a richness you'll want to sink your teeth into. This series has it all. Good guys worth fighting for. Bad guys worth having nightmares over. And a heroine who can handle them all. More. Please.

I downloaded this last night the moment it became available in my time zone, stayed up until the wee hours devouring every page and must say that even in my caffeine-induced haze, Patricia Briggs did not disappoint. Mercy is one of my all time favorite of the urban fantasy heroines and this series (as well as the Alpha and Omega story/novel) have grabbed me like few others. I was initially waiting on pins and needles for Bone Crossed because I wanted to see what happened between Mercy and Adam. But the whole plot of the novel really caught my attention and for once I read a book straight through without skipping ahead (something I do frequently with other books in this genre). Adam and Mercy do get their time but we also get plenty of Stefan and other favorite wolves, vamps and fae. Briggs does an amazing job deepening her characters storylines and everything "rang true." There is plenty of plot and action (love the image of Mercy, in coyote form, using a 10-ft tall rampaging "snow elf" as a ladder to save the day.) Mercy is smart and tough, but the best part of Bone Crossed is how she starts to open herself up more to those around her. Additionally, the men who would claim her start to give her much more space to be herself both with them and on her own two feet. I felt the relationships between Mercy, Adam, Stefan and Samuel grew in convincing ways that made me take all of them that much more seriously. This book is worth the hardcover price and Mercy fans will love it. Once I catch up on my sleep, I am off to savor it again.