'Burn Bright' Alpha and Omega #5 by Patricia Briggs

Received from the Publisher 

From the BLURB:

Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other - one that lurks too close to home . . .

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf - but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills - his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker - to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn...

‘Burn Bright’ is the fifth instalment in Patricia Brigg’s urban fantasy series ‘Alpha & Omega’, a spin-off to her ‘Mercy Thompson’ series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest book in Charles and Anna’s story, and I’m so glad because I haven’t been on the greatest reading streak with Patricia Briggs lately ... I was pretty “meh” on the last ‘Alpha & Omega’ book from 2015, ‘Dead Heat’ and thoroughly unimpressed with Mercy’s from last year, ‘Silence Fallen’. But Briggs is one of my favourite authors, and this is one of the few urban fantasy series that I’ve loyally stuck with, when others have fallen by the wayside – so I always feel a little discombobulated when I’m dissatisfied with my once-every-two-years dose.

‘Burn Bright’ follows on from the events of ‘Silence Fallen’ – when Mercy was kidnapped, and werewolf Marrok Bran left his Aspen Creek home to help with her rescue mission. When ‘Burn Bright’ begins, Charles has been left in charge of his Da’s pack for a month, acting as pack leader – and it’s all going relatively smoothly, until he receives word that some of the pack’s wildling werewolves are in trouble in the Montana mountains, seemingly being hunted by a covert operation for purposes unknown …

All of Patricia Brigg’s books are whodunits, that’s a given. But I find myself tending to favour those that stick close to home – both in the ‘Alpha & Omega’ series, and ‘Mercy Thompson’. So I was really happy that ‘Burn Bright’ takes place entirely in Aspen Creek, and reveals more than any other instalment about Bran’s werewolf pack and operations. I just tend to find that Briggs is less likely to go off on unnecessary tangents, introducing superfluous secondary characters and settings we have no connection to (as indeed, I thought she did in ‘Dead Heat’ with a trip to Arizona). ‘Burn Bright’ is brilliant twofold, not only because it’s firmly grounded in Aspen Creek and works to pull readers into the Marrok’s ordering of his werewolf pack – but also because the entire ‘whodunit’ mystery is centred in that pack, and builds upon the relationships with many established secondary characters … like Bran’s mate Leah, and the Moor, Asil.

The mystery in ‘Burn Bright’ is such a good one, and I was buoyed to see a hint of potential to build a bigger bad-guy arc around it in coming books. If that is the case, I certainly have more faith that this could give readers the layers and subterfuge lacking from the fae/Greylords build-up across both series in recent years …

So the plot in ‘Burn Bright’ worked for me, in a way that the last couple of Briggs books hadn’t been. This one felt very tightly plotted, and like it was serving a wider series purpose overall.

The character-building in this instalment though, was sometimes a tantalising mix of too much, and not enough.

For one thing, with Bran not around in this book – it gave Charles and Anna a chance to talk out some things about the Marrok that certainly Anna probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable airing, had he been closer to the pack bonds. In particular, Anna drops some bombshells regarding her observances of Bran and his feelings towards Mercy, which … BLEW MY FREAKIN’ MIND, and then blew it again when Charles conceded her point and agreed with her. This was … I was shook, people. I had never thought of Bran and Mercy in that context (no, not even after the reveal in ‘Silence Fallen’, which now also takes on new meaning – not to mention a certain conversation that Adam and Mercy had early on in the series, about Adam doing the Marrok’s bidding in watching over her) so this was just a whole lot of revelations coming thick and fast and then just left to sit, simmering on readers minds, probably until the next ‘Mercy Thompson’ book most likely (March 2019, for anyone who is counting down).

These revelations also made me yearn, more than ever, for Bran to get his own spin-off. But I think Briggs has repeatedly nixed that idea, citing that he’s just too commanding a presence and would overwhelm any book. But still – Briggs threw these big character reveals about him out there, and now I kinda want her to pick them up and run with them.

But ‘Burn Bright’ also stumbles somewhat with continuing to advance Charles and Anna’s relationship, and in highlighting how loving one another is changing them, for the better. Charles briefly mentions Anna’s restlessness at not knowing what to do with her life. Seeing as werewolves are very hard to kill and can live immortal (or – more likely with all that could try and kill them – at least hundreds of years) it helps if a person can figure out what they’d like to do with all that time on their hands. Charles mentions Anna half-heartedly looking into finishing her music studies, and Bran offering to help them look into adoption … this particular aspect is key, since past books have given readers Anna’s interiority and desire for children (possibly even in defiance of Charles, similar to how his own mother sacrificed herself to have him). I totally accept Charles’ assessment that Anna isn’t the sort of person to feel restless and think that a child will solve all her problems of self – but I still feel like that aspect of Charles and Anna’s relationship (foreshadowed really, by the story of Charles’s mother) will have to come around again, and ‘Burn Bright’ might have been the book to continue laying that groundwork …

But, honestly, these are minor quibbles about Anna and Charles and their relationship. Overall, ‘Burn Bright’ is one of the best Briggs instalments in recent memory. Tantalising character tid-bits are dropped, secondary characters advance in my estimation and a whodunit to sink your teeth into make this a stellar instalment.

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5/5

'Silence Fallen' Mercy Thompson #10 by Patricia Briggs

Received via NetGalley 

From the BLURB:

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise...

‘Silence Fallen’ is the tenth book in Patricia Briggs’s ‘Mercy Thompson’ urban fantasy series, and it follows directly on from ‘Fire Touched’.

Right. So. Remember in my ‘Fire Touched’ review when I said that book felt like it was closing the door on further storylines on the Fae and Graylords, and Briggs would gift reader a rejuvenated story-arc to follow and a new trajectory for Mercy & Co.? Yep. I was wrong – or at least, ‘Silence Fallen’ is not the book to kick that rejuvenation off … rather it reads like the book before that book. Which is a nice way of saying; “filler.”

I’m sorry, I hate not liking a Mercy Thompson book – but this tenth instalment feels like a firm 2/5 me, which is a decided disappointment. And I don’t think it being a filler-book will actually be a huge surprise to many people, because it’s right there in the blurb … that this is a book in which Mercy is kidnapped, separated from Adam and the pack who are then working to get her back. So, 98% of the book has Adam and Mercy separated – and anyone who has persevered with a long-running series (from Stephanie Plum to Night Huntress and Vampire Academy) will know that a storyline like this which manufactures a separation for the (now) established HEA, is absolutely a filler-story – trying to recapture some of the tension that the will-they-or-won’t-they romance once helped fill.

‘Silence Fallen’ is also not a very good filler-story … it momentarily drags readers back into a complicated supernatural political network that I think many fans breathed a sigh of relief when they thought it was over and done with in ‘Fire Touched’. We’re dragged into European vampire and werewolf politicking, and there’s so much backstory, asides, and long paragraphs of info-dumping that takes us out of any immediate action we may have wanted to revel in. And it’s all for nought – because it’s pretty clear by story’s end that none of what we just read is going to really impact the Columbia Basin Pack once Mercy is home safe. Basically – this entire book and any of its ramifications can be kept in Europe, and not affect a single thing back home for Mercy and Adam. Which is another polite way of saying … you could skip this one, if you really wanted to.

And I say that, even as fan-favourite Stefan steps back on the scene for this vampire-heavy plot. Unfortunately he’s under-used and underwhelming, and I get the sense that Briggs was holding back from teasing fans with anything too Mercy/Stefan big, because that would leave an indelible mark on the series universe, and that’s not what this book is about.

The only thing that’s stopping me from giving this book an even lower score is the a light-bulb *wink-wink* reveal at the end, which is very cute and a bit of a delight … even as it’s also a cop-out, and is not establishing anything new in a certain relationship dynamic. It’s previously-trodden ground, not furthering any characterisations, but I still enjoyed it and I’m probably just grasping at straws for one of my fave series.

Honestly, after reading ‘Silence Fallen’ I’m mostly wondering where we go from here, and if Patricia Briggs really has any appetite to keep telling Mercy’s story…?

It’s interesting to note that ‘Silence’ is on Brigg’s new timeline of book-releases – where once we had a 2 or so year wait for Mercy, and an ‘Alpha & Omega’ release in-between, we’re now getting one Mercy book a year … and a longer wait for ‘Alpha & Omega’ (the last book for Charles and Anna released in 2015, the next instalment is coming 2018).

For me, personally, I think Briggs may be in a bit of a conundrum … I think lots of fans would like to see Mercy and Adam expand their family. And I’d be fine with that – whatever – but I know in past books Adam’s made clear that he doesn’t want more kids, and I don’t think Mercy feels like a baby would make her life “complete” in any way (and her step-daughter Jess is her daughter, they’re already a family). Anna from ‘Alpha & Omega’ meanwhile, has been teasing that possibility for a while now … and there are higher-stakes involved for her as a werewolf, and given what happened to Charles’s mother to make him the only born werewolf – that story is more intriguing to me, and all those possibilities.

But where does Mercy go from here, if the next chapter in her series isn’t revolving around becoming a mother, as many fans predict it will be? (which – to be clear – I reject the notion that a female protagonist will only “advance” and have a seemingly “happy life” in her own story, if she becomes a mother. Just – no.)


And I feel this even more after reading her 'Frequently Asked Questions' page - because Briggs has addressed some big questions, with infuriatingly non-committal answers. To the topic of 'how many more Mercy and Alpha & Omega books will there be?' The answer is: "Patty has said that as long as she's having fun writing them, can keep them fresh and exciting, and they're selling well, she'll continue to write them indefinitely!" That scares me ... as someone who has had to give up on Anita Blake and the Blackdagger Brotherhood books for that very reason. As to; 'Will Mercy/Anna have babies?' her answer is; "They would have to play it safe and avoid adventures, which - face it - is boring!" Ok. Fair enough. And finally; 'When will Leah/Christy die a horrible and painful death?' - to which the response is; "These are ladies we just love to hate! If they were gone, we'd have to find another character to hate on, and that would be very frustrating, so it's just easier to keep them around, don't you think?" ... that's sucky to me that she even addressed this, because it means she's nixing any idea of ever writing a Bran book for one, and is basically saying that these contingents of Bran and Adam's packs are just going to be forever stagnant. Sigh. 

I need to remember that it’s been hinted at in a few books now (and also in ‘Silence Fallen’) that a lot of Mercy being in sticky situations may come down to Coyote wanting her to be there … to act as a conduit for Coyote … like she has a “higher-purpose”, so to speak. That could be interesting. But I think letting Mercy act on behalf of Coyote, while also juggling being happy and content in a pack-family is more interesting and I hope Briggs explores those conflicts in future, instead of giving us this isolationist Mercy story, that ultimately has little impact on her life or the series' universe.

2/5

_________________

P.S. – I read this book (and wrote my review) in November 2016, before announcement of the tragic and sudden death of Mike Briggs … and it did give me a pang of guilt and further disappointment that I didn’t love ‘Silence Fallen’ more. But this is just one book, and I'm only one reader, and I’ll always be a fan - regardless of a bump in the bookish road. Also as a fan, I’ll always be patient and understanding of whatever decision an author makes with regards to the continuation of their series, especially when personal circumstances such as these may be informing that future.

'Fire Touched' Mercy Thompson #9 By Patricia Briggs

From the BLURB:

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

‘Fire Touched’ is the ninth book in Patricia Briggs phenomenal ‘Mercy Thompson’ urban fantasy series.

It’s not long after the events of ‘Night Broken’, and Mercy’s death’s-door experience, when ‘Fire Touched’ kicks off with a troll on a Tri-Cities bridge. The troll is the latest tactical move by the Gray Lords fae leaders, who are testing human resistance and werewolf involvement when their territory is breached. Adam, Mercy and the pack do indeed intervene, and find themselves agreeing to harbour a fae fugitive in the process – a young fire touched 10-year-old boy called Aiden who was kidnapped as a child many decades ago and taken to Underhill, where he mysteriously developed fae powers.

The whole book is about Adam and Mercy taking on the Gray Lords and potentially causing ramifications for werewolves everywhere – they’ve mostly been content to sit on the sidelines and not pick fights with the fae, but lines are being drawn in the sands in Tri Cities about what territory and pack truly means, and the humans who are also encompassed in pack protection.

Fae have always been in the ‘Mercy Thompson’ series – right from book one. Mercy’s VW mentor was Zee (powerful fae Siebold Adelbertsmiter), and his son Tad was like a big brother to Mercy. And nobody will soon forget the devastating impact that fae magic had on Mercy in ‘Iron Kissed’. But in recent books of both ‘Mercy Thompson’ and ‘Alpha & Omega’, the fae storyline grew more political and grand-scale with more descriptions of the Gray Lords and worldwide ramifications when the fae revealed themselves to the humans. Around this bigger arc, I haven’t so much enjoyed the fae – especially when it was revealed that Samuel’s mate was a random fae we’d never heard of before (Ariana), that’s around the time when the more complex storyline for them felt like convenient filler for loose ends.

However, I did enjoy ‘Fire Touched’ because it actually feels like Briggs was finishing up the fae and Gray Lords stuff … or, at least, pulling back on it a bit. There are just a lot of questions answered in this book, and a feeling of satisfactorily putting aside this larger arc and setting Adam and Mercy off on something fresher.

Actually, this whole book feels like Mercy’s going through a lot of contemplations and accepting how much her life has changed in recent years; particularly her switch from a lone coyote to a pack wolf,

Adam was mine, and I was his. I chafed a little at all the belonging I’d been doing lately: belonging to Adam, to Jesse, to the pack, and having them belong to me in return. Oddly, the responsibilities of taking care of them didn’t bother me at all, only being taken care of brought out my claustrophobic reactions. I had spent most of my life being independent, and it took an effort to have to answer to other people, no matter how much I loved them. Loved him.

This feeling of reflection and acceptance, and the plugging of Gray Lords plot points, feels like ‘Fire Touched’ is gearing the series up for a new arc … I don’t know what it could be, but I did love that in this book Adam also finally settles Mercy’s position as his mate in the pack and the two of them feel stronger than ever;

Adam tried to downplay it with a military haircut and clothes that were subtly wrong color – I’d just figured that one out – but he was beautiful. Like magazine-model beautiful. I didn’t always see it anymore, the inside being more interesting than the outside package, but with his eyes sparkling and his dimple flashing …
 

There’s a sense of stability to Mercy’s life now, which begs for maybe a little shake-up in the family department … maybe in the sense of expanding Mercy and Adam’s family? I don’t know. I just loved that ‘Fire Touched’ felt like the end of a storyline I was ready to see the back of, and a stabilising of Mercy’s family and pack life has me excited to see what the next stage in this series will be.

4/5

'Night Broken' Mercy Thompson #8 by Patricia Briggs

From the BLURB:

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 won't turn away a person in need, but with Christy holed up in Adam's house, Mercy can't shake the feeling that something isn't right.

Soon, Mercy learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and will anything to get him, including turning Adam's pack against Mercy.

On top of this, there's an even 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 pile up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her world apart.

The story kicks-off with an unexpected phone-call from Adam’s ex-wife, Christy, begging him and the pack for help and shelter. Apparently, Christy got tangled with the wrong man and now she’s running scared after she suspects he killed another of her suitors.

Mercy is reluctant to let Christy into her home, and back into the pack’s fold – especially since many of the female werewolves who hate Mercy still consider Christy a good friend, and would welcome her back as their Alpha’s mate. But Christy is Jesse’s mother, and Mercy is secure enough in her and Adam’s relationship to, begrudgingly, let his ex into their home.

But it’s not just Christy’s jealous lover causing a stir for Mercy and the pack. One of the Fae has come knocking on Mercy’s door, demanding the Walking Stick be returned … the same Walking Stick that Mercy recently gave to her Coyote for safe-keeping. If she can’t get it back, the Fae promise retribution for Mercy and those she holds dear.

‘Night Broken’ is the eighth book in Patricia Briggs’s awesome ‘Mercy Thompson’ urban fantasy series.

Straight-up: I’ve given this book 3.5/5 and that is the lowest ever rating I’ve ever given a ‘Mercy’ book … and I’m a bit shocked, to be honest. 

I was so looking forward to this book, perhaps even more than usual, because in March last year I interviewed Ms Briggs and threw out the idea of (finally) meeting Adam’s ex-wife, Christy, and Briggs actually confirmed that my sneaking-suspicion would come to fruition in ‘Night Broken’. Why was I so eager to meet Christy, when Mercy, Adam and even Jesse seem to have a very low opinion of her? Mercy has, once or twice, reminisced about the days when Adam was married to Christy and she observed their rollercoaster relationship from her trailer. Mercy has also commented, rather bitterly, on what she perceives to be Christy’s short-fallings as a mother where Jesse is concerned. But I was interested to see her because Christy sounds so different from Mercy in everything from looks, to personality and backbone (namely, that Mercy has one). I think you’re always intrigued by ‘the ex’, particularly for the sake of comparison, and I was sort of hoping that Mercy would poke that wound (as I would) of asking Adam how he could have such wildly different tastes in his two wives. Also; now that Adam and Mercy are married and their relationship rock-solid, it’s always nice to keep throwing a hurdle or two their way – not for the sake of wrecking their romance, but certainly to keep it interesting (the pitfalls of boring after happily-ever-after that I found in Jeaniene Frost’s ‘Night Huntress’ series tells me this is a necessity). 

So, was it that the Christy storyline didn’t live up to my high hopes? Yes, and no. It was perversely pleasing to read that Christy is as awful in reality as she is in Mercy’s anecdotes and memories. But I don’t think this storyline ever reached climax or came to a satisfying resolution … I wanted Mercy to have an Alpha moment of staking her claim and putting Christy in her place, and it never quite got there for me. At the very end Briggs includes a bizarre mention of a prank Mercy pulled against Christy, but it’s mentioned at the worst possible time and held no relevance. Perhaps Christy will be sticking around for book #9, in which case this is an ongoing power-struggle and that’s fine. 

So was it the ‘whodunit’ mystery plot at the centre of this book? Yes, and no – again. Briggs relies on obscure mythology as the basis for her Big-Bad in this book, and it’s another one of those stories that has a complex retelling attached and is so far-flung and obscure that it doesn’t quite strike the right note of fear in me the same way that vampires or rogue werewolves do, for example. 

The Big-Bad story, converges with Mercy’s issues with the Fae and Walking Stick, which also mean that a visit from Coyote is included in this book … and Mercy also gets to meet one of Coyote’s other children (a sort-of brother to Mercy) a man called Laughingdog. This is a new character we’re introduced to, and he’s a fabulous new edition – a coyote walker like Mercy, with Native American heritage and a serious hatred of their “father” Coyote. When she meets him, Laughingdog is actually incarcerated over a situation that Coyote orchestrated to get out-of-hand, not to mention good ol’ Coyote has gifted Laughingdog with foresight; 

He opened his mouth, then shook his head. “It’s not that kind of foresight. I don’t get dates, just possibilities. And if I did know, I don’t hate you enough to tell you.” 

“She doesn’t know any other coyote walkers,” said Honey. “She is married to a man who will be young a hundred years from now. She wants to know that she is not going to leave him tied to a woman who will slowly die on him.” 

Laughingdog looked at me. “I don’t know. Most walkers are like humans – most are mostly human anyway these days. Coyote doesn’t walk this ground much anymore.” He smiled a little, but it wasn’t aimed at me. “Most of Coyote’s children don’t have to worry about a long life, anyway. A fool and his life are soon parted, you know.” 

I really like Laughingdog; he’s cheeky and a little bit lost, and I like that he’s coming into the fold. 
So was my 3.5 about the emotional/romance elements in this book? Nope. Mercy and Adam are still the wonderful Mercy and Adam duo I’ve come to know and love – they have heat in this book (as always), poignancy and their relationship feels more rock solid than ever. Love them, no issues there.
So what was it that didn’t quite work for me in this book? 

Well … it felt a little like filler, because by book’s end nothing has really changed.

We’re now eight books into this series, and while there was huge upheaval when Mercy finally chose Adam over Samuel, and entered into the pack as his mate … there hasn’t been a great deal of change since then, some four odd books ago. I’m not saying I need Mercy to be barefoot and pregnant with Adam’s baby to feel like she, and this world, have forward-momentum. But I do need some changes to start happening to feel like the ‘Mercy Thompson’ books aren’t just self-contained mysteries, but rather a constantly changing universe in which the characters are three-dimensional and constantly changing.

Dare I say, I was halfway through ‘Night Broken’ when I almost hoped for a major character death to shake things up. Because when I got to the end of this book,

 I couldn’t help but think: how many times have we been here before? Mercy battered and bruised, back from the brink of death with Adam leaning over her and making her promise to never do that again? … We’ve been here before, and now we need to move on and raise the stakes. And since a big shift in this series came from Mercy gaining a family after being a loner for so long, 

 I can’t help but feel change may need to come in threats to those she loves, more so than more Mercy life-or-death gambles.

All in all: I enjoyed this book, as I do all ‘Mercy Thompson’ instalments, but at eight books into this beloved series I need to start reading higher stakes and real change. 

3.5/5 

Interview with Patricia Briggs, author of the 'Mercy Thompson' series

•

So, as a book nerd I tend to fan-girl over many series and authors - which is perfectly normal. But if there is one particular series that gets more of my fan-girl obsessive love, it is without a doubt Patricia Briggs' 'Mercy Thompson' urban fantasy series. 

I sweat, I started reading those books about three years ago and they were a revelation - in noir, romance, mystery, fantasy ... I pretty much wanted to rent a soapbox and sing Mercy's praises (and to some extent I do do that - I recommend these books to absolutely every person I know - as well as a few strangers I just met). 

So when the opportunity arises to ask questions of the author responsible for one of my most beloved series OF ALL TIME - I hyperventilate, happy-dance and then I get my questions on. 

With many, many thanks to Hachette Australia for making this happen, and Patricia Briggs for being herself - I give you the interview!

•

Q: Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’? That is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

A: Mostly a pantser.  I have outlined exactly one book – and the outline took me longer to write than the book.  Worse, once I had the outline, it was tough to come up with the enthusiasm to write the book because I already knew how it ended.   When I started writing I approached every book the same way.  About ten books ago (Frost Burned is my 19th book) I discovered that it was more effective to let each book start where it wanted to. 

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall?

A: When I am not writing a series book – so I only have to live with the decisions I make on the fly for one or two books—I prefer to write free-fall.  Sometimes that means that I am deleting  scenes almost as fast as I am writing them, but it gives the stories an unpredictability that I like. 

Writing a series as long as the Mercy Thompson books, means that I have to plan a bit more.  I want to make sure that each story is fresh and is going somewhere new and different – and driving future storylines.  I’m not to the point of outlining yet, but I’m not freefalling either.

Q: In my review of ‘Frost Burned’ I suggest that perhaps Jesse’s question to Mercy about the possibility of a baby (which is then followed quickly by a head-on collision) was a subtle message to fans that they shouldn’t look too far into the future. Care to comment on that? Or answer Jesse’s question: ‘will Mercy and Adam have a baby together some day?’

A: I would like to think that she and Adam have at least one child—but I’m still trying to figure out how that would work for future stories.  I am a mother – and as soon as my oldest child was born I changed how I lived.  I started wearing helmets when I rode horses and quit jumping them almost entirely.   Associating with vampires and werewolves would have been out.  But I’m not saying never, just that it would be miserably hard on me to make it work.

But, yes, in general, I think it is important to pay attention to what’s going on right now.  That doesn’t mean not to plan for the future – just that worrying too much about it is counter -productive.  No one knows what’s going to happen in the future.

Q: ‘Frost Burned’ follows on quite nicely from ‘Fair Game’ – with regards to an uneasy supernatural/political climate and perilous Fae/human relations. And, of course, we get Asil stepping out of ‘Alpha and Omega’ and into the ‘Mercy Thompson’ world (with terrific results!). Does this all suggest that the time is closing in when we’ll get a crossover book?

A: I used to say never, and the thought of trying to balance a story with Anna, Mercy, Charles and Adam in it makes my head hurt.  But I’m always looking for new challenges.  Let’s just say that it is not happening in the next book and leave it at that.

Q: You’re currently working on a book of ‘Mercy’s World’ short stories. We know you have a story for Samuel and Ben . . . can you give anything else away? Will Asil get a story? Will Ben get a bit of romance in his story?

A: I don’t like to give too much away while I’m still working on something.  Then people will read it and say, “I thought you promised that you were going to do X”.  There will be a Tad story and, though I’m not there yet, an Asil story.  Also I am including a story version of  “Homecoming”.

Q: The ‘Alpha and Omega’ spin-off has been such a success – fans embrace Charles and Anna as they do Mercy and Adam. When did you first suspect that Charles could carry a series on his own? Are there any other ‘Mercy’ characters you’ve day-dreamed about writing a spin-off for (perhaps everyone’s favourite British werewolf!?)

A:  Charles stalked onto the pages of Moon Called fully formed.  At that point, Moon Called had so many characters I stopped typing and told him,  “Really?  Now?  We have to do this now?”  I managed to do little more than hint about him and set him aside with the promise of more later.  When Anne Sowards, my editor, asked me to write a novella, I let Charles out to play.  It was Anne who asked me if I could write a series with Charles and Anna and I jumped at the chance.

Q: Purely out of curiosity . . . will we ever meet Adam’s ex-wife?

A:  Funny you should mention that . . . yes.  Mercy #8 will have Christy Hauptman on stage.

Q: So, we know you’re working on the short story collection. But how many more ‘Mercy’ books are you contracted for, and how many more ‘Alpha and Omega’ books?

A: I have three novels under contract.  Two more Mercy books and another book in the “Mercyverse”.  That other book might be an Alpha and Omega book, or I might pull another character out to play.  That said, I am sure there will be more Alpha and Omega books, I just wanted a little more freedom to explore the world.  I will keep writing both series as long as they continue to feel fresh to me—and readers still like them.

Q: What books and TV shows are you currently loving at the moment?

A:  I love The Mentalist (anything except the Red John episodes.  He doesn’t make sense to me as a character.), Criminal Minds, NCIS (okay, the stories don’t always make sense but . . . Gibbs makes up for it), Warehouse 13, and Haven.  We are watching the DVDs of Game of Thrones. Terrific acting, scriptwriting, story, and the filming is amazing – but I’m a happy ever after kind of person and George Martin never met a character he couldn’t torture and kill.  So “loving” isn’t really the word for my relationship with The Game of Thrones.  Awed, maybe, but not loving.  

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

A:  Read!  Read outside your genre.  Read good books and figure out what you like about them.  Read books you hate and figure out why you hated it.  Then write, write, write and write some more.  And . . . get a day job.

'River Marked' Mercedes Thompson #6 by Patricia BRIGGS

** This review contains spoilers of ‘River Marked’.

Read at your own peril **

From the BLURB:

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…

Moon River

Mercy has finally found her place in the world, and it’s right beside Alpha werewolf Adam Hauptman. When ‘River Marked’ opens, Mercy and Adam are about to formally embark on their mateship and life together. And what better way to celebrate than with a honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest, camping along the Columbia River in an impressively luxurious trailer on-loan from a scary fae.

Mercy and Adam finally have time to themselves. There are no vampires, demons or werewolf politics to interrupt their blissful honeymoon . . . until a night-time stroll lands Mercy and Adam into the thick of a Native American myth, complete with terrifying water creature.

‘River Marked’ is the sixth book in Patricia Brigg’s incredible ‘Mercedes Thompson’ urban fantasy series.

Fans have been anticipating this book from the first moment that Mercy and Adam snarked with undercurrents of spark in ‘Moon Called’. We’ve read them through a tumultuous love triangle and numerous near-death encounters. Not to mention the ten years of pent-up romantic frustration as Mercy and Adam silently pined for one another across the expanse of a rusted old rabbit with cinder-block wheels. Briggs assured fans that ‘River Marked’ was the book. The one where Adam and Mercy would have plenty of loved-up page-time and enough romance to placate fans . . . thankfully, Briggs kept her promise. Ten-fold.

Forget Prince William and Kate Middleton – Mercy and Adam have the wedding of all weddings in ‘River Marked’. I knew this would be a very special ‘Mercy’ installment when I started blubbering my way through the ceremony and reception chapters. My pathetic weeping reached fever-pitch when Bran walked Mercy down the aisle. . .

The organ music faltered under the weight of it and sputtered to a halt.

“Pup,” he said into the sudden silence, “today I'm giving you one of my treasures. You see that you take proper care of her.”

Adam, not visibly cowed, nodded once. “I’ll do that.”

‘River Marked’ is definitely the Adam-and-Mercy show. Right after they get hitched, the newlyweds go on a camping honeymoon reminiscent of Lucy and Desi in ‘The Long, Long Trailer’.

River of Time

Briggs often writes Mercy with a cachet of secondary characters to bounce off of – whether they be Fae, werewolves or vampires - Mercy is very rarely an isolated character. But ‘River Marked’ almost feels like a stripping-down of the character Briggs has built up, like this instalment is a chance for readers to re-examine Mercy before she and Adam start a new chapter to their lives as a mated pair. Mercy has come a long way since ‘Moon Called’, and it’s especially evident when Briggs sheds her character of all the usual crutches and supports. It was nice not to have the Tri-Cities werewolf pack interrupting Mercy and Adam’s time together. For once, Mercy isn’t concerning herself wholly with Stefan and Zee’s well-being. There are a lot of nice moments with Mercy and Adam together, just being. And it’s exactly what fans have been clamouring for, ever since these two crazy kids got together. Without every other secondary character around to constantly propel them, it’s refreshing to read how good Mercy and Adam are for each other. It doesn’t get more romantic than that.

‘River Marked’ was definitely touted as being the book that Mercy & Adam fans have been waiting for . . . but ever since Daniel Dos Santos’s cover-art was revealed, fans have also been anticipating another aspect to this book. Mainly, the hinted promise of Briggs examining Mercy’s Native American roots.

Dog River Blues

It’s all there on the gorgeous cover. Mercy dressed in a fringed vest, with feather earrings dangling. Standing before a wall decorated with ancient markings. She has never been drawn with so much emphasis on her Native American roots, which she inherited from her deceased father, Joe Coyote. This is the other big draw-card of ‘River Marked’, as Briggs finally writes (at length) about Mercy’s paternity. And it’s all drawn out when Mercy ventures to the Columbia River and meets some of her Native American ‘walker’ ancestors, some of whom may well have known her father . . .

The book did drag in the middle, as many reviewers warned. But I think a lot of that came from Briggs needing to write back-story concerning Mercy’s upbringing and her father. Mercy has always been reluctant and ill-informed about her conception and parentage. As a result, Briggs has to fill holes and supply a lot of explanations. This means a lot of summary writing and Mercy recounting events from her childhood and pieced-together stories about her father.

I must admit, I wasn’t terribly satisfied with Briggs’s back-story concerning Joe Coyote. She doesn’t really offer up wholly-satisfying answers concerning Mercy’s father. In some ways, she has made things even more complicated and elusive. It’s not helped by Native American storytelling explanations, concerning berry-sisters and avatars. I'm treating the storyline about Mercy’s father the same way I did Samuel’s love interest in ‘Silver Borne’. It was a storyline that fans were excited for, but it was ultimately a (teeny-tiny) let-down. That being said, the same way there is room for development between Samuel and Ariana, it’s also true that there is room for Briggs to move and improve the story of Mercy’s father. . .

But honestly, that’s a small complain in one very satisfying book.

Cry me a River

Patricia Briggs recently announced to fans that the third (and rabidly anticipated) ‘Alpha & Omega’ book wouldn’t be coming out until January 2012. This delay is because Ms Briggs has altered her contract to one book per year . . . so; the next ‘Mercy’ instalment will be coming in 2013. After that, Briggs is contracted for at least three more ‘Mercy’ books, ending the series at ten books.

Yes, it will be hard (I may very well get ‘the shakes’) to get through each second year without Mercy, a character whom fans have relied upon for yearly release without fail. The up-shot is that Charles and Anna’s story is equally compelling and romantic . . . also; ‘River Marked’ was an utterly satisfying book to have before a long hiatus. Briggs has treated fans very well with this sixth instalment. We asked for loved-up Mercy/Adam gooiness, we got it! We asked for back-story about Mercy’s father, we got it! We asked for more information about ‘walkers’, and by golly we got that too! And on top of all that, Briggs introduced fans to the mystifying and beautiful world of Native American legend. She set her book by the colossal Columbia River, imbuing the novel with a sense of majestic scenery that serves as a fitting setting before Mercy's long interval.

The next year will be tough without Mercy (literally, merciless), but ‘River Marked’ was one hell of a send-off for our coyote girl.

4.5/5

'Silver Borne' Mercedes Thompson # 5 by Patricia BRIGGS

From the BLURB:

Being a mechanic is hard work. Mercy Thompson, for instance, just spent the last couple of months trying to evade the murderous queen of the local vampire seethe, and now the leader of the werewolf pack - who's maybe-more-than-just-a-friend - has asked for her help. A book of fae secrets has come to light and they're all about to find out how implacable - and dangerous - the fae can be. OK, so maybe her troubles have nothing to do with the job. But she sure could use a holiday...

I absolutely inhaled this book. I read it in about five hours, and was up until 2AM because I could not put it down. This is perhaps my most-anticipated book of 2010, and I was not disappointed.

Briggs promised that 'Silver Borne' would be Samuel's book, and it certainly is. Early on in the book Samuel tries to commit suicide. He is only saved by his wolf, 'Sam', who takes the reigns to ensure human/wolf survival. So while Mercy is dealing with the fae and a 'hot' fae book, she has to keep an eye on Sam and figure out what will ignite Samuel's will to live.

‘Silver Borne’ is the fifth Mercy Thompson book, and I think this was a very important installment in the Mercy series. ‘Silver Borne’ marks Mercy’s true transition to pack-member, thus opening up a whole new world for Briggs to explore.

In previous books Mercy has been on the outside of Adam’s pack, looking in. Werewolf ‘business’ was always something Mercy heard about from the likes of Warren, Jesse and Adam. In ‘Silver Borne’ Mercy, and readers, become integral and witnesses to Adam’s pack.

One big change in ‘Silver Borne’ is that quite a few of Adam’s pack members, who have been secondary characters in previous books, are brought to the fore and fleshed out. Characters like Darryl, Mary Jo and Auriele who only ever had minor roles and little characterization in previous books are given their own personalities, histories and future storylines because they are now firmly in Mercy’s world.

Beloved characters like Warren and Ben, the only members of Adam’s pack to have had substantial roles in previous books, both have lengthy appearances in ‘Silver Borne’. I think their roles will only grow in future books because they are Mercy’s staunchest supporters, and the pack members she is closest to.

‘Silver Borne’ clearly marks Mercy’s transition from loner to pack – and it’s a wonderful opportunity for Briggs to explore a different side to werewolf dynamic. We get to read a ‘challenge’ – when one werewolf fights another for advancement in pack rank. Mercy learns more about her mental and metaphysical links to the pack and Adam. It makes for fascinating reading, and adds new dimensions to the ‘Mercy Thompson’ world.

I’ve read a few early reviews of ‘Silver Borne’ that said anticipation and high expectation for the book equaled disappointment when it didn’t live up. I really didn’t have that feeling. But then again, pretty much the only thing I wanted from ‘Silver Borne’ was some good Mercy/Adam tenderness. And Briggs delivers tenfold. Adam and Mercy are still navigating their mateship, but they are both absolutely smitten with one another. ‘Silver Borne’ has the steamiest Adam/Mercy coupling since the series started, and there are plenty of opportunities for fans to *squee* at the romantic-ness!

He smiled at me. “You were supposed to be the Alpha’s eye candy.”

Adam laughed.

“What?” I asked him. “You don’t think I’d be good eye candy?” I looked down at my overalls and grease-stained hands. I’d torn another nail to the quick.

“Honey is eye candy,” said Ben apologetically. “You’re… just you.”

“Mine,” said Adam, edging between Heart and me. “Mine is what she is.”

I only had 2 disappointments with ‘Silver Borne’. The first is, no Stefan. Arguably he had a very big role in ‘Bone Crossed’ when the vampires were the villains… but he is a fan favorite and it would have been nice if he had an appearance.

My second complaint was to do with Samuel. In promoting ‘Silver Borne’ Briggs promised that it would be Samuel’s book, but I wasn’t 100% satisfied.

For those who have read the book, let me explain.

**SPOILERS**

I think it was kind of a cop-out to have Sam’s love interest be someone he met hundreds of years ago. I kind of wanted an evolution like we got with Charles and Anna in the ‘Alpha & Omega series’. Instead Briggs conveniently (and by coincidence) throws someone in Samuel’s path who he once loved, but had to walk away from. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that Samuel was ‘saved’ and found a reason to live… but at the same time I would have preferred reading a whole contained love story, starting with ‘boy meets girl’.

**END SPOILERS**

I absolutely loved this book. ‘Mercy Thompson’ is my all-time favorite Urban Fantasy series, and ‘Silver Borne’ reinforces my love. I can’t wait for book #7, ‘River Marked’!

5/5