Lorelei KingBone Crossed: Mercy Thompson, Book 4

As always Patrica Briggs doesn’t disappoint her readers .She keeps the plot interesting with so many characters and twists. Hooray for Patrica Briggs ! Cannot wait for the next book.

SummaryBy day, Mercy Thompson is a car mechanic in Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy's found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so- human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for.Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan. Now she's out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from the vampire's direct reprisal by the werewolf pack - and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha - it's not Mercy's blood Marcilia is after...It's her friends'.The GoodBone Crossed picks up immediately from the previous book in the series. Mercy is trying to coop with her traumatic ordeal from Iron Kissed and Adam is there to help her anyway he can. I think this book really helps Adam and Mercy move along as a couple. No longer are we worried about the love triangle. Mercy has chosen her mate. But, of course, that is not as simple as it seems. Mercy has to get over her fears and learn to live with Adam's pack as well.That's not the only problem Mercy is facing in this book. Marsilia, Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercy killed the evil vampire Andre, a favorite of Marsilia. Now Marsilia is taking out her vengeance on Mercy's friend, Stefan.This book never slows. We get all of Mercy's problems dropped on us from the beginning and there is never a dull moment as Mercy tries to solve her many dilemmas. Nothing is as it seems and the twists and turns are never-ending. We get helpful insights on the world that Briggs has created, especially concerning vampires and fae. We learn more about vampire politics, which is just as nasty as you would assume.And, wait for it... we get to meet Mercy's mother. Yes, you heard right. And boy what an entrance. I hope to see more of her mother in future books because I find her character quite interesting.I was glued to this book from the get-go. It was action-packed and smoothly written. Briggs is excellent at expanding on ideas and concepts previously introduced in her other books. I also love Mercy as the heroine. She's gutsy, impulsive, and strong-willed. She has problems and flaws that make her more real and likable.I really enjoyed the side plot with Mercy's college friend Amber. Previous books have been hinting on Mercy's ability to communicate with ghosts. This talent is finally developed in this book. But even the ghost problem at Amber's house is not as simple as you might think. This was the part of the book that really surprised me and made me sick with nervous energy. Very well done.The BadMy only problem was the many plots that seemed to be mushed together. This book was not as clean as Briggs other books. The ending was somewhat anticlimactic.The SnugglyWe get some foreplay but the sex is off-screen.OverallI really did enjoy this book. Mercy's problems were never ending and the action was non-stop. I was so nervous half the time I had to force myself to put the book down and calm myself. As you might have guessed I get very emotionally attached to certain books. And when a book can make me feel that much, I know it's a winner. The Mercy Thompson series is definitely worth your time.

Overall a good read, the world is better developed and there are some nice touches - such as "Stop and Rob". Also, enjoyed the theme about being present in the "Here and Now", and struggling with filtering out the noise, emotions, feelings of others...yet still being able to let them in to an extent.The relationship between Mercy and Adam is better developed, as is the one between Mercy and Stefan.Unfortunately, there is a pattern emerging with the supporting female characters, such as they are, making me wonder about the author. With the exception of Jesse, Adam's daughter, and Mercy, the female characters are depicted in an increasingly negative light. Mercy has no female friends.The women she interacts with seem to resent or hate her after initial acquaintance. And this trend continues well into the next novel. I can't help but wonder if Briggs has some serious issues with women and relationships with women, and these issues are being expressed in her writing? It stands out a bit to me, because outside of maybe Jim Butcher's novels, I haven't seen this in the urban fantasy genre. Most of the urban fantasy heroines have a best gal-pal, or female interaction that is to an extent friendly. Here? We see the mother for about a minute, and she's shown in a less than stellar light, and the female werewolves come across a bitter and resentful. The only one that Mercy gets along with is rarely featured.While the male characters for the most part, come across in a better light. The real villain behind the vampire villain in this book, is his maker, who is a grandmotherly sort, as is the vampire gunning for Mercy and manipulating Stefan. Both come across as jealous and resentful.Yet, Mercy, herself, is likable and well-developed. It's just how women relate to her --- that is off and somewhat over the top. I think if the writer wanted to improve her stories --- that would be the place to start.Other than that, it's a good read, hence the four stars. I found it compelling and relatable. The villain and mystery were interesting and threaded in well with the rest of the story, in particular Mercy's struggle with the aftermath of the traumatic events from the prior novel. She had her agency taken from her in the previous novel, and in this one, she's struggling with that loss of agency, particularly when the villain in this book sort of does the same thing to people. There's a heavy theme in Brigg's novels of agency and/or will, how you need to own your choices and what it is like to have choice or will removed.So recommend, but with the quibble about how the supporting female characters are being depicted.

me assustei que é bem pequeno, se tivesse as medidas na descrição seria melhor para perceber isso. Mas ainda é a melhor série de fantasia urbana que existe, então eu não vejo isso como um problema!

Just finished and cannot wait for the next book. Brilliant.

I’m re-reading the Mercy Thompson books so I can start the latest one. So much happening - such a good character & so many good supporting characters. I’m enjoying them more than the first time round.

Vampires again, yay!Vampire politics – which I found surprisingly interesting – and a “foreign” vampire as the “threat of the day”. Oh, and a ghost.This and the – often mentioned – great way Patricia Briggs lets Mercy deal with the aftermath of what happened in “Iron Kissed” made for a near perfect read.The Mercy/Sam/Adam triangle is, indeed, resolved, and Adam is on his very best. He holds back. Not only because Mercy has still to deal with a LOT of issues (severe panic attacks among other things), but also because apparently he trusts Mercy to deal with her problems on her own. For example: He once visits Mercy when she’s at one of her Karate classes where she gets into a fight – a very REAL fight, because her opponent is a kind of women-hating psychopath – but doesn’t interrupt. He lets Mercy finish the fight and doesn’t even scold her for it, which, frankly, I would’ve thought completely impossible for dominant, male Alpha Werewolf leaders up until now.And that’s how it’s like through the whole book. Adam might not always be enthusiastic about Mercy’s decisions, but he lets her MAKE them, which is the important part. He doesn’t dominate the hell out of Mercy and doesn’t make her submit, no matter what. And apparently he doesn’t plan on doing that, either.Of course, this book wasn’t entirely flawless.There was a huge “F-U-Mercy, I’ve-absolutely-had-it” moment somewhere in the beginning (around p. 59/60, I think), that had zero to do with the events in book three and everything to do with Mercy being stupid and unnecessarily-martyr-y, which resulted in the very probable possibility that my cousin would’ve gotten a spontaneous gift of seven Patricia Briggs novels, never to be spoken of ever again, but luckily Mercy didn’t go through with her plan and I could continue reading.And then there was, the statement I’ve waited for since book one: “And Ben adores you.” (p. 226) MM-hm. Of course he does. Not to mention the (still present) faery walking stick: “It follows you because it owes you service, Mercy. (...) And because it likes you.” (p. 272) Sure.Yeah, well. Still 4,5 stars because it’s the best book in this series so far (imo).Oh, and... I really hope Marsilia dies a slow and horrible death, and soon. She would deserve every bit of pain, torture and misery that’s coming to her. What a b****.

I have to say I waited a long time to finally get this book. Patricia is easy to read and I'm just in love with her characters. In my opinion this book was not the best in the series of the Mercy Thompson novel but it was still a great read. Pack with action and the story is full of twist and shall I say Adam :DI did notice some little mistakes in the story, at one point she pointed out that Samuel is the second in command after his dad the Marrok but we all know that Charles is second and Sam is third and further more at another time it is said that Charles is Sam older brother (Charles is about 200 years old and Sam is about as old as his dad). Never the least I adore Patricia's writing and I cannot wait for the next book in this series and especially the new book with Anna and Charles that is coming out in august.