Night Broken

Mercy Thompson is a favorite urban fantasy series of mine, one of the long-running ones that I've kept up with no matter what. So much has changed in these books since the beginning, not least of all the marriage between Mercy and the werewolf Alpha Adam. I've always thought having the main character tie the knot was a gutsy but smart move as there's only so far you can take the romantic tension between Mercy and the men in her life, and I can appreciate a series that's not afraid to evolve.

As it happens, I'd started enjoying these Mercy books so much more ever since she formed a mate bond with Adam and was subsequently integrated into the Columbia Basin pack, albeit to some dissent and opposition from the other wolves. Inviting a show more coyote shapeshifter into a den of werewolves was apparently quite the scandal, leading to no shortage of conflict in these books, which is just the way I like it! It's hard to resist tuning in with each installment just to watch the fur fly, er, so to speak.

Night Broken really takes it to the next level, though. Let's just put it this way; there's the drama you think you know, and then there's the invite-your-ex-wife-to-live-with-you-and-your-new-wife drama featured in this book. Throughout this series, Mercy's faced all sorts of nasty things that go bump in the night, including evil vampires, overzealous fae, and even a river demon, but Adam's ex-wife Christy might just give them all a run for their money.

I adore these characters which is why in the end I still loved this book to bits, but I have to say I spent most of this book feeling awfully indignant. If Patricia Briggs had set out to make her readers squirm, then she was definitely successful. I wanted so badly to wring Christy's neck, and then maybe go beat up each and every one of wolves in the hopes of smacking some sense into their heads. Whatever respect I gained for Adam in the last book, I lost some of it again here. Alphas may have a natural instinct to protect those in need, but letting someone walk all over your wife is also NOT okay. And I wanted to shake Mercy too, for not fighting back earlier and letting it happen.

Ironically, Christy the mundane human may have seized the throne as the most loathsome antagonist of this entire series. It's not often that a fictional baddie can make me see red, but Christy managed to do it single-handedly. It's not even so much the fact that she renders Mercy self-conscious and powerless to act in a lot of situations, it's also the effect she seems to have on the rest of the pack. Christy doesn't have any supernatural powers, but she does possess the uncanny ability to manipulate others, and all the werewolves act as if they've taken a bunch of silly pills when they're around her. It's always rankled me how "pack magic" can sometimes override human common sense when it comes to the wolves, and I despise Christy for being the dangerous catalyst that makes many of them act out of character.

Despite my roiling emotions, I have to say Night Broken is my favorite Mercy Thompson book yet, simply due to the reactions it invoke from me. It opened my eyes to how much I am invested in these characters, especially when it comes to Mercy; I felt anger and offense on her behalf even if she was too polite and courteous to show it. In a way, the ex-wife drama even overshadowed the main storyline involving the hunt for Christy's stalker (which was why she had to stay with Adam and Mercy in the first place) which was just fine with me. There's action aplenty to complement the social conflict, making this one hell of an entertaining book. show less

I noticed that many of the reviews for this installment were unhappy about Mercy's attitude & characterization concerning the relationship drama over Christy back in Mercy & Adam's lives. And, I have to agree that the angst got on my last nerve as well, and was easily the weakest part of the book. It veered too strongly away from urban fantasy and into paranormal romance. Not that I don't enjoy PR; but it's a tonal shift for this series that I hope is only a one off thing. It got beyond ridiculous that most of the pack continuously coddled and sided with Christy, even after it was revealed that she withheld information that put them all in danger. This woman abandoned their alpha and her daughter, put them at risk, and they simply show more ignore because she's a good cook? *eye roll*

That said, I found the mystery/plot to be very engaging, and while not quite as exciting as Frost Burned, it was very good. Naturally, what is after Christy is not merely human. And, its appearance when the werewolves are fighting to maintain a good reputation toward humanity in the wake of the Fae crisis could not be more..inconvenient. In addition to this problem, the Gray Lord Beauclaire has returned for his walking stick and Mercy has one week to retrieve it from Coyote.

A couple new and interesting characters come into play with this story, which helps expand Mercy's world. I was also happy to see her growing more comfortable with her role in the pack, and earn some much needed respect amongst some of them. However, it's somewhat frustrating that Mercy has NO female friends aside from her step-daughter Jesse. This is just unrealistic, honestly, and I hope that Briggs remedies that. Honey being the most likely, and best candidate.

Overall, I found this to be a very good installment of the series. But I seriously hope we've seen the last of Christy. She could easily sink the whole thing. show less

Things are going well for Mercy, her husband Adam, and Adam's pack until Adam gets a phone call from his ex-wife asking for help because she has a stalker. He can't turn her down and Mercy is going to help, too, despite the fact that she knows Christy for the vindictive, manipulative kind of person who won't be good for their new balance.

As soon as she arrives, Christy begins her insidious ways and tried to nudge Mercy out of her new place in the Pack while making it look like Mercy has it in for her. Besides, she isn't very forthcoming about the man she insists is stalking her.

When the stalker visits Mercy's garage, it becomes apparent that Christy has been leaving things out. It turns out that her stalker is a volcano god who has show more fixated on Christy. Some immortal whose ability to channel fire is not something any of them have dealt with before or know how to deal with now.

In addition, one of the Gray Lords is also on Mercy's case to return the walking stick that has been following her around for the last few books. Because it was developing a taste for blood, Mercy had gifted it to Coyote and now she can't find him.

Mercy does find a brother she never knew she had. Gary hates Coyote and blames him for all sorts of dangerous situations he has gotten him into. This situation is no different. Gary's visions are essential for Mercy to find a way to defeat the volcano god and protect those she loves.

This was engaging, fast-paced and entertaining. I like the sharp contrast between Mercy and Christy which shows that Adam has learned to make better choices about the women he loves. I like that Mercy has such a strong protective streak and won't let anyone she cares about suffer. show less

I read through this in just over 12 hours due to some awful insomnia. I adore the Mercy Thompson books, and I adored most of this one. I am giving it 4 stars instead of my usual enthused eleventy-billion because I have real problems with the first section in which Adam's ex-wife shows up and everyone involved fails to set appropriate boundaries and tell Mercy on multiple occasions that their money is on her beating Christy.

This is a hugey-big-no-good-very-bad and entirely unacceptable problem. Patriarchy loves setting women at odds with one another for two reasons. First, women who are competeing with each other are too busy to dismantle the power structures that restrict them, and secondly, this behavior then functions to affirm the show more centrality and importance of the man they're fighting over (and subsequently of patriarchy). In short, setting up women to compete with one another, to police one another's behavior and/or to dis one another supports exploitative and damaging social systems. And while Briggs' work has at times very definitely done some problematic things, this is FAR and away the worst I have seen since she has been publishing and I am very disappointed that this book's premise relies so heavily on a tired and nasty overdone trope.

Setting the Christy crap aside, the rest of this book stood up pretty well, the mythology was interesting and unique, we get some more interaction with Coyote, as well as some play with the political fallout from Beaclaire's declaration of war on humanity from Hunting Ground. I wish we could have heard more from Ben, definitely missed him. But getting to know Darrell, and Honey, better was a total plus. show less

I read through this in just over 12 hours due to some awful insomnia. I adore the Mercy Thompson books, and I adored most of this one. I am giving it 4 stars instead of my usual enthused eleventy-billion because I have real problems with the first section in which Adam's ex-wife shows up and everyone involved fails to set appropriate boundaries and tell Mercy on multiple occasions that their money is on her beating Christy.

This is a hugey-big-no-good-very-bad and entirely unacceptable problem. Patriarchy loves setting women at odds with one another for two reasons. First, women who are competeing with each other are too busy to dismantle the power structures that restrict them, and secondly, this behavior then functions to affirm the show more centrality and importance of the man they're fighting over (and subsequently of patriarchy). In short, setting up women to compete with one another, to police one another's behavior and/or to dis one another supports exploitative and damaging social systems. And while Briggs' work has at times very definitely done some problematic things, this is FAR and away the worst I have seen since she has been publishing and I am very disappointed that this book's premise relies so heavily on a tired and nasty overdone trope.

Setting the Christy crap aside, the rest of this book stood up pretty well, the mythology was interesting and unique, we get some more interaction with Coyote, as well as some play with the political fallout from Beaclaire's declaration of war on humanity from Hunting Ground. I wish we could have heard more from Ben, definitely missed him. But getting to know Darrell, and Honey, better was a total plus. show less

I have a hit or miss relationship connection with Mercy. Some of her books are great, but some are mediocre - with one or two being downright dull (yes, River Marked, I'm looking at you.) Thankfully I've really enjoyed the seventh and eight, finding them hard to put down, rekindling my enjoyment for the characters and bizarre situations they end up in.

Mercy and Adam have been a strongly established couple for awhile now, so Briggs introduced some ex drama to shake it up. Not only for that effect really, but to show how there are still power struggles amongst the females in the group over Mercy being a pack alpha. While I found Christy as annoying as most of the naysayers out there, I appreciate the purpose of the character and where the show more author was heading. I know many reviewers were annoyed with how Adam handled things, but in him I see genuine guilt and confusion on how to proceed, so I accepted it. These are flawed, realistic characters and not perfect, one-dimensional ones - and it shows here as Adam is led astray by his ex's machinations.

Still, I never doubted his devotion to Mercy and the ending wrapped that up with a nice punch. I also get him not getting too much in the middle of things with Mercy and Christy as that would just make her look weak in front of the pack. Those weird shapeshifter politics I'm glad don't really exist ....

Along with Christy comes a truly formidable foe that must all battle and face. Briggs doesn't fall into the annoying trope in UF by having the main, Mercy, be the apple of everyone's eye - here she shows it's Christy for this weird volcano god guy, but Mercy is tugged along for the ride and trying to rescue those she cares about. Through these battles, she must seek assistance from other sources, do some sleuthing, and rely on instinct as well as backup and trust from the pack.

I was delighted to see some Stefan too - he's not in there tons, but he plays a large enough part later, and there's a surprising twist I was happy to see. I never liked that a connection was severed before, so I was fangirling here. I don't expect her to ever leave Adam, and I like Adam for her, but I also like the bond with Stefan. I do think Stefan loves her, but I don't think he thinks she'll leave Adam either, and I don't think he's necessarily seeking an everyday relationship anything. He's a little too old fashioned in thought and distant in emotion for that IMO.

Gary Laugingdog was a fun character to introduce - he brought some sparks to the books. It also let open some more revelations about Mercy herself, her family, and kept it feeling fresh after book 8 - there's still more to learn and develop. Coyote just rocks at the end too, loved it.

The ghost signature prints are just sad....

Yes, it's a great book. Not perfect but close enough. We have intense battles, suspenseful lead-ups, funny moments with twisted characters, dark and morbid scenes with evil characters, the vampires and their twisted world again, shapeshifter politic topsy-turvy, Mercy as her epic self, and an ending that serves all kinds of justice. Now I'm sitting here salivating for the next book. show less

Things are going well for Mercy, her husband Adam, and Adam's pack until Adam gets a phone call from his ex-wife asking for help because she has a stalker. He can't turn her down and Mercy is going to help, too, despite the fact that she knows Christy for the vindictive, manipulative kind of person who won't be good for their new balance.

As soon as she arrives, Christy begins her insidious ways and tried to nudge Mercy out of her new place in the Pack while making it look like Mercy has it in for her. Besides, she isn't very forthcoming about the man she insists is stalking her.

When the stalker visits Mercy's garage, it becomes apparent that Christy has been leaving things out. It turns out that her stalker is a volcano god who has show more fixated on Christy. Some immortal whose ability to channel fire is not something any of them have dealt with before or know how to deal with now.

In addition, one of the Gray Lords is also on Mercy's case to return the walking stick that has been following her around for the last few books. Because it was developing a taste for blood, Mercy had gifted it to Coyote and now she can't find him.

Mercy does find a brother she never knew she had. Gary hates Coyote and blames him for all sorts of dangerous situations he has gotten him into. This situation is no different. Gary's visions are essential for Mercy to find a way to defeat the volcano god and protect those she loves.

This was engaging, fast-paced and entertaining. I like the sharp contrast between Mercy and Christy which shows that Adam has learned to make better choices about the women he loves. I like that Mercy has such a strong protective streak and won't let anyone she cares about suffer. show less