Bone Crossed

The fourth Mercy Thompson books starts right after the trauma of "Iron Kissed" and then kicks it up a notch by literally dropping a tortured, ravenous vampire into Mercy's arms.

What follows is clever, dual plot novel, focused on vampires and ghosts, that moves the whole series forward.

I was impressed at Patricia Briggs' ability to continue to be inventive in how she shapes the supernatural world. "Bone Crossed" gives me a kind of vampire I've never encountered before. It also succeeds at mixing werewolves, fae, vampires and ghosts in a way that feels credible and doesn't leave me feeling I need a field guide to supernatural beings to understand what's going on.

The main strength of the series is the strong focus on character-driven show more narrative, not just Mercy's character but for the secondary characters as well. Even the rather unpleasant leader of the local vampires gains some depth in this book. Everyone is granted some complexity that helps make them real.

I also admire the way humour, especially banter, is used to leaven the dark themes of the book without undermining or denying them.

What keeps things fantasy fretwork grounded is the willingness to take a realistic approach to the emotional impact of events. Patricia Briggs acknowledges that, even when you're a kiss-ass heroine coyote mechanic raised by wolves, the aftermath of rape is months of panic attacks that leave you vomiting and curling up into a ball.

She also allowed Mercy to make a choice between the two men who want her. I'm glad we avoided the Stephani Plumb Purgatory of never being allowed to choose one man because unresolved sexual tension sells. I also think she chose the right guy, so I'm smiling (who knew I'd care?). show less

Mercy is trying to get over being raped (and having the attack videotaped) and then killing her assailant. She is also trying to come to terms with her new mating bond with Adam who has taken her into his pack - something that she didn't think was possible given that she's a coyote and not a wolf.

Beyond that, the vampires are unhappy with her and Stefan. She's had a symbol painted on her garage indicating that she is a traitor to the vampires and which leaves her open to all sorts of attacks by other paranormals. She also learns that Stefan had been tortured and starved by Marsilia when his very dessicated body is dropped into her living room requiring feeding by a number of Adam's wolves.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Amber, an old show more frenemy from college, comes to urge her to visit her home in Spokane where her son is being haunted by a vengeful ghost. Adam and Stefan both urge her to go to Spokane to get her away from Marsilia's revenge. After all, there is only one vampire in Spokane. So Mercy should be safe.

What Mercy doesn't know is that the only vampire in Spokane has hired Amber's husband to be his lawyer. Mercy wakes up two mornings in a row with bite marks on her neck. She also bonds with Amber's deaf son Chad when she proves that he is being haunted by some sort of vengeful ghost and she manages to convince Chad's father that the ghost is real.

Mercy doesn't know how to get rid of the ghost and heads back to the Tri-Cities to get away from the vampire and try to find out how to get rid of the ghost. There she learns that the vampire in Spokane could have some power over her because he likely forced her to make a blood exchange even if she doesn't remember it. Stefan offers to break that bond but the only way to do it is to form a bond of his own. That seems like the lesser of two evils and Mercy agrees after being sure that the bond won't make the wolves in Adam's pack vulnerable.

Mercy has a bad reaction to the mating bond since her idiosyncratic magic isn't letting her control the bond. It is while she is burned out and unable to contact Adam that she is kidnapped by Amber's husband who is the vampire's unwilling minion and returned to Spokane. As a coyote, she could get away but goes along in the hopes of rescuing Chad.

This was an exciting and fast-paced story with all kinds of twists and turns. Mercy has a lot to deal with but manages all the issues with grace, courage, and humor. show less

First Read: March 2010
Original rating: 4/5 stars

Re-read: December 2016
New rating: 5/5 stars

For me the Mercy Thompson series goes from strength to strength with each progressive book in the series. Bone Crossed somehow manages to surpass Iron Kissed which is one of my favourite UF books. Here Mercy has to deal with the ramifications of two major events that have happened in the past few months; the murder of Marsilia's second in command Andre and her ongoing trauma from the rape and subsequent murder of her rapist.

One thing that I have always loved from the beginning of the series is how Mercy deals with situations and events. She is so loyal and protective to those that mean so much to her, but at the same time she uses her brains and show more diplomacy rather than brute force to resolve situations. I think she is one of the most likeable characters I have read in the UF genre.

One thing that perhaps pushes the boundaries of 'realism' a little is the idea that Stefan has feelings for her. I don't buy it. I get that Adam loves Mercy and they definitly have the chemistry. I also get that Samuel learned to love her after realising she was his best chance of having a family again. But Stefan too? I don't want Briggs to fall into that tired trope of making her main character irresistible to everyone but she [Mercy] doesn't see it because she thinks she's so average looking and modest etc. etc.

In terms of decent secondary female characters (something Briggs does struggle with) we get Margi, Mercy's mother and Amber, an old college acquaintance. I was pleasantly surprised by Margi. Going by the earlier books I'd assumed she was a deadbeat mother who abandoned her daughter to Bran and the pack. Here she finally steps onto the page and she comes across as a tough, practical woman, albeit one who is always underestimated based on her good looks and outward 'Barbie' appearance. It is clear she loves Mercy and it was her pragmatic nature that caused her to let Bran take Mercy in and raise her rather than because she was trying to shirk her responsibilities.

Amber and her family were a wonderful set of side characters. I thought Amber's character arc was tragic and redemptive: underneath the superficial 'show dog' exterior that Mercy first saw was a strong and brave woman who refused to abandon her son and husband even after death and all the indignities heaped upon her by Blackwood.

The introduction of Blackwood shows us another side to the vampire mythos in Mercy's world. Blackwood is a powerful and solitary vampire with no Seethe to hold him to account. His treatment of Amber's family is horrific and his abuses to the Fae/woodland creature later on shows how vampiric powers can be amplified and used against other supernatural beings.

Overall Iron Kissed is a strong instalment in a series that keeps growing in strength, characterisation and world building. Five stars. show less

Much to my family's dismay, I have done nothing this past week without a Mercy Thompson novel in my hand. Couldn't stop - I've read the first four in the series over the last week and have liked each one more. Patricia Briggs has created a consistent alternative world in Eastern Washington with interesting and well-developed characters. I will admit that at first I was a little unimpressed with Mercy's supernatural power of being able to turn into a coyote at will - not when there are so many other supernatural powers - but it's grown on me. Her unique power allows to live within the periphery of the complex worlds of the fae, vampires, and werewolves - able to observe and participate but not be bound by their rules. Each book so far show more has had it's own complete mystery while still carrying on the larger arch of the series in a consistent and interesting way. If I didn't like each book on its own (which I really did), I would still have to read the next to find out what will happen next to Mercy, Zee, Samuel, Adam, and Stephan! show less

Awesome - scary and dangerous, Mercy's friends are just a teeny bit less frightening than her enemies. Mercy's dealing with the upheaval caused by Adam, the local werewolves' Pack's Alpha, declaring her his mate. She's agreed to be his mate, but before anything can be finalized in a Pack ceremony, Mercy's vampire friend Stefan is dropped into her home, blackened, tortured and starved. Luckily for Mercy, Adam is present, and by calling a few of his wolves to him, he's able to feed Stefan and keep him from feeding on - and most probably unintentionally killing - Mercy.

Turns out the local vampire seethe's Mistress, Marsilia, has discovered that Mercy killed two of her own and Stefan helped cover it up, and Marsilia has declared Mercy's show more life - as well as the lives of any who help her - forfeit. When an old friend shows up, asking for help with a ghost, Mercy sees her chance to keep her loved ones safe, and leaves town for a while. Infortunately, she's going into the territory of a feared love vampire, and Mercy may have a hard time surviving this one...

Mercy is a total badass. She's tough, sarcastic, brave, smart, and vulnerable, and, aside from the magic bits, very real. Her friends love her for her loyalty and fierceness, and as a reader, God, I wish I could be her, if for Adam alone!

Recommended! show less

The head of the local vampire enclave, Marsilia, finds out that Mercy killed not one vampires but two, and is now threatening her life and the lives of those she loves. As if Mercy didn't have enough to deal with, she has agreed to be Adam's (the local alpha werewolf) mate and is still dealing with panic attacks after a man raped her. Meanwhile, her old college roommate comes to her and says her house is being haunted - can Mercy help? Is this the perfect way to escape Marsilia while the werewolves deal with it, or is it all a clever ruse to get Mercy away from her friends?

I'm still enjoying these stories about Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson, mechanic, shapeshifter/coyote, and woman figuring out how to be independently herself in this world show more of vampires, werewolves, and Fae in the Tri-cities area of Washington State. I like that a heroine can be courageous and still have panic attacks. I like the world-building. It's starting to get even more violent and I find myself reading more of it rather than listening before bed (imagine the weird dreams...). This one had a couple of issues that made it not my favorite in the series. The main challenge for me was the way the deaf son of her college roommate was portrayed. Don't get me wrong, he's a strong and resilient character. But he can lipread unbelievably well, and his parents sign and talk at the same time (sometimes, amazingly, having two separate conversations?). I'm not a part of deaf culture per se, but have had enough exposure that I'm aware it's very unlikely to have that good lipreading unless you were deafened or hard of hearing later in life. It's much more likely that they would've communicated in writing. So that pulled me out of the story and annoyed me quite a bit. Still, Mercy's a strong heroine and I'll read more of her adventures. show less

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.