Title: Trigger Author: Courtney Alameda Series: Shutter #0.5 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Dark fantasy, Easy reading, Paranormal fantasy Pace: Fast Format: Novella Publisher: Tor Books Year: 2015 5th sentence, 74th page: The Bay Bridge stretched from San Francisco to Oakland, covering about eight miles of open water.
Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat – a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. Now she’s facing one of her most challenging ghost hunts ever. Lock, stock, and lens, she’s in for one hell of a ride.
This is a really interesting novella. I read the short story Fixer before I read this, and the tragedy in Michelline’s future hasn’t quite yet occurred. So it’s nice to see how she is stuck between two worlds – that of her father and mother and two legacies. Yet, Michelline’s gumption somehow saves the day. Albeit in a very destructive manner.
I’m really enjoying the single word names for Alameda’sShutter series. Somehow they manage to explain exactly the topic and trend of the story. I love how one simple word might seem a little bizarre as a title at the beginning of the tale, but by the end I have this beautiful light bulb moment where everything makes sense and it seems so glaringly obvious.
Now I just have to wait for Shutter to appear in the mail…
Title: Fair Game Author: Patricia Briggs Series:Alpha & Omega #3, Mercy-verse #18 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Ace fantasy Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: Isaac bent his knees and squatted, putting his head on a level with theirs.
Patricia Briggs, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson novels, “always enchants her readers.” Now her Alpha and Omega series – set in a world of shifting shapes, loyatlies, and passions – brings werewolves out of the darkness and into a society where fear and prejudice could turn the hunters into the prey…
It is said that opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son – and enforcer – of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant Alpha. While Anna, an Omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.
When the FBI requests the pack’s help on a local serial-killer case, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston to join the investigation. It soon becomes clear that someone is targeting the preternatural. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer’s sights…
Anna is a great heroine. Unlike most of the others in Briggs’ books she’s a little more damaged at the very beginning of the series. And, although she is kind of able to take care of herself, she is constantly taken care of by others who want to do that for her. Yet, that protective instinct still causes her to go toe to toe with the biggest baddest wolf in this fictional world – all to protect her partner.
Whilst this story continues the ongoing healing and acceptance for Anna of her new status. It also features Charles. It shows the horrors and pain behind the persona of the scary wolf, and reminds us that everyone needs to be taken care of at some point in their lives. No matter how tough we all are. The fact that there is a serial killer thrown into the mix just makes the stakes a lot higher, and the importance of Charles healing his psychological wounds all the more imperative.
There is something that I always love about Patricia Briggs’ books – they have tough heroines that are none the less damaged in their own ways. None of the characters are perfect, and in their flaws they are far more relatable. Yet, the love story between Anna and Charles that begins at the very beginning of the series is one of my favourites (at least until I read the next book). They are totally accepting of each others’ flaws and able to see beyond the horrors that the others are unable to accept. Plus, the sneaky sense of humour that has me smiling throughout is completely enjoyable.
The events of Fair Game change the course of both the Alpha and Omega and Mercedes Thompson series. It positions the “other” (the werewolves and fae) as completely against humans, and shows the dangers of prejudice. Yes, in this story it is about supernatural beings, but it is a good reminder to treat everyone as equal and in a fair manner.
Title: River Marked Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercedes Thompson #6, Mercy-verse #17 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Ace fantasy Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: Figuring out why he’d been mad should have been a lot easier.
Welcome to Patricia Briggs’s world, a place where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters live beside ordinary people”. It takes a very unusual woman to call it home – and there’s no one quite like Mercy.
Getting to the altar wasn’t easy for coyote shifter Mercy Thompson and Alpha werewolf Adam Hauptman. And yet Mercy clings to the hope that their Columbia River honeymoon will be drama-free.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
Being a different breed of shapeshifter – a walker – Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River – and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence knwon to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil…
In the past Mercedes Thompson books, Mercy’s Native American heritage doesn’t seem that integral. It serves to keep her apart from everyone else, creates her unique powers, but generally it isn’t touched upon. Until River Marked that is. Finally, some of Mercy’s heritage and cultural background begin to come to light. Not being American, I’m not sure how true to the actual experiences of Native Americans Mercy’s are, but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless.
I liked that Coyote plays a big part in this story, as does the Native American devil that is about to bring about the destruction of the world. They play well into what (little) I know of Native American culture and just further build upon the world that Briggshas painstakingly created. It layers the idea of immigration and European-based fae onto the natural magical beings of the Americas. I loved how this story took a completely new turn into the world of Mercy, but also helped to build it further along the same lines. I could only wish to be as adept at such beautiful and complex world building.
Adam and Mercy finally seem to be gaining their “happily ever after”. Yet, as with this entire series (and, really, every good series), that isn’t the case. Mercy’s ability to love and do the right thing, at great cost shine through, as does Adam’s love for her. Although I’ve enjoyed the courtship of these two throughout the rest of the series, it really isn’t until this book that I actually get their relationship. Their support and love for one another, coupled with the respect that they have for each others’ personalities shines like nothing else throughout this story.
And, although I loved visiting the Native American heritage of Mercy, it is the love between Adam and Mercy that shines through most vividly.
Originally published in the anthology Down These Strange Streets and included in Shifting Shadows. This story features a gay werewolf, Warren, (a main character in the Mercy Thompson series) in his new job as a private eye.
Warren gets his own story! I feel like that is almost enough to say that this is an amazing short story. After all, who couldn’t love Mercy’s best friend – the gay, cowboy werewolf?
But, since I do like to carry on a little, I will share why I thought that this was such a great story. For starters, Warren is always viewed in this series through Mercy’s eyes. Which really doesn’t paint him in a very cut-throat, tough light. After all, he is always saying cute things like “Shucks”. But, seeing the lengths to which he’ll go to protect Kyle… you can see why he survived for so long and is so high in the pecking order. The fact that this story also brings to life (so to speak) zombies, and the resident Russian witch just makes it all the more enthralling.
It actually took me two reads to realise why this story is called In Red, with Pearls – that’s what the zombie and killer are wearing at different points throughout. The fact that this involves a very misplaced crush, and an underestimated villain… it’s just beautiful. And brings karma to the annoying neighbours…
Title: Silver Borne Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercedes Thompson #5, Mercy-verse #15 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Ace fantasy Year: 2010 5th sentence, 74th page: Sam wagged his tail, and the police officer straightened up, his face going impersonal and professional.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs brings the extraordinary world of Mercy Thompson to life so vividly that “readers will believe in shapeshifters, fae, and vampires.”
When Mercy Thompson, mechanic and shapeshifter, attempts to return a powerful fae book she previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.
It seems the book contains secrets – and the fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn’t take enough of Mercy’s attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side – leaving Mercy to cover for him lest his own father declare Samuel’s life forfeit.
All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn’t careful, she may not have many more…
More of the fae come out to play in Silver Borne, and while Bone Crossed made the vampires look more scary, Silver Borne manages to highlight just how scary the fae can truly be. It helps that it is in this storyline that Mercy fears what she is up against, it makes it that much easier for the readers to feel the same way.
Mercy’s romantic entanglement with Sam is officially at an end, but her new journey with Adam is just beginning. And both situations leave a trail of confusion and trials in their past. Although Sam doesn’t feel that way about Mercy anymore, there is still something missing in his life, which leads to him being completely out of control throughout the majority of this story. There is a sense of his loss, not necessarily in being non-romantic with Mercy, but not having anyone to be in love with, for lack of a better term. The loneliness he feels as Mercy moves onto the next stage of her life leads to some very interesting complications, but there is also something saddeningly familiar about it. Contrastingly, Mercy and Adam seem to be about to start a great new adventure together… if somebody else wasn’t so keen to mess around with it. And that in and of itself leads to far reaching consequences that neither of them could have predicted.
For those people who haven’t had a chance to read the novella Silver, it provides a great backstory into this novel. Not only Ari, one of the fae who is introduced along the way, but also into the history of Sam (and his loneliness) and the thing which Mercy is being forced to protect. Although it isn’t necessary to understand what is happening (I hadn’t read it when I first read Silver Borne), it does make the story, particularly the last challenge a little more understandable. After all, it takes an entire novella to tell the tale that is only briefly introduced and explained in a few paragraphs…
A short story whose main character originally appeared in the Mercy Thompson series. Secondary characters appear in both series. Kara Beckworth, a young lady turned to a werewolf far too early, is trying to learn control with the help of a very old and scary wolf, Asil. This story was published in Shifting Shadows.
The idea of a child werewolf was first introduced in Blood Bound. And it was certainly an interesting concept, especially since in the world of Mercedes Thompson, not many survive the change. Especially the young. Which has always kind of left me wondering – what happened to her after she went to live with the Marrok? We all know that it worked out well for Mercy (in a manner of speaking), and it has always been interesting to see what happened to a young thirteen-year-old, experiencing hormones, new powers and the urges of a werewolf. Roses in Winter gives us that tale. And also brings Asil’s current experiences to life.
Roses in Winter not only investigates what happens when werewolves first change, and how Asil, is, in fact able to bond with others, but also the ways in which werewolves are changed and the culture of Thanksgiving. This is all obliquely mentioned in Moon Called, but the dangers and the strict rules are really enforced in this short story when Kara struggles to make the change on her own. Asil’s willingness to help and nurture her through the difficulties of life as a, maybe not so fierce predator…
The imagery of the rose oasis in the middle of the snow is kind of beautiful. It is first bought about by the very title, but is bought far more beautifully to light when Briggs describes Asil’s greenhouse. The secret home away from home that features so heavily in Kara’s desire to control her wolf, and eventually, their battle to save her from those who wish her harm…
Title: Bone Crossed Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercedes Thompson #4, Mercy-verse #13 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Ace fantasy Year: 2009 5th sentence, 74th page: Still, as Warren had said, it is a good thing to know your enemies.
Welcome to Patricia Briggs’s world, a place where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters live beside ordinary people. It takes a very unusual woman to call it home – and there’s no one quite like Mercy Thompson.
As a shapeshifter with some unique talents, ace car mechanic Mercy has had to maintain a tenuous harmony between the human and the not so human within the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington on more than one occassion. But this time she may be in over her head.
Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercty 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 which Marsilia is after…
It’s her friends’.
Although the activities in Iron Kissed were kind of horrifying, it was nice to end on the note that it did. With Mercy making her choice, and starting her life with Adam. The last scene is the very beginning of their courtship, and I remember when I first read Iron Kissed, I actually double checked to make sure that my book wasn’t missing a page. Which is just where Bone Crossed picks up… Mercy and Adam figuring out their completely new relationship. Although, to be fair, very, very, very little of this story is about that… mostly it’s about the fall out from Mercy’s actions in Blood Bound, with just enough romance and emotional connections to make it heart warming and beautiful.
Bone Crossed also introduces a part of Mercy’s past (not to mention her mother) that hadn’t previously been seen. The return of an old nemesis (of sorts), and promise of a clean getaway from Marsilia’s revenge are, as predicted, dramatic. Mercy is forced to literally jump from the frying pan into the fire. And, although you just know that that is what’s happening, the way in which Briggs goes about it is still surprising. The amount of trouble that Mercy finds herself in, and the quarter from which it comes is spine tingling and enjoyable.
Werewolf politics are thoroughly investigated in the first few books of this series. Even the motivations of the fae are delved into a little, but, it’s only in Bone Crossed that the far reaches of vampire politics begin to be explored. There is something about vampires that is not only more terrifying, but also far more convoluted than anything the werewolves or fae have managed to concoct thus far…. Although, that might just be until the next book….
I Was a Teenage Bigfoot is a short story in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It is set around the time of Dead Beat.
Revisiting bigfoot and Harry Dresden is always a fun journey. Mostly, I love Butcher’s translation of who (and what) bigfoot is. The half-blood son of a bigfoot provides even more entertainment, last time Irwin appeared in Harry’s storyline, he was just a small child learning to handle bullies. Now, he’s a teenager, with pretty much the same problems. This time though, the consequences of other’s sapping his energy are a little more extreme and serious.
Harry’s ability to overcome any obstacle that he’s faced with and handle the outcomes of his meddling are admirable. The fact that sometimes he causes the worst of the explosions and troubles just add to the enjoyment of the storyline. His unsuccessful flirtations with the nurse? Well, they just make it far funnier.
Title: Iron Kissed Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercedes Thompson #3, Mercy-verse #12 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Ace fantasy Year: 2008 5th sentence, 74th page: The magazines on the bottom shelf had given up any pretense of art – judging by the photos on the covers.
I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator…
Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape – but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.
Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her…
This is both one of my favourite, and least favourite books. Mostly because of the fact that it features sexual abuse. The very ending of the book makes me cry every single time. Not just because of the horrors that Mercy is forced to face, but also because of the fact that she has an amazing support system. And, that you finally find out what has happened in Ben’s past to make him such a dick.
Where Moon Called was about werewolves, Blood Bound about vampires, Iron Kisseddelves deeper into the world of the fae. Zee’s calling in of a favour (much like Stefan’s) leads to a world of pain, and Mercy’s further discovery of the things that truly go bump in the night. I love that there is a lot of well-informed bases upon the lores of the fae. But, Briggs is able to bring it to a modern setting and in a way that makes it almost plausible to believe that the fae could be existing alongside us.
Iron Kissed forces Mercy to not only begin to face her past, but it also forces her to make a choice about her future. Sam and Adam have been vying for her attention since Moon Called, and she needs to make a choice before it all ends in bloodshed. Sometimes a good love triangle is fun in a story, but the fact that Mercy is so quickly forced into a decision in this series, actually is more enjoyable. I loved the fact that she is kind of indecisive, but there is also a lack of the back and forth that is present in a lot of series. Don’t get me wrong, that is fun. But it’s also nice for a romance to start quite early in a series.
Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen…
Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places – and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.
But this new vampire is hardly ordinary – and neither is the demon inside of him…
The hits keep rolling for Mercedes Thompson. After asking for Stefan’s help in rescuing Adam, she has to return the favour. Which, since this is Mercy Thompson, means that things go wildly out of control. This might be the story in the entire series that gave me the most goosebumps actually. And I have, at some point or other, read most of them.
There is something about vampires that is kind of scary. Or at least, well written ones. Although Stefan drives a Mystery Van, and obviously cares for Mercy, he is kind of intimidating throughout this. There is a reminder that although he is “one of the good guys”, he’s still a vampire. He’s still evil and has to subsit on others’ deaths and blood. Mercy’s introduction into this world, of which she knows nothing, is intense and terrifying. The added complication of Samuel’s sudden return to her life, and Adam’s pledge of affection just help to raise the stakes higher and higher.
Where Moon Called was about Mercy’s interactions with the werewolves, and introduced Briggs’ hierarchy, Blood Bound is about the vampires. As Mercy slowly discovers more and more about the intricacies of vampire politics, so do we, and it is certainly an amazing journey. Her ability to somehow overcome dangers and predators far greater than herself and her willingness to do anything to save her friends is a testament to how amazing this heroine is.
Title: Trigger
Title: I Was a Teenage Bigfoot
Earth and Skye 