This just in (to me, at least)…

Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson character is coming to a graphic novel near you 25 Aug 09! Read on for more info on this four comics series…

From the author’s site:

There’s been quite a bit of progress on the comic book front lately. The Dabel brothers are cooking right along, and new pages come out every other day or so. The art work is phenomenal, and David Lawrence is doing a wonderful job of working with Patty to make a successful adaptation (which involves some serious creativity on his part!). Actually, here’s an interview with Dave where he talks about working on the comics with Patty. The first four of the Mercy Thompson comics will soon be available in an omnibus edition, and I have permission to show some of the artwork here.

Consider yourself flashed.

Liviania’s review of Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) by Patricia Briggs
Urban fantasy hardcover released by ACE 3 Feb 09

I discovered Patricia Briggs on accident.  I picked up Dragon Bones (possibly her best book) from the library and fell in love.  I couldn’t be happier with the success of the Mercy Thompson series because it means I’m getting even more of her a year, especially with the spin-off Alpha and Omega series.  At the end of Iron Kissed she made a plot point I wasn’t sure I was cool with, so I was eager to see how she dealt with it in Bone Crossed as well as to see what trouble Mercy gets into.

So here’s your warning: I cannot discuss Bone Crossed without mildly spoiling the plots of both Iron Kissed and Blood Bound.  I’m being as vague as I can, but most of Bone Crossed deals with the fallout of the events in those novels.  Let’s give Briggs props for continuity.  (One of my favorite continuity nods: Mercy asks Bran about the teenage werewolf girl he took in last book.  I’d been curious what happened to her.)

Mercy’s love life should be on track since she realized she loves Adam and only loves Samuel as a friend.  Of course, it would be easier if she didn’t still have panic attacks.  At the end of Iron Kissed it seemed a bit early for Mercy to be ready to have sex again, so I was glad Adam and her ended up taking things slow.  Mercy’s recovering from what Tim did to her and it doesn’t help that the incident made national news.  Adam’s temper could worry me in the hero but Briggs does a great job of displaying his self-control.  He accepts Mercy taking care of some things herself more in this book, and Mercy works on accepting the help others can offer.

One thing that makes me sad about this series is it shifts focus between creatures.  I love that Blood Bound and Bone Crossed focus on the vampires since Stefan is an incredible character.  He’s loyal, has a strong sense of humor, but is willing to kill innocents to further his agenda.  Wulfe is still an enigma but we get the teensiest glimpse more of what drives him. But focus on vampires means some other characters don’t get much screentime.  Jessie barely shows up in this book, but she’s quite funny whenever she does.

Briggs excels at characters.  It drew me to her traditional fantasy and serves her even better in the longer series format.  You come back to a series to see what the characters are doing now, because their lives absorb you and you want to know how things turn out for them.  Her characters a multi-dimensional, engaging people and I can’t think of one who I’d wish she’d kill off.

As for plot, Mercy accepts a former friend’s offer to examine a haunting since she needs to get out of town.  Unfortunately, she runs into the only vampire in Spokane almost immediately.  Even worse, the haunting is more than Mercy can handle and it’s centered on a great kid.  Chad is only ten, but he does very well considering his father doesn’t believe the ghost exists and he still has to deal with being haunted.  In addition to those troubles, things have to be worked out so that it’s safe for Mercy to return to her shop and home.  Briggs makes the politics interesting and indicative of the creatures involved without spinning those parts out long enough to get boring.

Briggs mixes the two plots going along well, with each getting a decent amount of focus and neither becoming overly muddled.  Adam and Mercy made good steps forward in their relationship and I really believe the two of them can make it together.  This isn’t my absolute favorite urban fantasy series, but it’s definitely up there.  I can’t wait for the fifth book.  Briggs proved herself worthy of the jump to hardcover with Bone Crossed.

Grade: A-

Read other reviews and info for this series by following its tag.

Summary:
In a world where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters live beside ordinary people” (Booklist), it takes a very unusual woman to call it home. By 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.
Read an excerpt here

Other books in the series:

Shannon C.’s review of Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs
Urban fantasy released by Ace 31 Jan 06

I know what you’re thinking. You are no doubt thinking to yourself, ‘What took you so long to start the Mercy Thompson books, Shannon?’ And you would be right. They have only been recommended to me on numerous occasions by lots of people, most notably Gwen, who, upon my random squeeing about this book over at Duckie Central, laughed and pointed me to her reviews of the rest of the series and implied that I might not have been paying sufficient attention to her great taste in books. Well, if they’re all this good, I will never doubt Gwen again. 

What works really well for me is Mercy herself. In a word, I love her. You know how in some books they tell you over and over that the heroine has a big heart? Yeah, well, we see that firsthand. Mercy is loyal to her friends, and is willing to do whatever she needs to in order to help them. And it’s that big-heartedness that made me a Mercy fangirl. She also seems fairly smart, and doesn’t just wade in with her size nines the way some urban fantasy heroines seem to. I even bought the love triangle, because I really did believe that Mercy cared about the two men she’s going to have to choose between, and there was no silly, “Oh, now why would you be interested in li’l ol’ me?” antics on her part.

I also felt the world-building was superb. I liked that the implications of how supernatural creatures would be treated if they came out of the closet were explored in greater detail. And the werewolf and vampire politics and maneuvering were fascinating.

This book wasn’t quite a keeper for me — I put it down fairly easily a time or two — but I did stay up way too late trying to finish it, and now I have the rest of the series to look forward to reading. Thankfully, there are only two other Mercy-centered books, so it’s possible I will actually manage to catch up before a new Mercy book comes out.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Mercy Thompson’s life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn’t exactly normal herself.

Read an excerpt.

Gwen’s review of Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 3) by Patricia Briggs
Contemporary paranormal fantasy published 2 Jan 08 by Ace (Penguin)

Briggs’s Mercy Thompson books have consistently delivered several things:  well-developed and interesting characters, complex and compelling plots, unique details, and some good sexual tension.  Iron Kissed is no exception – it delivers all of the quality I’ve come to expect and entertains beyond all expectations. 

In Iron Kissed we learn more about Mercy’s former boss, Zee, and the fae.  She feels compelled to be Zee’s champion, contrary to all common wisdom and warnings.  She gains the support of an inanimate fae object along the way – something that helps her in the clinch.  She also gains the attention of the fae’s Gray Lords – something that definitely isn’t desirable.  This is all deliciously twisted and convoluted and oh so interesting to read.  Very fun paranormal/fantasy elements.

Also in this book, Mercy has an epiphany about her love life.  How she reaches it and what she does with it is so worth the wait in the previous books.  I bemoaned Mercy’s lack of “busy-ness” in the previous books.  Briggs’s resolution to that lack is very satisfying.  We actually get a sort-of-HEA in this book, unlike the others.

Read my review of Blood Bound here, and On The Prowl – Alpha and Omega here.  This book stands alone, but you will enjoy it a lot more if you read the previous entries.  Briggs doesn’t belabor details and doesn’t rehash a lot of previous plot points, so some things may be confusing, though you’ll still enjoy the story.

If you’re a fan of paranormal, contemporary/urban fantasies, you will love this series.  If you’re simply a fan of excellent writing, you’ll love this series.  If you’re a fan of strong female characters, you will adore this series.  This book is icing on the Mercy Thompson cake.  I cannot wait for the next entry.

Grade: A

Blurb:

When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it’s up to shapeshifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she’ll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life-whether she wants to or not.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Same world, but different story line:

What’s next for this author :

[Taken from Briggs' website] The first “Anna and Charles” book is finally done, and is tentatively titled Cry Wolf…  Cry Wolf picks up the story of Anna, an omega werewolf who spent several years in a dysfunctional pack, and Charles, a powerful werewolf sent to clean up the mess. Their story began as a short story, Alpha and Omega published in On The Prowl, an anothology of urban fantasy stories… [note from Gwen - these characters are related to and live in Mercy's world, but it's a separate story line.]

Gwen’s Review of Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Paranormal/Fantasy romance published 30 Jan 07 by Ace Books (Penguin)

Blood Bound is book 2 of Briggs’ novels surrounding a mechanic named Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson and her world. Book 1 was Moon Called  is not a prerequisite, but is a fine book on its own. 

Briggs surprised me again by how she’s able to completely suspend my disbelief – making me believe in her characters and the story. I never had that moment of “yeah, THAT can happen.” These two books are less love story than action-adventure, though, so read them if you’re ready for a change. I think the character relationships are involved and complex enough to satisfy any but the most demanding romance reader. They’re just not the conventional HEA.

Mercy Thompson is a coyote walker (can shift to the form of a coyote at will).  Her friends are vampires, werewolves, and fae. The world Briggs creates in these two novels is rich with interesting, diverse characters, complicated relationships, and normal concerns (getting up for work and dealing with the mundane). I really like Mercy and would love to find myself having coffee with her one day, laughing about the heap she keeps in her yard to annoy her neighbor (you have to read it to understand). The overall story arc is well conceived and very satisfying – and she leaves us wanting to know more about Mercy and her world.

I really enjoyed this book. The pages kept flipping, and I kept laughing at the dialog or something the characters did. I was also left on the edge of my seat with some of the action and suspense. It’s a rich, complex world that Briggs has wrought and one I want to visit again. Here’s hoping we see Mercy soon and that she gets busy with one of the seriously steamy guys she hangs with.

Grade: B

Blurb:

A sorcerer-turned-vampire wreaks havoc on Washington’s Tri-Cities, causing death, destruction and a paranormal faceoff in the second of Briggs’s series featuring Mercy Thompson, a mechanic and “walker”: one who can turn into a coyote at will. After attempts by the paranormal community to destroy the malevolent sorcerer fail, Mercy finds herself pulled into the fray: though her werewolf and vampire friends are stronger than she, it turns out that Mercy’s abilities make her the only one in town who can save them all. While she discovers the truth about her powers, she also learns more about her past, and the werewolves who raised her. Though the romantic subplot-involving two rival werewolves, Alpha wolf Adam and Mercy’s roommate Samuel-fizzles, Briggs has a refreshing knack for imbuing her characters (even non-humans) with lived-in human qualities. When it gets going, this paranormal adventure story is engaging, but a flabby first-person narrative stunts the suspense.

Read an excerpt.