Veena’s review of Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, Book 9) by Patricia Briggs
Urban Fantasy published by Ace 08 Mar 16
This series delivers action and adventure paranormal style. While the reader might be better served reading each book in order, the books can be enjoyed individually as well, since each action adventure is complete and stands on its own. This book has the kick-ass action adventure that we’ve come to expect from Mercy, but, more importantly, it focuses on the relationship side of things in a much more meaningful way than we’ve seen before, which I, for one, really enjoyed.
The story starts off with a bang when the werewolves are called upon to help the local police deal with a troll. Almost when all seems lost, rescue comes in the form of two old friends, who have been lost to the Fae reservation, and a fire-wielding child. An offer of sanctuary to the fire-touched child is going to have far-reaching consequences for the pack and for the tri-city where they make their home.
We get to see a very human side of Mercy as she deals with a network marketing mom of one of her stepdaughter’s friends. I have a hard time saying no when faced with similar situations, so it’s quite reassuring to see the same outcomes from Mercy. I laughed myself silly over the conversation between the two and the pack’s reaction, considering that they could hear every word exchanged. I hope to see more of the playful side of Adam as the series continues and he continues to “nudge” Mercy.
When Mercy’s friends Zee and Tad escape the reservation where they’ve been imprisoned after the gray lords declared war on the humans, they bring with them a fire-touched boy called Aiden, who was kidnapped and held in “Underhill” by the Fae for hundreds of years. When Mercy and the werewolf pack give Aiden sanctuary, they’ve unwittingly made the werewolves enemies of the Fae. Suddenly they find themselves a rogue pack, cut off from the North American werewolf packs, and will need to figure out how to survive while keeping the humans in their local area, as well the boy they’ve granted sanctuary to save.
As Mercy and Adam navigate this very twisted path they’ve embarked on, they visit old friends and meet a host of new characters, predominantly Fae. The one thing that stands out during this story is how rock solid Mercy and Adam’s relationship has become. There are no doubts about each other at all. Mercy has become an integral part of the pack and is considered as the alpha female to all but a few holdouts whom Adam finally takes care of. I enjoyed a lot of the back stories of a lot of the characters that we meet along the way. It does reinforce why they always refer to fairy stories as ‘dark,’ since we see so many examples from the characters that we meet between these pages.
Another winner from Ms. Briggs. I can’t wait to see where this series will go next, in light of some of the actions that take place in this book.
Grade: A
Summary:
Mercy Thompson has been hailed as “a heroine who continues to grow and yet always remains true to herself.”* Now she’s back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer…
Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.
Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?
Other books in this series:
