Review: Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson #7
Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.
Over the past several years, Mercy's life has changed drastically. She's used to be able to keep her head down and stay out of the supernatural politics, but trouble seems to have a way of finding her now. Of course now that she's the mate of the local werewolf alpha, she doesn't have to fight her battles alone anymore. At least that is when Adam and his entire pack haven't been abducted leaving Mercy behind scrambling to hold things together. With the relations between humans and supernaturals so strained, more than ever the wolves cannot afford an incident. She'll have to enlist the help of friends old and new to get to the bottom of things fast, before it is too late.
I have to say that I was pretty surprised at the direction this book took. I mean after the insane game changing events of FAIR GAME, I had figured this book would have to mainly focus on the aftermath of the fae's actions. However, while there is some focus on the issues with the fae withdrawing and becoming almost hostile, it doesn't steal the show. Mercy and the gang have enough problems on their own. I won't get into any details, but from the blurb, it's obvious that Adam and the rest of the pack have gone missing. That in itself was a whopper of a hijinks as Mercy scrambled to find allies who could help her get the pack back. But, as I've come to expect from Patricia Briggs, things are not so simply cut an dry as a simple kidnapping plot. There's a whole lot more going on that made FROST BURNED really take the cake in the end, but you'll have to read it for yourself to find out.
I have to say that I really enjoyed FROST BURNED. It had the best of both worlds, the original Mercy, where she most played "lone ranger" and also the new Mercy who has Adam and the pack at her back. Don't get me wrong, I love the romance between Adam and Mercy, and think they are the perfect fit for one another, but it was really good to see her spend sometime on her own saving the day. It just really reinforced everything I have grown to love about her. She truly is one of the best urban fantasy heroines out there. I also LOVED LOVED LOVED that two of my favorite characters, Ben and Stefan, got a good bit of screen time in FROST BURNED. What can I say, I have a thing for dangerous, tortured males. Speaking of which another favorite of mine, this time from the Alpha and Omega series, makes an important appearance, and I loved his addition. I won't say who, to avoid ruining the surprise, but I really enjoyed the way it strongly tied the two series together for me.
I have to admit that I've been a bit disappointed that the books have been cut back to only one per year, where we used to get at least one per series each year. So now, the wait between books for either series is two years or more. However, despite my grumblings I have to admit that these books are more than worth the wait. I know that with each new installment released, I'll have a guaranteed block of entertainment as Patricia Briggs has never once let me down. This time around was no exception as FROST BURNED brings everything that made this series so spectacular right back to the forefront. You simply cannot go wrong with a Mercy Thompson book.
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Previous Books:
- Moon Called
- Blood Bound
- Iron Kissed
- Bone Crossed
- Silver Borne
- River Marked
