Publication Date - 7th August 2008
Paperback - 320 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy
Source - Received from publisher for review
Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it
Book Info - It wasn’t hard to follow the scent of blood to the living room where the fae had been killed. It had been a violent death, perfect for creating ghosts.
Mercy Thompson enjoys being a mechanic, but life is never simple given her increasing closeness to the local werewolf pack, and her ability to change into coyote form at will. And when a member of the fae community calls in a favour, needing her skills for a covert murder investigation, she jumps into the hunt.
But the dangers multiply and she clashes with shadowed creatures of great power. When her old boss Zee is charged with a brutal assassination, Mercy finds herself fighting alone. There are those who love her, who would keep her safe, but she is wary and holds her freedom precious. Until, that is, she has nothing left to lose but her life…
My Thoughts - Before I get started on my review, I must warn you that I may be doing a lot of gushing. This series has become my favourite Urban Fantasy series and I absolutely loved Iron Kissed. Although this is part of a series you could probably read this as a stand-alone novel (but I wouldn’t advise that as Moon Called and Blood Bound are amazing too and definitely worth a read!). I have noticed that in each book, the author seems to concentrate on a different type of supernatural creature. Moon Called was focused on werewolves, Blood Bound on vampires and Iron Kissed on the fae.
It was interesting to read all about the fae in this book, although as a whole they seem to be my least favourite paranormal creature in fiction. But the author manages to provide just enough details mixed in with a huge amount of mystery to keep my interest in their storyline. I really like Zee – he is a good friend to Mercy but at the same time he is such a mystery and I was really happy to see him as one of the main characters in Iron Kissed.
The novel seems to start off at a slightly slower pace than the previous books in the series, but things seemed to speed up for me once the werewolf pack was reintroduced to the story (could this be something to do with the delicious Adam Hauptman? Possibly *swoon*). As well as the problems she has to deal with for the fae, she also has some things to sort out with the local werewolf pack. When Mercy moved to the area, Adam, the Alpha of the pack, declared her as his mate to keep her safe from other werewolves – apparently wolves kill coyotes in the wild so he was trying to stop this from happening to Mercy. But Mercy finds out that Adam has declared her his mate for another, more personal, reason. He is in love with her. To complicate matters, Mercy is currently living with her ex-boyfriend (and uber-dominant werewolf) Sam, who is still in love with her. It becomes clear to Mercy that she must choose between the two as her indecision is having a strange effect on the pack.
I love the dynamics between Mercy, Adam and Sam. Mercy loves them both a lot, but for completely different reasons, and she doesn’t want to see either of them get hurt. She also knows that she will lose whoever she doesn’t choose and she can’t bear for that to happen, so until now Mercy has been trying to keep both of them at arms length. During Iron Kissed, Mercy is visibly torn between the two and having to choose is obviously breaking her heart. But she knows it isn’t fair to keep them both waiting for her.
At several times during this novel, we are shown a much more vulnerable side to Mercy. Don’t get me wrong, she still has her tough, say-exactly-what-she-thinks, do-whatever-needs-to-be-done-to-save-the-world attitude, but the events of Blood Bound and Iron Kissed have taken a toll on her and she starts to have panic attacks and there is a fearful side to her that wasn’t there in Moon Called. I absolutely love Mercy as a main character and this vulnerability only makes me love her even more.
My only complaint about this book would have to be the ending. I loved the direction it was going in, but just as the author starts detailing an event that I have been waiting for for a long time, the book just stops. I would have preferred more details about this this event (a LOT more details!).
Summary - Overall, this is an amazing installment from one of the best Urban Fantasy series’ around. If you have not started this series yet – DO IT NOW!
Other books in the series:
1. Moon Called
2. Blood Bound
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne
6. River Marked
7. Frost Burned
Other reviews of this book:
Dear Author / Love Vampires
(If you would like your review of Iron Kissed included here, please leave a link to your review in the comments and I will be sure to add it)
4 comments:
Yeah, the Fey aren't my favorite to read about either. This one's ending shocked me...what happened to Mercy, I mean. and I loved Ben's role. Patricia is very discreet with her love scenes and while I can appreciate that, it's also a bit annoying.
Shelagh - Thanks sweetie, you rock too :) Hope you enjoy the rest of the series!
Jenny - Yeah, what happened to Mercy at the end was pretty shocking. And I agree that the discreet loves scenes can be a bit frustrating at times. I want more details ;)
Oh, I half started Moon Called a couple of weeks ago (kindle ebook sample)! Really want to read this series. I've actually been on a YA kick/catch-up the last couple of weeks. I'm dying for a growned-up book. I might have to buy the full book. I really liked what I read.
Thanks for this review!
Sarah - I really can't recommend this series enough! It's one of my all-time faves! Go out and get Moon Called NOW :)
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