Review: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #4)

Publisher - Orbit
Publication Date - 5th February 2009
Paperback - 304 pages
Genre - Urban Fantasy

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it!

Book Info - By day, Mercy is a car mechanic in the sprawling Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shapeshifter with some unique talents, Mercy has often found herself having to maintain a tenuous harmony between the human and the not so human. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan—and she's out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from direct reprisal by the werewolf pack (and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha), it won't be Mercy's blood Marsilia is after.

My Thoughts - So after a huge cliff-hanger at the end of Iron Kissed (how I would love to have a certain alpha werewolf waiting for me on my bed!) I was really excited to start on Bone Crossed. And luckily Patricia Briggs has delivered again in book four of my favourite series.

The action starts right from the very first page, completely sucking me into Mercy's world once again. I do feel sorry for Mercy as trouble constantly finds her and she never has a moments peace, but this does make for a great reading experience.

At the beginning of Bone Crossed Mercy finally agrees to become Adam's mate officially and I really enjoyed reading about how she fits into the pack and the reactions of the werewolves when their alpha takes a coyote as his mate. As can be imagined, things don't go smoothly for Mercy but she handles it with the same strength that has made her one of my favourite main characters. But there was one minor drawback to the relationship between Mercy and Adam (apart from the fact that I want him all to myself!). Despite the fact that Adam is now her mate, Mercy still refuses to let him in completely and always tries to solve problems on her own. And she makes a couple of very questionable decisions considering the fact that she now has the pack to think of. I really hope that as the series progresses Mercy will learn to lean on Adam more and be more considerate of her responsibilities within the pack.

Stefan the vampire plays a major role in Bone Crossed and I am growing to really like him. He is a great friend to Mercy and is incredibly loyal to the people he loves.

The storyline moves at a fast pace, making it very difficult to put the book down. This, along with a great cast of characters that I love reading about, makes Bone Crossed a very good addition to an amazing series. The only reason I didn't give it 5 out of 5 is the complexity of the final solution to the mystery surrounding Marsilia (the vampire queen), Stefan and Blackwood (another vampire that features in this book). For me it was just far too complicated and I'm not even sure I'll remember the finer points of it by tomorrow. As well as this, there are several brainstorming sessions between Mercy, Adam and Samuel as they are trying to work out the connection between these three vampires and what is happening to Mercy. There were a lot of complex scenarios being thrown around in a short space of time and I really did have trouble keeping up with it all.

Summary - Overall, I absolutely loved this book and the characters contained within it. The author is able to beautifully draw Mercy's world for the reader, allowing us to become completely absorbed within it. This series really is a must-read.

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:
Book Smugglers / Dear Author / Feeling Fictional 
(If you would like your review of Bone Crossed included here, please leave a link to your review in the comments and I will be sure to add it)