Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Genre: Fantasy, romance, paranormal, werewolves

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: Ace Hardcover

Format: ebook                   Pages: 341

Series: Mercy Thompson #8     Sources: Gift

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

My Thoughts:

The Cover: As always Mercy Thompson covers are lovely. Sexy and provocative, Mercy is always doing something. I particularly like this cover with the weapons. Mercy, always ready to prove that she can take care of herself, going to battle for her mate’s ex of all people.

The Plot:  What an amazingly well-crafted tale. I mean Ms. Briggs has already proved that she can write a truly riveting tale, but for this her 20^th book, she really blew it out of the water. More like took out the whole lake. And the woods surrounding the lake. And maybe even the quiet little town minding its own business on the edge of the woods. But I digress. The plotline for Night Broken moved along at a great pace, with explosive fight scenes, balanced out by tender moments with family and pack, and of course, the expected tension between Mercy and Christy, Adam’s ex.

Characters:  Our characters are always very well written. Returning characters were true to form. Sometimes it can be tricky writing characters over the course of 8 books, because as much as they stay the same, they also have to grow and develop through the books. Mr. Briggs does a phenomenal job. We meet some new characters as well that are introduced nicely; no one is just thrown in. I really liked Joel and Lucia and their dogs. Gary Laughingdog was a pretty intense new character; Coyote, of course, made reappearance and I hope we see more of them. I wish there had been a little more action between present and ex-wives. I know I probably would have been much more vocal and explosive if I had been in Mercy’s shoes. But I also liked Mercy’s grace during the whole situation.

I also wish we had seen a little bit more reaction from Adam in response to Christy’s crap. She comes in and upsets the whole balance of the pack, tries to turn them against Mercy, and we didn’t get much response from Adam. Hmmmmm, again would have been different if I was in Mercy’s shoes. Just saying…..

What a superb super villain. You could really tell the time that Ms. Briggs put into creating Guayota/Juan Flores. The back story and details were top notch and while you so wanted to hate him, his back story almost makes you sorry for him. Almost; but not quite. Ms. Briggs villains are always fulfilling to read; her whole stories in general are.

Is it Worth Reading?:  A hundred times over!! An amazing installment to a series I have loved since book one. I really enjoyed Night Broken and always look forward to the next foray into Mercy Thompsons’ world. I totally recommend all of this series and give it 5 out of 5 crossbows.