Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

Mercy has barely recovered from the events of the last book when Marsilia shows up and tells her to find Wulfe. That, if Mercy can't find him, the Pack will be blamed. And rumors start up soon after that the Pack can't actually protect the people it claims to protect. A number of magic users (not very powerful but having some magic; mainly witches and goblins) have gone missing. Could it be the Soul Taker? 

There is a movie that has just finished filming that purports to be based on a local urban legend involving a young man who was possessed by a scythe and compelled to murder. Mercy discovers it was not so much legend as truth since Zee was called in to destroy the artifact. But he might have been slipped a fake. That seems especially like a possibility since similar deaths are cropping up. And at least one ghost isn't allowed to leave this plane of existence.

Regular readers will really enjoy this book but I would not recommend starting with this one. We get quite a bit of history for a couple of characters, one that adds a little bit of a wrinkle for pack dynamics.

Four stars

This book came out August 23, 2022

Follows Smoke Bitten

Followed by Winter Lost

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

Not every werewolf is part of a pack but that doesn't mean that the Marrok doesn't take care of them. Even if there are some wolves that are too wild doesn't mean that they all have to be put down. But when the wildings are targeted and the Marrok has left town, Charles and Anna will have to step up to try and save as many as they can.

Ufda. This book feels like there was more death than usual in it. But also some tie-ins with witches to the next Mercy Thompson which was really interesting to me. There was also a bit more about Bran's relationship with Leah even though he is absent for most of the book.

Three stars

Follows Dead Heat

Followed by Wild Sign

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

This book came out March 6th, 2018

Opinions are my own

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

An old friend of Charles' calls and asks him to come down to Sedona. They can visit and Charles can look for a horse for Anna. But the visit starts off with a bang when the Charles has to help a dying woman become a werewolf. Her husband's grandfather is the local Alpha and he is less than pleased about the decision because she is witchborn but Charles feels like it is the right decision. The woman had stabbed herself rather than kill her children when she was under some serious fae magic.

It may not be up to Charles and Anna to figure out what is going on but they take it on anyway since they are the only ones around to protect the innocent.  

Three stars

Follows Fair Game

Followed by Burn Bright

This book came out March 3rd, 2015

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own 

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

Anna is worried. She fears that Charles's duties to his father, the Alpha of all Alphas, are wearing on his spirit. She knows that their mate bond isn't what it could be. So she appeals to the Marrok for something else for Charles to do. Instead, Bram assigns Anna to help the FBI solve a particularly heinous group of serial killings. Charles goes with Anna as her bodyguard. And it's good because they'll need both of them before the end of the book.

An interesting book that starts off a series of explosions further down the Mercy Thompson series. A little slow in places but overall a nice read.

Three stars

Follows Hunting Ground

Followed by Dead Heat

This book came out

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own 

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

Leah and Bran's relationship has been touched on in past books but the origins of it have remained murky. It is cleared up a little bit in this story when Leah's past comes to haunt her present. 

The book opens with Leah, Rachel, Sage, and Anna on a girls' outing some time before the beginning of the last book. They are having some drinks (although alcohol doesn't affect werewolves) when Sage gets Leah to open up a little bit about how the two became mated. And even just this section proves Briggs' mastery of timelines as she deftly bobs and weaves between the past and present of two overlapping series.

This new story sends Charles and Anna along with the berserker, Tag, to the California mountains where a whole town has disappeared. They were there one week after being checked on by the Forest Service and then... gone. An old evil has popped up again and is joining forces with a group that has had past interactions with both the Alpha and the Omega as well as the Columbia pack.

I wish we had seen a little bit more with Bran and Leah. After the big set up of learning more about her past, we don't see a lot of them. Of course, the series does focus more on Anna and Charles so that makes some sense.

Four stars

Follows Burn Bright

Gifted an ebook on Kindle

This book came out March 16th, 2021

Opinions are my own

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Anna and Charles were introduced in a short story and it would definitely help to have read it to understand a lot of this book but I don't think it's entirely necessary (edited: I have since read the short story and it helps a little but not necessary). There is some world building in this book as well, setting up the same rules we read in that story (how werewolves function, their packs work, etc.)
Anna has only been a werewolf for three years but her previous pack kept much of the knowledge of being a werewolf from her. Charles, on the other hand, has been a werewolf for almost two hundred years and his father is the Alpha of all Alphas. The book opens when Charles, having determined that Anna is his mate, has brought her to Montana. She is immediately soaked in pack politics as they are dealing with the funeral of a beloved townsperson. Plus, there appears to be a rogue wolf killing people in the nearby wilderness and Charles is the person who is best suited to figuring out what is going on, even though he is healing from being shot with silver bullets.
I generally enjoyed this story and am liking where Charles and Anna are going (no love triangles! Woot!).

Four stars

Follows Alpha & Omega

Followed by Hunting Ground

This book came out July 29th, 2008

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own

Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs

For three years, Anna Latham has been a part of a living nightmare. At the bottom of a werewolf pack in Chicago, she is a monster who is trapped by circumstance. But she works up the nerve to call the Marrok, the head of all werewolves, and tell him that things are wrong where she is. 

The Marrok, Bram, has known that there is something wrong in Chicago so he sends his enforcer, his son Charles, to figure out what is going on. Bram directs Anna to pick up Charles.

It's immediately up on seeing Anna that Charles realizes that she is his mate. He also realizes that she is not a submissive wolf as she has been told, rather, she is an Omega. Omegas are a rare type of wolf who can bring peace to other wolves. And that is exactly the reason Anna has been treated the way she has... something is rotten in the state of Denmark and it will take both Anna and Charles to solve it.

For a short story, this is really good at introducing two strong characters as well as building a complete world.

Four stars

Followed by Cry Wolf

Published in On the Prowl, August 7th, 2007

Borrowed as ebook from CloudLibrary

Opinions are my own

Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs

This book focuses a little bit more on Jesse Hauptman though parts still are told from Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson's point of view. It is a nice addition to the Mercy Thompson series but I wouldn't suggest reading it unless you've read other books in the series.
Mercy and a pack of wolves discover a skeleton one night while they are out hunting. It turns out that there are actually four skeletons, pointing in the four cardinal directions. And as the police come in and start looking, those aren't the only four.
At the same time, Jesse is being ostracized at school because of her relationship with the wolf pack. But there is one new girl, Jillian, who seems interested in being her friend.  But she's just a little odd herself and Jesse isn't sure she's a friend worth having.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 10th, 2015

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

Mercy is worried about her mate bond. Her husband Adam has been distant and she's not sure why. But that comes in second when Underhill, the magical land of the fae who can take a human form, comes to visit. And with that visit, a dangerous fae escapes. One who can assume the form of any one or anything. It has already killed some of Mercy's friends and now it is coming for her. Because it can't control Mercy and it wants to know why.
I'm not sure I connected with the monster story in this one but I'm sort of okay with that because of the way we got to see Adam and Mercy's relationship build on itself as well as getting better glimpses into some of the characters that have been firmly B or C level before. I'm really excited to see where Briggs takes Wulfe (I think we got some glimpses in this book) and also hope that we will see some friendships building between Mercy, Aurielle and Honey.

Three stars
This book came out March 17th, 2020
Follows Storm Cursed

Followed by Soul Taken
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

The book starts off with a goblin hunt and leads into complete zombie fest. Mercy originally set out with Ben and Mary Jo (the latter of whom she is still trying to figure out; she saved the woman's life but she still hates Mercy) but ends up needing the help of powerful witch Elizaveta. But, for some reason, no one at her house is answering the phone. It seems that a witch consortium is building power and if Elizaveta's family isn't with them, they are against them. And Mercy's pack? They're automatically against them. And the cute little zombie goats that begin the story have nothing on the creatures that these witches will unleash in the search for power.
This story definitely move forward the stories of a lot of the main characters as a couple of the B characters in this series. A nice addition to the series that is making look forward to the next.

Four stars
This book came out May 7th, 2019
Follows Silence Fallen
Followed by Smoke Bitten
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

It's a night of pirates and gaming when Mercy discovers she needs more ingredients to bake cookies. She goes out but then wakes up battered and bruised in a cube with two vampires, her pack and mate bonds seemingly severed. She is on her own. Luckily, Mercy is underestimated once again and she manages to escape (because the pack was practicing their Jackie Chan moves, she knows how to run up the corner of a wall.) But now she's in Europe. Alone. With no known allies (and a lot of enemies), Mercy needs help more than ever but her pack doesn't know where she is.

This book is nice because Briggs introduces a third person omniscient that follows both Mercy and Adam at different points and that was really fun, to get more of a look at his side of the story.

Three stars
This book came out March 7th, 2017
Follows Fire Touched
Followed by Storm Cursed
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

The werewolves are out. Humans now know that they exist. They also know about the fae. And the humans are frightened. So when there is a troll on a bridge, the werewolves are on the list to help take care of it. And while dealing it, some old friends show up to help and they bring a small boy. Mercy  agrees to take care of the boy for 24 hours and accidentally declares that her wolf pack is in charge of the tri-cities (which is more than three, really.) But the small boy turns out to be both a blessing and a curse - he has spent a long time in Underhill and has been changed in ways that make the fae jealous. Mercy will have to protect him from the Grey Lords themselves.
A good story but I'm not sure about Aiden and what that will mean for Mercy in future books.

Three stars
This book came out March 8th, 2016
Follows Night Broken
Followed by Silence Fallen
Ebook from Library
Opinions are my own

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

Would you want your husband's ex-wife living with you? A wife who is known for manipulating the people around her? I sure wouldn't. But Mercy Thompson is a kind person who wants to help everyone, especially her stepdaughter's mother. Even if that means that she's made to feel uncomfortable in her own house as the ex hides from a recent bad breakup. Like, he killed her last boyfriend bad breakup.  And... it might be that he's a slightly crazy fire-godlike-creature. Oops.
It will take the might of the full wolf-pack as well as Mercy's vampire friend Stefan to make sure that everyone makes it out alive.
This was a nice, fast read and a good addition to the series. I didn't love seeing Christy getting to walk all over Mercy but at least we're finally starting to see the pack rally behind her.

Three stars
This book came out March 5th, 2013
Follows Frost Burned
Followed by Fire Touched
Borrowed from Library
Opinions are my own

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

The book opens on Black Friday with Jesse having talked Mercy into braving the midnight shopping options. While heading to the mall, she experiences a panic attack and plows into the car in front of her. And she has good reason to panic; the pack has been taken. The entire pack. Supposedly, the people that took them worked for the government but she has good reason to believe that is not the truth.
Her mate bond with Adam is tested and she learns more about who her allies are and what they can do. And it seems that there may be a Big Bad who is using the government for their own purposes.
And that link didn't quite make sense to me. Maybe it was because I was listening to the audiobook but I didn't quite get the link. Lots of action in this book, not as much character development.

Three stars
This book came out March 11th, 2014
Follows River Marked
Followed by Night Broken
Borrowed from Library
Opinions are my own

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Mercy has been dragging her feet on her marriage plans to Adam, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. Not because she doesn't want to marry him, but because the arrangements are getting so insanely out of hand. When her own hand is forced, it's not such a bad thing. At least she and Adam are getting to go on their honeymoon. Except that, even there, it seems that fate seems to intervene, making sure that their time together isn't going to go exactly as planned.
A nice addition to the series. More background on Mercy and her parentage is added which is nice but there is a lot of lore that can make it hard to follow.

Three stars
This book came out March 1st, 2011
Follows Silver Borne
Followed by Frost Burned
Borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

In a previous book of the series, Mercy had borrowed a book from a man named Phin. She has been very busy in the mean time and has been reading it off and on because it has very interesting handwritten stories about the fae. But there is something more about this book because Phin is gone after leaving a cryptic message to protect the book and there are strange fae hanging around his shop trying to get her to give them the book.
There is also something going on with her BFF Samuel and it's bad enough that she can't tell anyone else. And even worse, there are still members of Adam's pack that resent Mercy and they're going to have to figure it out before the pack falls apart.
Great build up until the end and then a lot was resolved in the last 15 pages and that felt rushed.

Three stars
This book came out March 30th, 2010
Follows Bone Crossed
Followed by River Marked
Borrowed from library
Opinions are my own

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

Anne Latham is still getting used to being a werewolf. Never mind throwing into the mix the fact that she's an Omega (outside the normal pack structure with powers of her own). And she just was mated to Charles Cornick who is the son of the most powerful werewolf in the Americas. And Charles, his father's enforcer, is no slouch. That's the reason why Charles, instead of his father, is the one to attend a meeting of Alphas from around the globe to discuss whether or not werewolves should make themselves known to the human population.
Also attending is a man known as "The Butcher," a long-loved werewolf from France who loves to kill. Innocents are his favorites and he may have set his eyes on Anne. Someone certainly has since she's set upon by six vampires while shopping. It all gets hairier when the wife of a werewolf who believes he's King Arthur reincarnated is attacked. Through in a fae who used to be Charles' lover and it all gets very, very complicated.

A fine story that does a lot to advance what's going on in the larger Mercy Thompson universe.

Three stars

Follows Cry Wolf

Followed by Fair Game
This book came out August 25th, 2009
Borrowed this book from the library
Opinions are my own

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

A couple/few books ago, Mercy Thompson killed two vampires. One that she was sanctioned to kill and one she was not. Now, however, the local head of the vampires has discovered that she was the one to kill the second vampire and has basically opened the floodgates for creepy-crawlies to come after Mercy.
At the same time, Mercy's old college friend has shown up and asked Mercy to come help her get rid of a ghost that is terrorizing the woman's son. But the timing of the invitation is more than a little suspicious. Does Amber really need help with her son Chad? And why was disbeliever Corban, Amber's husband, the one to suggest that Mercy be the one to call?
This book moved along nicely and built more on Adam and Mercy's relationship and Mercy's on character.

Four stars
This book came out February 3rd, 2009
Follows Iron Kissed
Followed by Silver Borne
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Mercy's mentor Zee has called her in to help solve a series of murders. The victims were all fae so the human police haven't been brought it. Mercy quickly determines the killer but is shocked when Zee is arrested for the man's death. He is obviously not the killer but the Gray Lords are willing to let him take the fall in order to have it cleaned up quickly. The acceptance of fae by the humans is imperative and having one person go down is not beyond their plans.
But Zee belongs to Mercy. Whether or not he wants her to investigate, she's going to. And this book ends with a rather graphic scene and some discussion of what happens in the aftermath of rape. I am so glad that I read this book even though I listened to the rest of the series because there is at least a bit of space between the book and the brain that sometimes isn't there if you are absorbing a book through your ears. I haven't personally had the experience but, from the outside, it seemed like an eloquent description of what a victim has to wrestle with.

Three stars
This book came out January 2nd, 2008
Follows Blood Bound
Followed by Bone Crossed
I listened to this as an audiobook
Opinions are my own

Iron Kissed by Patricia Biggs

Mercy's mentor Zee has called her in to help solve a series of murders. The victims were all fae so the human police haven't been brought it. Mercy quickly determines the killer but is shocked when Zee is arrested for the man's death. He is obviously not the killer but the Gray Lords are willing to let him take the fall in order to have it cleaned up quickly. The acceptance of fae by the humans is imperative and having one person go down is not beyond their plans.
But Zee belongs to Mercy. Whether or not he wants her to investigate, she's going to. And this book ends with a rather graphic seen and some discussion of what happens in the aftermath of rape. I am so glad that I read this book even though I listened to the rest of the series because there is at least a bit of space between the book and the brain that sometimes isn't there if you are absorbing a book through your ears. I haven't personally had the experience but, from the outside, it seemed like an eloquent description of what a victim has to wrestle with.

Four stars
Follows Blood Bound
Followed by Bone Crossed
This book came out January 82 2008
Ebook borrowed from library
Opinions are my own