REVIEW: Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8)

Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8), by Patricia Briggs
Published March 11, 2014
Publisher: Ace
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre: adult urban fantasy/paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) 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.

Frustrations abounded in Night Broken, the latest Mercy Thompson book, as Adam's evil ex-wife crashes Mercy's and Adam's new happy life with a crisis that she needs help with. Faeries, vampires and evil volcano gods are out for Mercy's head on a platter, and the ex tearing up Mercy's kitchen is like pouring salt on the wound. 

Mercy's busy trying to get Adam's wolves on her side when Christy, Adam's ex-wife, shows up beaten with a story about a lover getting killed by another man who is now after her. She asks for protection, and Adam being Adam, gives it to her. Meanwhile, one of the Gray Lords has come to Mercy requesting to take possession of the walking stick that has attached itself to her. If he doesn't get it back, he'll wreak havoc on the Pacific Northwest. Mercy enlists the help of her sort-of-brother to not only get the walking stick back, but to thwart the evil volcano god who is after Christy. Because, the sooner her threat is removed, the sooner she can get out of their house. 

One of my favorite parts of the Mercy Thompson series - the werewolf pack bond - was in full force in Night Broken. Mercy still is struggling to be accepted by Adam's pack because she's not an actual werewolf. Despite that, as Adam's wife, she has access to the pack bonds and wields a fair amount of power over the others. I loved seeing Mercy manipulate those bonds when she needed them. 

Once again, there was a really cool mystery to be solved. There was the question of the identity of Christy's attacker, and once they found out who he was, how to stop him. There was also the case of the murdered women and animals and what they mean. I love how Mercy taps into her friends and uses their strengths and connections to help her. And, lots of her friends make appearances. Samuel and his mate, Stefan, Kyle and Tad all play key roles in Night Broken. Tad had a particularly elevated presence - it was awesome getting to know him better, especially since I have a feeling the next book will be more about him. 

There were a few things I felt were a little lacking. First, Mercy didn't turn into a coyote even once in this book, although we did see all the werewolves in their altered form. Second, Christy's presence caused a lot of irritation. On one hand, I LOVED the introduction of her presence and the conflict it introduced. On the other hand, I kept waiting and waiting... and WAITING for someone (namely, Adam) to put that bitch in her place. There was one scene where Mercy had some words with her, but I so wanted someone to just go totally off on her. It never came, and it made me feel largely unfulfilled. I think a lot more could've been done with Christy in Night Broken. I'm also really ready for the wolves to get over their major attitude problems toward Mercy. It's getting a little old now.

The big bad guy was one seriously evil dude. I really liked that it seemed impossible to beat him. It made for a really poignant and explosive final battle. I liked how that all played out, although it was a bit disconcerting that, once again, Mercy ended up in critical condition. How does this girl continue to get herself into situations where her life comes this close to ending? 

Despite that, Night Broken is a fantastic book. Mercy and Adam are at a perfect place of love and trust in their relationship, and the best parts of the entire book were when they were alone and shared comfortable, sweet moments with each other. They've come a long way, and it's so satisfying to read about. I'm totally hooked on this series and can't wait for the next book to come out.