Night Broken: A Mercy Thompson Novel - Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Book for Adults | Perfect for Book Clubs & Supernatural Fiction Fans

Fantastic!So I just finished Night Broken, and I already say how fantastic I find the book, and yes I love this serie and this world so much I'm going to reread the book! LOLMercy was the first character if I remember well I started reading in this category fantasy "bit-lit" we called in french. Before I was reading mostly fantasy, pure and hard fantasy.So this serie and those characters have a special place in my heart.And I remember the weekend I bought the first book "called moon", I remember have read it all the afternoon on my couch and I fell in love with Adam, follow Mercy in her quest of truth and justice with excitation and anxiety. And here we are, the 8th book, I am proud to say I have them in french and english now, and follow Alpha and Omega because it's so good. (I prefer the english version than the translate one).But as usual after each new book new questions are delivered and I just can't stop hypothetize and ask me "And now what is going to happen??" Beware lot of spoilers.So we follow Mercy in her days to days life being turned upside down by the arrival of Christy, Adam's ex-wife. [spoiler]Christy is being stalked, and who did she call to the rescue.... Adam of course. But Christy's intentions are not really genuine.In the meantime Mercy try to retrieve the walking stick from Coyote to give it back to its son's creator.And we learn that the stalker Christy 's been followed by is a really strange guy, and not human at all!So what I find amazing was the intricated plot. Also it brings up a doubt, that maybe Coyote has ingeniered all this retrieving walking stick party just because Mercy will need it to understand something about her futur opponent. Which makes me wonder if Coyote hasn't a foresight gift, and like Gary, Coyote must have the possibility to see a futur.I really loved how Patricia Briggs brings the pack to see Mercy a bit differently, make the pack respect her more. Actions speak more clearly than words and the fact that most of the pack usually think her a liability, but now starts to see her as a strong unquitable woman. Now I wonder what will it bring in for the pack dynamic? More cohesion?The Mercy and Adam couple is magnificent, so sweet, I was all along the book feeling on the edge, but when Mercy is with Adam and they shared those intimate moments, I was feeling really peaceful. I love their relationship. As Mercy said, Adam and her enjoyed even fighting, and arguing together. Because there is unconditionable love between them, but also respect, confidence. And Briggs described it very well.Like all good book well written, when I read Briggs its amazing how I'm totally sucked in the book. Like I was there. It's fluid and enthralling.Mercy is a really smart character, with a lot of humour. She is responsible. And most of all she is a good person, which give her the means to deal with complicated and stressful situations.She has a beautiful relationship with Jesse. And had an incredible good mother instinct.She will be a fabulous mother, and I keep hope we will be able to see her being a mother. I know that's stupid, but I can't stop wondering what will happen, how Adam and Mercy will react, and the pack, and all people around? Another story and dynamic for the pack. But also another uncommon being for the creatures community, as Mercy is kind of the last coyote.This discussion is already been talk about on the forum, so I'm not going to speculate here.And at last, in this book we met Christy. In the previous books, Briggs gave some clues of how she is and how was her mariage with Adam, or how she was seen by the pack. But here we have a taste of what Adam have been through... Briggs lay in words a detestable character. I could not believe Adam married this woman. But her manipulative and complaining personality was really well transcribed.Christy is an irresponsible harpie (to be polite) and I'd wished to be able to punch her several time.[u]However, and this is a negative point for me in this book[/u]; I don't understand why Adam do not correct her when she act rudely toward Mercy. Why can he not tell her no? I mean it distress Mercy, she even cannot eat, he should see it, or feel it through their bond. And I didn't really like some of Adam behavior at a particular moment.Mercy is his mate, not just his wife. They do not have children yet together, but it doesn't make less their bond stronger. So I really do not understand Adam's behavior.when Adam let Christy play childish games, (she invade the master bathroom with the grace of bulldozer, as if it was still her own) doesn't stick to the alpha and man Briggs created in the previous books. But it might be a deed to show how Christy screw him up so much.Like Auriele when she came and knock at their bathroom door, thought they are in the shower, Adam let that be permitted, made me confused. I was waiting for him to snarl or growl and said to Auriele to leave... But nothing came. I fell an antagonism here. In those situation. This is what upset me in the book. And I didn't understand.The "I love you" from Christy toward Adam at the end, and the fact that he said thank you was Not to my taste either. Sure it shows how selfish and selfcentered Christy is, but I didn't feel like it play in the favor of Adam, because his comportement wasn't right again.I really felt like Adam was weak. Ok Christy knows how to manipulate people but he is an alpha, I would not have imagined him so soft and a bit tame in christy's presence. But maybe was the contrast Briggs wanted to show. The Adam with Christy and the Adam with Mercy. I prefer the last.In the begining of this book, The pack continues to be direspectful toward Mercy. They hate for having a coyote as second... Too bad. They are also very unfair towards Mercy. I couldn't believe they have no shame to accuse Mercy to be mean or petty toward Christy, when they are doing the same. Their bias blind them. They cannot even appreciate the sacrifices Mercy made for the pack. I was just glad to seen her opponent soften their opinion toward her presence in the pack in this book at the end. They start to see her value and the benefit her presence bring them. Which also smell the end of the serie... SadlyThe day by day life with Christy is stressful. Patricia Briggs makes her a very very 'good' villain character. Drama irresponsible immature queen. And her intention at the end to move back killed me! Instantly. I was laughing, imagining Mercy's face.I hope for Mercy's, Adam's and also Jesse's sake that she is not going to moving back in the tricities.in conclusion Christy is a really great character as a vilain, but I think she will destroy the alpha man Adam usually is. I didn't not enjoy all Adam's personality when in presence of Christy.Loved how Mercy is working so hard in herself to accommodate everybody. With brings a pleasant contraste between the two women.Jesse is still the sweet teenager I learned too love in the begining of the serie. She has so constantly been desappointed by her mother it was painful to read. But hopefully she has Adam and Mercy.The new opponent is gruesome, he killed and killed but also eat his victimes. Awesome! And what an Interesting man! Christy is attract by dangerous men.Meanwhile we met new people.Zack, a new wolf. The guy seemed to be a good guy, lost, broken too, apprently he has some personal issues. And I was really glad to see the pack welcome a new wolf, I hope it will not be temporarely. But I can't keep thinking he is going to bring some troubles. Even if he is a submissive wolf. Will see.Gary the half brother of Mercy. I like him. He is funny and pragmatic. I enjoy seeing a relative if Mercy.I still cannot put a finger on coyote's real intentions. But what an intriguing character.Make me think that is not a bad guy like Gary keep saying. He is full of surprise. And he looks like he really love his children.So my question are,The walking stick is back :D What does it mean? What happened to it? Why does it like so much Mercy? What ties do they have together? Why can't it stay with the fae?Joel: What will happened to him? Will he be able to be a humain again? What will happened for the pack? what brings this new addition? Will the pack be unhappy with this new situation?Mercy: She win more respect from the pack. It looks like she assert her position as a second and alpha's mate in this book, she show the pack, that she can protect them, and will die trying.But the fact that she add Joel -even by last-chance move- in the pack, will it not shake again the cohesion of the pack and increase the pack distastes of her? Will she live longer than a normal human span life?Will she be pregnant? Sam's obsession for her possibility to bear viable children makes me wonder, what could be the progeny between her and Adam.Stephan: I was happy to 'see' him back in Frost Burn, and to know that him and Mercy have still a tie. What a great and mysterious surprise. What will that bring between them (Adam-Mercy-Stephan) in the futur? What consequences on the pack? and with the seethe? The kiss was a touching surprise.The book revealed also a big plot behind the CNTRP agency and big troubles are to be expected.The status of Mercy is slidding. People are asking questions about her humanity. What will happened?[/spoiler]I absolutly hate the cliffhanger at the end! I am so mad. >:(So many things, so many questions, and I really cannot believe they were going to be answered just in the next. It's too big.I wish Mrs Briggs continue this série past the 9th book. This serie must continue.You know…. I was originally going to add a "typical" review of this book; until I saw that there are about 1300 of them already up here so what's the point right? Turns out, I was wrong. Turns out, a lot of these reviews remind me of the "B-fests" on IMDb. You know, the site people go to rip into something, or someone, just because they can. Well, of the 20+ reviews I've read on this book, virtually all of them contain some derogatory references to Adam in regard to his treatment of Mercy, Christie and the behavior of the pack. And many of those are followed with comments that continue the "B-slapping" to a degree that I finally just said ENOUGH ALREADY!Adam deserves better, MERCY, deserves better (because the degree of criticism against her mate diminishes HER accomplishments completely), and frankly, the pack deserves better too.So…. "In defense of Adam" here I go:First, does ANYONE remember that Adam was, at the very least, raised in the 50's? You remember… June Cleaver's pearls and wives who did nothing but stay home to care for "home and hearth"? His entire perception of how men respond to and treat women was instilled into him at a time when women weren't much more than appendages designed to silently "stand by your man". How many books did it take, how many YEARS did Mercy spend "teaching" him that she isn't made of glass, doesn't want to be on a pedestal and is QUITE capable (thank you very much) of opening her own bloody doors?! In the years since they've been a couple, she has also had to negotiate her independence right along with forcing him to realize that his need to protect her will NEVER keep her from defending others, even at the risk of her own life. And further, if he gets in the way of it, it means he doesn't trust her enough to let her be who she is thereby creating a situation in which surrendering to his will would "unmake" the person she has worked her whole life to be and consequently UNABLE TO BE WITH HIM! Adam, bless his heart, has taken a LOT of learning and trying to teach ANYONE to unlearn the lessons of their childhood and adolescence is both difficult and time consuming because it just doesn't happen overnight. Furthermore, in the fight to remain true to herself, SHE DOESN'T GO TO HIM WHEN SHE SHOULD because she wants to pick her battles and regards herself as perfectly capable of fighting most of them ON HER OWN.That fact is especially true when it comes to the pack. Mercy, more than ANYONE (except probably Bran) understands pack behavior, hierarchy and needs. What she didn't know, was that in the process of protecting her FOR THE MARROC Adam ended up "claiming her" as his and the whole pack knew it. So the fact that she spent YEARS ignoring that claim diminished their Alpha a fact that, in their eyes, is all on her whether she knew about it or not. So, right off the bat she has a HUGE strike against her for dissing their leader, a man they all love and trust. Furthermore, SHE IS NOT WOLF and pack structure is clearly a hierarchy that is much like the caste system in India. In many of their eyes, she is the equivalent of "the unclean"…. so far beneath him as to be untouchable, far enough beneath him that "touching her" sullies him. What King of England do you think could EVER have chosen a White Chapel "whore" as a wife/mate? Because that's how a number of them see it. And it's worse with the women because women are, in certain circumstances, so casually callous and hurtful to each other. In this case, their love for and admiration of Adam leaves them believing he deserves so very much more than this "mongrel" he has chosen. A "mongrel" who has brought HER battles, HER wars and HER problems and laid them at the feet of their Alpha and his pack more times than they can even count. OF COURSE MANY OF THEM BLOODY WELL HATE HER! Her very existence has threatened the life of their Alpha on more than one occasion and usually for something that would normally be totally outside pack business.As to Christy, the support of some of them for his ex is perfectly understandable. She was his first mate and she bore him a child they ALL completely adore. Because of pack structure and law, she (for those two things alone), to a degree, still belongs to them. Because she is human, she needs protecting even more. While in contrast, Mercy has never been helpless and, to the contrary, has brought her FIGHTS to them rather than her needs. Let's remember that most of the pack is filled with alpha-type werewolves whose first concern is PROTECTION. Christy needs it, Mercy doesn't. So Christy pushes a button in them that is instinctual; a button that also allows them to shove Mercy… who is so clearly undeserving of Adam in the first place, completely to the side.As for Adam, his role as Alpha demands that he not only protects his pack but that he keeps the peace within it intact as well. Given that Mercy has, time and time again, demanded that he let her fight her own battles up to and including those with the pack (by deliberately not telling him enough about them) what the *bleep* do you expect him to do when Mercy herself has told him to let Christy come? She has told him, demanded of him, that he allow her to make her own choices and to be responsible for them as well. So when SHE said "let her come", Adam was honoring his promise TO MERCY. Adam, as Alpha, is a caretaker by nature and Christy is the most high-maintenance, needy person we've met in this world. But until we met her, NO ONE could have foreseen how manipulative she is as well…. except Jesse, who is her child and who loves her Mom even though she knows EXACTLY how her Mother operates. How self-oriented Christy is and how dangerous that makes her to her Father, to Mercy and to the pack in general. But what is SHE supposed to do? She loves her Mom. She's outside the pack hierarchy and all of them see her as a child… with the exception of Mercy. Mercy, who doesn't want to be responsible for more stress on the pack. Mercy, who ALSO wonders if she is genuinely good enough for Adam. Mercy who has spent her whole life leaning on NO ONE, for anything at all…. EVER! And has forced Adam to accept her on her own terms while she in turn has promised to try to honor his need to keep her safe even though she still typically operates outside that promise whenever and wherever she chooses. You don't get to be pissed-off at Adam just because he is doing EXACTLY what Mercy herself has asked of him. Because he struggles EVERY SINGLE DAY TO HONOR MERCY AS SHE IS! So if you want to get angry, get angry with Mercy, for tying Adam's hands behind his back because SHE is the one who is ultimately responsible for this situation. She is the one who said "yes" knowing full well that the fallout would be on her.So I'm sorry… but I don't believe that you get to dump on Adam for things Mercy has asked him to do and you don't get to dump on the pack, who has been severely broken by ALL OF IT, just for behaving in the manner which they are driven to behave both by instinct and the nature of their wolves. I am sick to death of people who are always looking for someone to blame. EVERYONE, every single man, woman and child on the pages of novels and on the streets we drive, the neighborhoods we live in and the stores in which we shop… is responsible for their choices. With the sole exception being those who are mentally incompetent and unable to do so. Schizophrenics for example, cannot be held accountable for their choices because their brains are too dysfunctional to allow for it. Mercy made demands on Adam that limited his choices, so if you're going to blame anyone, blame her. Because he accepted her on HER terms and he sleeps in the bed that SHE MADE. Mercy, is the daughter of Coyote and because of that has a tendency to draw chaos like bees are drawn to honey. So honestly how could you possibly believe, given everything they've already been through, that the marriage of Mercy and Adam would be anything LESS than chaotic? That would be like saying that a walking stick made by a powerful Fae, is JUST a walking stick. Really people… have you read all of PB's books only to know so little about the rules on which they are built? Adam married Mercy, and she to him, with the full knowledge that their life together would always be a challenge and that they would never know from which direction those challenges would come. Adam's commitment to her is present in every single thing he does that goes against his nature because he wants to honor who she is. He is giving her the space and freedom to make her own choices at great personal cost. HOW, can you possibly blame him for that?The core of this book is the reappearance of Adam's ex-wife Christy as a damsel in distress triggering his protective instinct and creating havoc in the lives of Mercy, her family, and the pack. Everyone knows someone like Christy - her ability to play the victim and to belittle and blame other people is breathtaking but very realistic and hugely funny as Mercy does her best not to lose her temper or otherwise react. Christy really is in trouble and by fleeing to the pack for help (and also to try to get Adam back) she brings danger with her without the capacity to deal with it. The search for Christy's stalker and his revealed identity represents the real danger in the werewolf world and contrasts well with Christy's nonsense.The joy of getting to this volume in the series is that the author doesn't just tell the same story over and over again but she has actually developed her characters through their experiences in previous volumes and we see that in the way that they react to each other and the events of this book. This means that it is probably best if you have read some or all of the previous books as you will understand many of the nuances better than if this is your first exposure to the series. I have read all the previous books and the Alpha/Omega series too and it really added to my enjoyment of this book as there are fleeting references to all sorts of previous events which add real depth to the story (there is also a delightful passing reference to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels which nearly made me laugh out loud).The core of the book is Christy's return, the effect that it has on Mercy's relationships with the pack, and the problems that she brings with her. The author creates a fascinating adversary for Mercy in a god from the Canary Islands. There are other sub-plots too which are neatly interwoven with the main story and which leave lots of new story lines to be explored (hopefully) in future volumes; these include a fellow walker for Mercy to get to know, an unexpected discovery about Stefan the vampire, trouble for Tad with the fae, a secret government agency which has nefarious designs on werewolves, a new submissive werewolf for the pack with his secrets, a new member of the pack who is not a werewolf, and a difficulty with the ownership of the magic walking stick. I am really looking forward to seeing what the author does in the future with some of this material.The book is told all the way through in the first person from Mercy's point of view and is full of her wry observations about other people and her sarcastic wit. There are some very funny moments, some very scary ones, and some tender scenes. In all, this is a captivating read - I was gripped all the way through up to the very sudden, but effective, ending. It is going to be very difficult to wait for the next installment.Adams ex wife Chrissy phones in the middle of dinner, she's in trouble, she has picked up a stalker who is getting really dangerous. The police are taking the matter seriously but they can't find him and Chrissy is scared, she asks Adam for sanctuary, as an Alpha werewolf he has the strength to protect her as well as a while pack of wolves to help him. Mercedes would look really small and selfish if she refused Chrissy sanctuary so goes along, though she's not thrilled to have Chrissy move in and immediately start acting like the last of the house again, cooking gourmet meals and taking care of the domestic duties. Mercedes expects it to just take Adam a few days to sort the situation out but unfortunately as ever things do not to go plan, turns out Chrissys stalker is more dangerous than anyone could have foreseen and now Adam, Mercy and the lack are facing their most dangerous foe yet.Oh wow this was good, seriously good. So Adam's ex wife caught the eye of the wrong guy and ran back to the pack. Not only does she try to undermine Mercy at any given opportunity (loved the shampoo incident) but keeps reminding Adam how good their lives were and did he remember etc etc, along the way she pulls the pack into her games. But Mercy's family gets bigger and she collects another 2 members for the pack - but her backside was in the fire with the man that Cristy had attracted, as in he is a volcano god! But did love that the walking stick came back again!In this book, Christy, Adam’s manipulative ex wife, is brought to live in Mercy and Adam’s house as she has acquired a rather scary stalker - who is more than human.Mercy is in the physical and emotional wars yet again, this time battling stalkers, secret agents and (walking) sticks, never mind psycho serial killers who are magic and monstrous.Tensions are high as Christy tries to win all of the werewolves over and set them against Mercy, whilst she tries to assert her dominance as alpha mate without being heavy handed.I blitzed through this one, enjoying the banter, the romance, the comedy, the ongoing mystery and the violent battles.And at the very last cliffhanger - oh boy, I can’t wait to read the next one.Briggs writing draws me in so easily. I ended up reading this book in one sitting.Night Broken is #8 in the Mercy Thompson series of urban fantasy novels. If you have read the previous seven books then the main characters need no introduction. If you haven't read them I highly recommend you go read the first book in the series, Moon Called, as Night Broken is not really a stand alone novel.Night Broken is about Mercy's 'ex-wife in-law' Christy calling and saying she fell for a guy who's now stalking her and killing people, basically, she needs help. Mercy offers the woman sanctuary at her and Adam's home.Whilst dealing with the manipulative ex living in her home is going on in the background we have Mercy trying to deal with Christy's homicidal stalker, an investigation into the local brutal murders plus a personal request from a powerful fae.I enjoyed the story and the action, which as usual was excellent, but I felt Night Broken was more focused on relationships. Not only the romantic ones but all relationships between several characters in this series. I normally tend to get frustrated with romantic writings within urban fantasy. However, I found the small tender moments between Adam and Mercy to be some of the highlights of the book.The ending felt slightly abrupt to me I had to check a couple of times to see if I had missed a few pages or an epilogue. The main story was wrapped up but there were many sub-plots left open which I am sure will be investigated later.Overall, an essential read for all fans of Mercy Thompson.