About the Book

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.

341 pages (hardcover)
Published on March 11, 2014
Published by Ace
Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

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The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs is one of those rare urban fantasy series that I’ve enjoyed from the first book. Yes it involves werewolves, vampires, fae and the like, but Briggs puts her own spin on all of it. The characters aren’t cookie-cutter. They stand on their own, and their unique voices give Briggs’ world a wonderful depth and a sense of vibrant reality. The characters are flawed, and memorable, and I love them for it.

Once you hit the eighth book in a series, you pretty much already know who is going to read it. The series diehards, and the people who are new to it, or are thinking about starting it, probably won’t be interested. But the diehards, oh yes, the diehards need to read this one.

Night Broken has a different tone than the other books in the series that I’ve read. First of all, the reintroduction of Adam’s ex wife automatically puts most of the focus of the novel on relationships, both the building and straining of them. It’s actually rather fascinating to see how all of the characters react to each other, and the situations they are in, when they are all so obviously uncomfortable. Furthermore, readers will probably find themselves more aggravated reading this book in the series than any other purely because of the introduction of Adam’s ex wife.

Being aggravated isn’t always a bad thing, though it might make this novel harder to read. The fact is, readers are going to be aggravated because of how connected to the characters they feel, and that is a huge mark in Briggs’ favor. You’ll want to strangle some people as you read, and that’s actually a good thing (who would have thought I’d ever say something like that?). The characters are real, and they are part of you. They are also independent, and they might not do what you or I would do in any certain situation, and that’s aggravating in the extreme, but it is real and it is powerful.

By the eighth book in a series, it’s pretty much understood that Briggs’ knows what she is doing. Her writing feels effortless, and the world she has established has had so much time to gain depth, discover its limitations and strengths, and build on those, that there really isn’t much to add in that department. Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series has become a hit with so many people, and a lot of that is because Briggs is an author who knows how to lead her audience. She knows just when to tell, and just when to show, and she understands the strengths and limitations of the world she has created. Through eight books of experience, she has learned just how to play on all of that.

Night Broken is fast paced, and there is (of course) a bit of a mystery involve in it. The ending wraps up all the loose ends nicely and leaves the readers wanting more (as always). However, as I mentioned above, this book is more about relationships – both the romantic and non-romantic kind – and I found myself more interested in those relationships, their developments and failures, than I did in the actual mystery/adventure plot.

That’s probably why Night Broken had such a different tone. It was a bit more mature, a bit more somber, and a lot more introspective. You really get to see these characters you’ve come to know and love, in situations that you won’t enjoy that much, and they obviously don’t, either. It’s one of those novels that really makes me feel, and what I feel isn’t often huggy-kissy-warm-and-fuzzy, but those feelings it evokes are powerful and raw, and real. That’s the best quality of Night Broken. It’s more intimate, more somber, and it will really make your heart muscles work.

4/5 stars