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Friday, April 8, 2016

Audible Book Review: Fire Touched: Mercy Thompson Series, Book 9, by Patricia Briggs

Another warm and engaging installment to this strong series. 
Fire Touched: Mercy Thompson Series, Book 9
Written by: Patricia Briggs
Narrated by: Lorelei King

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 9
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:03-08-16
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy,
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0


Publisher's Summary
Mercy Thompson has been hailed as "a heroine who continues to grow and yet always remains true to herself."* Now she's back, and she'll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it's the children who suffer....
Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.
Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?
*Library Journal
©2016 Hurog, Inc. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.


Review:
Mercy, a coyote shapeshifter, and her mate, Adam, the Alpha of the Tri-Cities Werewolf pack, are called in by the local authorities to help stop a rampaging monster on one of the city’s bridges. They don’t know exactly what they are dealing with until it is described to them. Mercy’s guess that it is a troll are confirmed when they arrive on site to stop the creature who is killing humans and playing crash with the cars. Although there are three werewolves and Joel, the fire-god dog, in the battle the troll is not easy to take down.

Mercy had promised not to step into danger but has to weigh that promise against the need to save a mother and infant trapped in a car not far from the troll. Mercy takes the risk to help others and places herself in the path of the troll. Surprisingly she has a few tricks that help but she is facing death when the enraged troll is brought down by the Joel in the crazed fire-god dog form. The out of control dog is a danger, even though it is part of the pack until a child steps onto the bridge and calms the dog.

The boy, Aiden, looks like a child but in fact is hundreds of years old. He was stolen by the fae and has recently escaped with the help of two of Mercy’s fae friends. He is seeking sanctuary which Mercy grants short term in exchange for the help he has given.

Mercy wasn’t fully aware of Aiden’s fire-touched powers or the fact that other fae will attack to try to get to him. Adam and Mercy commit their pack to protect the child even as he causes havoc in their home. The pack has also been set up as the protector of the humans in 'their territory'. The Greylords of the fae are prepared to engage in full out war with the pack unless a treaty can be reached. Fortunately, not all the fae want to destroy the humans and Mercy has powerful friends willing to step up and offer help in negotiating a way out of this mess.

Once again Ms. Briggs presents the magic warmth of Mercy, with the strength of her pack and friends, in a setting that mixes love, humor, conflict and action. I like the strong pack dynamics displayed by the care and loyalty to their own and those they claim as theirs. The strong bond between Mercy and Adam is a plus and even the conflicts with Mercy's step-father added an interesting element. The story is creative and engaging and I have enjoyed the 'specialness' of the walking stick in Mercy's life. I was only sorry it ended too quickly.

Fans of the Mercy Thompson series should enjoy this installment. If you haven’t read the series yet I recommend that new readers start at the beginning to learn all of the characters and relationship developments… not to mention enjoying all of the dangerous adventures.

Audio Notes: Lorelei King is the voice of this series! She does an impressive, excellent job with the various character accents as well as delivering the tone and intensity of the actions. I always love to listen to books narrated by Lorelei.

I picked this up with a February Audible credit. It qualifies for my Audiobook Challenge and “F” in Alphabet Soup Challenge.

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