Review of “Night Broken” A Mercy Thompson novel by Patricia
Briggs
The 8th book in the series
manages to find fresh new ideas without losing track of the stories that came
before. This book touches on storylines that were introduced in the previous
books without losing focus of the main plot line and even ties them together.
After hating the fifth book, I was nervous returning to the series. But I loved
book 6, really liked the first half of book seven, and book 8 has been really
enjoyable to read. This book introduces new characters, new supernatural
threats and makes it feel natural to the stories already told with these
characters.
In previous books we’ve heard mention of Adam’s ex-wife
Christy, but this book finally lets us see Mercy and Christy go head-to-head
for Adams affection. In the 6th book, we
met a version of Mercy’s father in Coyote, and he returns in this book along
with a new half-brother named Gary Laughingdog. Gary is also a coyote
shapeshifter, like Mercy, but he also has powers of premonitions that looks
like seizures. This book also gives some more character development to Honey,
who at the end of the last book lost her husband. Honey has been a side-side
character since the second or third book, a member of Adams wolf pack. Mercy
and Honey never really liked each other, but with the presence of Christy and
the loss of her husband, Honey and Mercy bond a bit. Honey even catches the eye
of Gary, because like Mercy he can see the ghost of her dead husband. As a
reader, it’s nice to get to know more of the wolf pack members.
One of the things that I like about this book, is that the
narrative stays focused on the main storyline. Christy comes into town because
she has a dangerous stalker that turns out to be an ancient God from the Canary
Islands. Mercy and the pack need to find this man and figure out how to defeat
a lava God. The only side plot is the fairy Grey Lord confronts Mercy,
demanding the return of the walking stick artifact. At first this plot seems a
bit weird, but it ties in with the main storyline, because Mercy gave the
walking stick to Coyote, and she meets Gary to find Coyote. At the end Coyote
helps them defeat the lava god. And the walking stick returns to Mercy. It was
an interesting way to introduce the son of the creator of the fae walking
stick, since he’s a grey Lord, while staying connected to the plot.
We also meet a couple that breed dogs and help Mercy to find
the villain because he has a rare dog breed. They’re a cute couple but sadly at
the end of the book the man gets turned into lava dog that the villain uses to
attack Mercy and the pack. While a permanent change to poor Joel, there is hope
that he can shift back to human form.
As a woman, I kind of enjoyed the bickering and struggle of
Adam’s attention between Mercy and Christy. Mercy seems a bit petty and
childish, but deservingly so based on Christy’s annoying behavior. I enjoy the
relationship drama and love that Adam never once thinks about leaving Mercy for
Christy, and she knows it. It finally shows some trust in their relationship.
Christy is a fun character; you sort of hate her for coming in to be a homewrecker,
but you also have sympathy for her. The lava god stalker named Juan Flores or
his true name of Goyota, was an interesting villain with cool powers and demon
dogs, but never gets any characterization. His main motive is that he believes
Christy is the reincarnation of his true love, wife from centuries ago. Juan
Flores proves to be a formidable threat, but ultimately is kind of lame in
terms of characterization.
Other than the villain, the only other flaw is that this book
sort of shoehorns in the vampire ongoing drama. The last book ended, needlessly,
with the vampires fighting and this book sort of continues it. It’s only a few
brief scenes, but that makes it feel even more useless. The vampire Wolf, calls
Mercy up to meet him at his house, and he plays coy with her and Adam, almost
trying to seduce them into a threesome, when Stefan shows up. Wolf then poaches
Stefan about joining Marsilia, Mistress of the vampires. The information about
Goyota lava god, could have been obtained without needing to involve the
vampires, something I feel the author thinks she’s obligated to add in each
book. We had two books early on that focuses on the vampires, we can leave them
alone for one book, or do something big with Stefan again, but having him pop
in for a scene or two feels obligatory and gratuitous.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I’d probably rank it
towards the top of the series so far. I’m hoping that the books continue to
stay good, and we never get a repeat of the wandering narrative that was book
5. Night Broken is a solid entry and provides new characters to use
going forward. I hope Gary Laughingdog comes back. The book had more comedy and
investigation than action, which I enjoyed. Goyota is a powerful and scary
villain, so the comedy is a good way to keep the tone balanced. I love exploring
new supernatural beings and creatures. I love when the books
expand the world, and we learn more information about the fae and the rules of
supernatural beings and Mercy’s father Coyote. Hopefully, the series will
continue to expand, these books are at their best when Mercy is interacting
with characters that we enjoy.
