by Mary Anne Barker

Details on how to win a copy of Night Broken at the end of this review.

Night Broken is the eagerly awaited eighth novel of the Mercy Thompson series and Patricia Briggs does not disappoint. I have been enjoying the development and progression of the relationship between Mercy and Adam since the beginning.

This one starts with Adam’s ex-wife, Christy, calling. She has gotten herself in trouble and wants protection. Something that Adam excels at is protection as he runs a security company and his nature as a werewolf is to protect. So ex-wife comes “home” because her new ex-boyfriend is scary. Soon Christy is doing her best to come between Mercy and Adam, and Mercy and the pack with which Mercy already has trouble. Some of them do not like having a coyote in their wolf pack.

Then another problem pops up. No big surprise, but it’s complicated! The fae are asking for a walking stick to be returned. Mercy borrowed the item in a previous book and has tried to give the item to the fae, but it seems to have a mind of its own and keeps going back to Mercy. So at end of the last book, River Marked, Mercy gave it to Coyote. Well, now the son of the creator of the walking stick, a Grey Lord fae, wants it back, but she no longer has the walking stick–and how in the world do you get a hold of Coyote? In the process of trying to find Coyote she finds more family.

Mercy has her hands full between the ex-wife trying to drive a wedge between Mercy and her family, Christy’s ex-boyfriend who isn’t what he seems, dead bodies piling up and trying to make sure the town where they live isn’t destroyed by the fae. Oh, and trying to find Coyote. Oh my…

One of the problems is resolved, but there are a couple that are still hanging–including one she thought she resolved. Oh my.

This is an enjoyable series and it is much easier if you read them in order. The main problem is, it takes sooo long for Patricia Biggs to write a new one. It’s been a year since the last book, but it has the quality of a story that is crafted, not just slap-dashed together.

So long sigh, I have to wait for a year for the next installment–but it will be well worth the wait!

To enter to win a copy of Broken Night, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Broken,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 22, 2014. U.S. residents only.

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Mary Anne Barker works at the Reedley Library. She loves books, TV and movies.