Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

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Terrance McArthur

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Details on how to win a copy of this book at the end of this post.

Mercy Thompson fixes cars.

Mercy Thompson is married to Adam, the Alpha wolf of the TriCities werewolf pack.

Mercy Thompson sees ghosts.

Mercy Thompson can turn into a coyote.

In Patricia Briggs’ Frost Burned, the seventh volume of Mercy’s adventures, after she and Jesse, Adam’s daughter, have a Black Friday parking-lot fender-bender in the Rabbit caused by a random comment, she can’t contact anybody. The pack has vanished, kidnapped by people with badges, leaving a silver-wounded Ben to try to explain from between his human and wolf forms. Mercy is trying to protect Jesse, and to find Adam and set him free. Of course, getting revenge on the ones who hurt her husband is pretty high on her to-do list, too. When the pack escapes/is set free (I’m not saying which, because I’m not sure. It’s complicated.), there is a lot of story left to go, including a wild and crazy battle royal.

Image source: Ace

The vampires get plenty of face time in this book, along with Mercy’s ability to see and interact with ghosts. Marsilia, ruling Mistress of the local seethe of vampires, has a fancy Mercedes (with leather upholstery) that sees a lot of action, as does Marsilia herself. Stefan makes some plot-promoting visits, and the spirits of the dead help Mercy uncover some interesting powers that she can use in the book’s final confrontation. It definitely helps to be familiar with this series and the Alpha and Omega stories (Some A&O elements are cross-pollinated here.), but it isn’t crucial. Also, some interesting clues are planted that point toward some major changes for Mercy and Adam.

The werewolves are all virtuous and respectful of others (even when they are ripping into your flesh in a rage), and the government is not to be trusted (especially the Republicans, who seem to have a racist hatred of non-humans), but vampires always seem to have their fang-er-prints on everything that’s happening. Frost Burned is a lively entry in the Mercy Thompson series. Mercy may get help in her fights, but she is usually inflicting a goodly amount of damage before the cavalry arrives. Briggs surrounds Mercy with a diverse set of friends and enemies, a Rainbow Coalition of the paranormal world that includes humans they can respect. It’s an enchanted place, but the body count is formidable. This isn’t Disney World, folks.

To enter to win a copy of Frost Burned, simply email KRL at life@kingsriverlife[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Frost”, or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 30, 2013. U.S. residents only.

Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL:

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a California-born, Valley-raised librarian/entertainer/writer. He lives in Sanger, four blocks from the library, with his wife, his daughter, and a spinster cat.