Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, #10
Urban Fantasy
March 7, 2017
Ace Books

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “…my real superpower is chaos.”

A simple run to the corner market store turns into a battle for survival when Mercy is kidnapped and transported halfway around the world. Using her wits and skills, Mercy escapes her captor but finds herself alone in Europe with no money, no clothing, and no friends.  Discovering her bond with Adam and the pack is weak and unreliable, Mercy heads towards possible allies while avoiding recapture as she slowly starts to suspect that her getting kidnapped and ending up in Prague is not a coincidence.

Ancient beings are rising, new powers are manifesting, old grudges are reborn… and one lone coyote is all that stands between an all-out supernatural war.

Patricia Briggs takes readers on an interesting, danger filled, and darkly humorous adventure in her tenth installment when Mercy is kidnapped by an overly curious vampire who is under the impression she is the most powerful person in the Tri-Cities area. Mercy soon finds herself getting into all sorts of trouble as she waits for Adam to find her.

“Who told you I was the most dangerous person in the Tri-Cities? There are goblins who could take me without breaking a sweat.”

Slow burn in terms of action and suspense but high on intrigue, Briggs keeps the storyline moving at a steady pace with engaging narrative, wit-infused dialogue and the ever present romantic undertones. Using the events from book nine to open the door, Briggs adds to her already convoluted world, introducing more new faces and revisiting some old one while divulging deeper into the backgrounds of some of the more colorful characters who inhabit this world.

“Yes, yes, we are all beautiful here. Can we get going? Or do I need to get the makeup mirror out of my purse so you two can admire yourselves a little longer?”

DANGER WILL ROBINSON!! SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN’T READ FIRE TOUCHED!!

Silence Fallen opens not too long after Fire Touched ended. Mercy, Adam, and the pack are happy and content. Aiden seems to be adapting well to his new living arrangements, Mercy has realized Bran’s decision to separate himself from their pack wasn’t a rejection of her, and the supernatural community has been relatively quiet despite Mercy claiming the city to be under her pack’s protection. Hearing that Mercy was going to be ripped from the pack again gave me some pause because this actually seems to happen quite a bit. But fear not as Briggs is an old pro and knows how to bring her game to any situation or setting. Using a quirky but feasible off linear timeline, Mercy and Adam tell the story in alternating chapters with clues offered up quote style at the beginning of each chapter. You must pay close attention to these quotes as they are the lanterns used to light your way. 

There is not much pack interaction in here but I felt their absence added to the anticipation of the story especially with the heavy inclusion of vampire politics and espionage. We aren’t sure what Mercy or Adam will do but using their dual voices adds strength to the narrative as both are required to do things they normally wouldn’t. Adam is forced to play the diplomat with a much more powerful predator (something he is definitely not used to) and Mercy must face some old fears and acknowledge that she is much more than a “simple mechanic.” Watching Mercy keep it together while Adam and his wolf struggle with the limitations imposed by politics is amusing to watch play out. It serves to remind us that even without the pack’s strength at their backs, they are more than able to handle their own and luckily they have some allies who step up to help them. Regardless of how they personally feel about Mercy.

“Somehow, when she is destroying other people’s carefully laid plans, she is not so annoying.”

Meeting the European supernatural community makes for some interesting scenes and lets us know there is a huge world beyond what we have seen so far. Their old world charm balances nicely with the offhand violence and I enjoyed the inclusion of Eastern European history through Mercy’s eyes. Jacob, Libor, Kocourek…I hope we haven’t seen the last of them.

“Such a clever coyote is your Mercy.”

The ending brings us the high-speed action and machiavellian twists we are used to seeing in this series. Briggs yet again proves she is a master of deception and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Silence Fallen takes us out of the usual and brings fresh faces, places, and storylines to the series. I for one am ready to see where Briggs takes us from here. Dare we hope for a strong crossover into the next Alpha Omega installment? *crossing fingers and toes*

GRADE: B

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