Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson #12
Urban Fantasy
March 17, 2020 by Ace
ARC
It’s March, and that means a new Patricia Briggs book. Mercy Thompson is back with the Columbia Basin Pack and this time they are battling an unknown foe escaped from Underhill. And if that weren’t enough, since their fight against the Hardesty witches Adam and Mercy’s relationship has become strained. Adam is blocking the mate bond and Mercy doesn’t know why he has suddenly become so standoffish and withdrawn.
When the book opens Christy, Adam’s ex-wife and a mega, meddling, bitch, interferes yet again with the Pack, Mercy’s authority within it, and Jessie and her father’s relationship. I hate Christy and I’m annoyed with Auriele for letting her manipulation into the Pack again and again. Thankfully, this gets resolved pretty quickly, since there are other, more important, problems to deal with. Namely a faceless murderer who has somehow escaped Underhill via the new doorway in Mercy and Adam’s backyard and a small pack of rogue wolves who intend to take over the Columbia Basin Pack.
I won’t get into the ins and outs of the main plot, but suffice it to say it kept me turning pages and I was surprised at the identity of the bad guy. The biggest and most important part of this story is the turmoil between Mercy and Adam.
We are twelve books into this series and if there is one thing I know it’s that Mercy is loyal to those she considers her family and friends and that she has faith in her relationship with her mate. It hurt me to see her pain and uncertainty over Adam’s growing detachment. I knew the reason had to be because of something really important, and I was right. I liked the way Mercy handled the situation and even though I was annoyed with Adam, I can see why he did the things he did. Don’t worry though, the author doesn’t torture us too much and this couple does end up in a settled place by the last chapter. But this is a very interesting development for the series and I’m intrigued to see how it will affect Mercy and Adam and Pack dynamics in the future.
Once again, I feel like I read too fast, and now have to wait until next March for another book in this world. I have a feeling 2021 will bring a new Alpha/Omega novel and we won’t see Adam and Mercy for awhile. This makes me sad, but I’ll take whatever I can get.
Final grade- B
KINDLE * GOODREADS * AUTHOR’S WEBSITE
I’m looking forward to reading this. I’ll be very happy for another Alpha and Omega book as I quite like Anna and Charles.
Just finished Smoke Bitten this morning and agree it was a page turner. Your comment about how loyal to the pack Mercy is reminded me of a striking remark by a pack member who is grudgingly respectful. After an emotional disagreement the character says to Mercy, “You are a Goody Two-shoes sometimes, but you’d fall on a grenade for Adam or Jesse or a member of the pack. You fell on a grenade for Christy, even. But you would also fall on a grenade for a total stranger—and that makes you a liability to the pack.”
That altruism, the sense of her own True North, is one of the traits that makes Mercy, the unlikely daughter of a trickster god, so engaging.
And I agree with you Angela, Briggs obliges us to read too fast. The upside I find is that makes rereading all the more satisfying.
Just finished Smoke Bitten this morning and agree it was a page turner. Your comment about how loyal to the pack Mercy is reminded me of a striking remark by a pack member who is grudgingly respectful.
After an emotional disagreement the character says to Mercy, “You are a Goody Two-shoes sometimes, but you’d fall on a grenade for Adam or Jesse or a member of the pack. You fell on a grenade for Christy, even. But you would also fall on a grenade for a total stranger—and that makes you a liability to the pack.”
That altruism, the sense of her own True North, is one of the traits that makes Mercy, the unlikely daughter of a trickster god, so engaging.
And I agree with you Angela, Briggs obliges us to read too fast. The upside I find is that makes rereading all the more satisfying.