I started this series quite a while ago and tossed it aside because I just couldn't get into it. This time I listened to it in audiobook format and loved it so much I listened to them in sequence. I enjoyed every moment of it. 

This picks up after the events of Fair Game. Mercy is out Christmas shopping on Black Friday with her step-daughter Jesse. Mercy's beloved Rabbit gets totaled. None of the pack answers when she calls. They've been kidnapped.
This one was so much better than River Marked (thus far my least favorite). This one picks up full steam ahead. I liked the who-done-it. But, I thought it could have been a little more suspenseful. Jesse and the Sandovals disappear after a certain point. The mystery is still out there how the mercenaries were able to get their hands on so much of the formula that does, very effectively, take down werewolves. Who else knows about the formula? I loved that Tad and Stefan (and briefly Zee) were in this one. Kyle also had a decent toll to play too. 
One thing I wish were different: Mercy has people who, if not friends, are allies. But they are all men. The women in the pack (Honey and Mary Jo) don't like Mercy. Marsilia is a bitch. Ariana might be a possibility, but she's on the page briefly. That leaves Jesse. As much as I like Jesse, she's a teenager. Why can't Mercy have an adult female friend?
And this: Jesse's question to Mercy at the beginning on the book when they are out shopping. "When are you and Dad going to have a baby?" Mercy never had or got a chance to answer that. And I admit I'm curious.

It was mid-February. The sky was pregnant with grey snow that turned to rain when I dropped 200 metres down the hill to the lakeside. The noon-time temperature was just above freezing. I had proposals to write in my deliberately small and dark office.

So, before I started my day, I decided to spend some time with Mercy Thompson and remind myself how much fun reading can be.

I opened up "Frost Burned" and found that it was Thanksgiving in Washington State, so the weather was no better than here but within a single chapter, I'd been transported from here to somewhere where all I have to do is relax and admire how skillfully Patricia Briggs re-immerses me into Mercy's world through the mundane activity of Black Friday shopping and then blows everything apart, leaving me keen to know what happens next.

Better yet, I'd been able to get "Frost Burned" in the audiobook version (books 2-6 aren't available as audiobooks in Switzerland) so I let Lorelei King lay the whole thing out for me as I walk beneath slowly brightening sky to get a café creme and a couple of croissants for breakfast.

I consumed the rest of the book over the next two days with a growing sense of contentment because the writing was good, the plot was engaging and Mercy keeps getting more and more real.

I'd wondered how Patrica Briggs would keep Mercy at the centre of things now that she's married to Adam Hauptman, the Pack Alpha and is surrounded by protective and scary werewolves. The solution was simple and brilliant: have the Pack abducted and leave Mercy to protect Adam's daughter and try to rescue the Pack.

I liked the fact that Mercy has to solve this problem by collaborating with others and by being willing to make sacrifices on a human and believable scale. The book also neatly folded in characters and themes from the earlier books. The big bad doesn't emerge out of nowhere. In retrospect, I should have been able to see something like this coming. Of course, the fact that I didn't is part of the fun.

The only criticism I have of the book is that there was a hiatus in the middle as one problem was solved only to reveal a much bigger problem underneath. I can see why the pause was there but it felt a little flat all the same and left me feeling that I had two stories stitched together.

Still, both parts of the story were good. The baddies were credible. The outcome was dramatic but feasible and Mercy has established herself as a force to be reckoned with.

I've been rationing myself to one Mercy Thompson book a month but it's March now and there's still snow outside so I'm looking forward to opening up "Night Broken" and letting Patricia Briggs and Lorelei King light up my imagination again.

Listen to the SoundCloud link below to sample Lorelei King's performance.

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After deciding to DNF "Need To Know", which I'd been looking forward to enough to pre-order, I needed something to remind me how much fun reading can be.

It's mid-February. The sky is pregnant with grey snow that turns to rain when I drop 200m down the hill to the lakeside. The noon-time temperature is just above freezing. I have proposals to write in my deliberately small and dark office. 

So, before I start my day, I decided to spend some time with Mercy Thompson over in Washington State. It's Thanksgiving there, so the weather's no better but within a single chapter, I've been transported from here to somewhere where all I have to do is relax and admire how skillfully Patricia Briggs re-immerses me into Mercy's world through the mundane activity of Black Friday shopping and then blows everything apart, leaving me keen to know what happens next.

Better yet, I was able to get this book in the audible version (books 2-6 aren't available as audiobooks in Switzerland) so I can let Lorelei King lay the whole thing out for me as I walk beneath slowly brightening sky to get a café creme and a couple of croissants for breakfast.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

This was another great installments in an excellent series. I have been working my way through an audio re-read of this amazing series over the course of this year. It surprises me how much I am enjoying this series during my re-read. This book isn't one of my favorites in the series but it was really good. I wanted to listen to this book for hours at a time because I wanted to stay with Mercy and the gang and make sure that everything would work out for them. 

This book opens with Mercy and Jesse doing some black Friday shopping. Mercy gets into a small traffic accident while they were out which really shouldn't have been a big deal. They realize that there is a problem when they can't reach Adam or any other member of the pack when they call for a ride home. The entire pack has been abducted. 

Mercy is such a strong character and great leader. She takes her role as Adam's mate seriously and works to keep everyone she safe. There is quite a bit of excitement as she works to protect the few connected to the pack that were not taken. She is able communicate with Adam through her mate bond so she isn't completely unaware of things that are happening.

I really enjoyed spending time with some of my favorite characters. Mercy was incredibly brave and smart in this story. She is willing to sacrifice her own safety to keep others safe when needed. Adam was fierce at times but such a great leader and protector. I do wish that Mercy and Adam hadn't been separated so much during this story. I really enjoyed the focus on Ben, Tad, and Asil in this book since they are characters that we don't always see a lot of. 

Once again Lorelei King does a fantastic job with the narration. There were a few sections of this book that were told from Adam's point of view and I thought she did a great job with those. She really does bring Mercy to life. There is so much emotion that really comes through in her narration. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators and I look forward to listening to more of her work soon.

I would highly recommend this series to others. This is my second time experiencing this book but it will not be my last. It is simply wonderful to find a series of books that you know you will enjoy no matter how many times you read them. I can't wait to listen to the next book very soon.

Initial Thoughts
Another great installment in the series. The story was good and the narration was excellent. 

Book source: Audible purchase