Bone Crossed - Book Review

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) by Patricia Briggs. Ace (February 3, 2009)

In Mercy Thompson's world her mate Adam is an Alpha werewolf, her roommate Samuel, also a werewolf, is a dear friend she keeps close hoping to heal his wounded spirit, one of her closest friends, Stefan, is a vampire, and she is a welcomed by many of the fae. Mercy, herself is a shifter who can change immediately from human to coyote form. Beginning with Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) author Briggs has created adventure and mystery in an urban fantasy setting.

Mercy makes her living as a auto mechanic, and in fact owns her own business. As we first meet her in Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) she still hurts psychically from the rape by a man she subsequently killed. Adding to her problems is the burning enmity of Marsilia, vampire mistress of the Tri-Cities in Washington state. Mercy caused the death of Andre, a close ally of Marsilia. Stephan hid this fact from Marsilia and will suffer for it. In the midst of a conversation with Adam a charred, bloody body appears in the room. Only after a few startled moments does Mercy recognize that it is the tortured body of Stefan. It is difficult to kill a vampire, but not impossible. In order to survive Stefan needs blood immediately. He reaches for Mercy but Adam quickly steps in. Although werewolves and vampires don't normally care for one another Stefan has helped Adam's pack in the past. Adam offers his blood and others in the pack do the same. Marsilia has sent a brutal message but there is more. On the door of Mercy shop crossed bones have been painted another warning sign from the vampire mistress that she knows of Mercy's part in Andre's death and Stephan's role in the cover up.

Later that day a college acquaintance shows up at Mercy's door begging for help to rid her house of a ghost. A perplexing request but one that gives Mercy a reason to leave the area. The tension between the vampire and werewolf community has become extremely tense. Mercy feels that she is to blame and that Marsilia's wrath will bring harm to all those she cares about. Of course this solves nothing and the series of troubles only becomes more complex.

Bone Crossed captivated me from the beginning. It's become a cliche to say I couldn't put this book down so I'll simply say I didn't want to stop reading, and when I absolutely had to couldn't wait to get back to it. And it's not only for the story but also for the interesting variety of characters and the believable way in which they interact. I like the fact that Mercy loves working on car engines and getting her hands dirty. As far as clothing there is nothing of the fashionista about her. She's loyal, likable and tough.