Bone Crossed

Bone Crossed is the fourth book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. This installment sees the coyote shape shifting mechanic tossed into another action packed series of events right on the heels of the closing of the previous book.

For those who are unfamiliar with the series, the books center on a modern/urban fantasy community in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State. They specifically involve Mercy Thompson, a mechanic who can shape shift into a coyote, and her many friends and family. Throughout the series Mercy has become involved in dangerous situations involving werewolves, vampires, and fae.

I don't want to spoil this book or the previous ones by giving too much away so I'll try to review without revealing. Briggs generally starts with a bang and keeps the action at a fast pace throughout the novel and that is definitely the case here. Within the first dozen or so pages a nearly dead vampire (her old friend Stefan) has been dropped in her living room as she handles a confrontation between her mother and Adam (the alpha of the local wolf pack and a love interest of hers). A short while later an old college roommate has asked her to help her with a supernatural problem she is dealing with, she discovers she may be the target of the local vampire Seethe, and someone covers her car shop in graffiti. And much, much more!! Briggs books are always jam packed with plots and sub plots, lots of characters and species of being, and action galore - so for those reasons the books are fun and fast reads.

Since this is such a fast paced series, however, the characters have a tendency to feel flat since the focus is on moving the plot forward and not on character development or growth. Mercy is a tough, independent, and strong woman. Adam is aggressive, responsible, and possessive... and so on. This lack of character depth coupled with a not so convincing romance takes the rating I would give this series down a few notches.

Despite these weak points, this is a good installment in a good urban fantasy series. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a bit of vamp/were/fae in their action/adventure mysteries.