Iron Kissed: Mercy Thompson, Book 3

MY RATING SYSTEM5 stars--WOW4 stars--would read again3 stars--was good, won't read again2 stars--read it, but didn't enjoy it1 star--didn't finish, it was so awfulDo I need to read books before this one: yesCliffhanger: noSUMMARYZee calls Mercy, needing her nose to help investigate murders on the fae reservation. First they have to get by the federal guard, O'Donnell. She sniffs 4 of the 7 scenes. At 2 of them, she closes her eyes to sniff and then the environment changes. The first gets a forest for a backyard. The other becomes the ocean and a man is upset she's there, would've killed her except Zee grabs her tail before she's pulled out to sea. At the last scene she sniffs, she finds blood other than the victim's, confirming O'Donnell is the murderer. Zee sends her home in his truck while he and Uncle Mike go confront O'Donnell.The next day, Samuel performs at a music festival. Afterward, Uncle Mike calls to say Zee is in jail, suspected of murder. Mercy rejoins the group, hears a Tim give Samuel pointers on how to pronounce Welsh words. When Tim finally leaves, Samuel asks Mercy what's wrong.Mercy's police friend, Tony, calls, says their fae consultant, Dr Altman, is convinced Zee did it. Mercy calls Dr Altman's credibility into question. Kyle gets a good defense attorney for Zee. Mercy tells the attorney everything at Kyle's insistence, including demonstrating why the fae asked a mechanic for forensic assistance.That night, Mercy as a coyote investigates O'Donnell's home. She watches his ghost relive the murder, sees his last word is Mine. She finds a fae walking stick, then a blind raven the size of a golden eagle picks it up and flies away through the wall with it.EVALUATIONThis supernatural suspense had me on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out whodunit, why, how, etc. With only Mercy's point of view, my knowledge of fae magic was as limited as hers. I was glad to get the love triangle sorted out. Adam, Ben, and Darryl all rose in my estimation with their strength and sensitivity in how they handled what happened during the last 20%. That was extremely well written with unique insights. PLEASE SEE TRIGGERS.I am left with questions that have me reaching for the next book. Underhill thoroughly intrigues me; how did Mercy get in? How will she heal? Where's Stefan?RECOMMENDATIONTo everyone who's read the first two books. SEE TRIGGERS.FAVORITE QUOTESI didn’t brush my teeth with gunpowder this morning so I could go shooting my mouth off.Here I was on firmer ground. History degrees aren’t entirely useless.“[Defense attorney] can keep secrets. If she doesn’t know everything, then she’s defending your friend with one hand tied behind her back.”I tried to imagine working a job where your convictions were an inconvenience that you learned to ignore—and decided I’d rather turn a wrench no matter how much better her paycheck was than mine.The antagonism that was stirring in my living room like the inky surface of Loch Ness just before the monster erupts.Does it matter whose fault it is once you’re sitting in the middle of the frying pan?POSSIBLE TRIGGERS (spoilers)Sex: kisses, rapeLanguage: 2 F words, 1 Lord's name in vain, 3 S wordsViolence: fantastical murders, beaten by bullies, rape [somewhat described], poisoning, theft, report of child rape

Thank you to Patricia Briggs, for creating Mercy Thompson. This is my third time reading the series, and I get lost in the books every time.

Some books grab you and refuse to let go, no matter how difficult the subject. This was one of those books. I don’t know how many times I tried to walk away, only to come back and read more. In the end, it was proof that strength does rise out of adversity.This series is becoming one of my absolute favorites. I am tough to please when it comes to books. Errors drive me nuts. This author has an excellent support group to ensure flawless books. Thank you!

I really enjoyed Mercy's sleuthing in this book, the adventures are so fascinating to read.I also like how you learn more about each character as the story builds it makes the telling more realistic for me. Huge info dumps about multiple characters are awful for me, it's hard trying to get into a story and have so many facts about so many people just thrown at you all at once.I really appreciated the way the author handled the attack. It was obvious what happened and never brushed under the rug, yet there weren't any gory details. That horrible situation didn't become the focus, but allowed the healing and kinship Mercy had built up to be front and center. It was well done.I am NOT a fan of how we are on book 3 and there is something sexy about to happen and the book just STOPS!! (book 4 better pick this thread up or I will possibly lose my mind!)

SummaryMechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice fir her...The GoodThis was an amazing book. The plot was exciting and the twists were genuinely surprising. Iron Kissed has Mercy trying to prove her fae friend Zee is innocent of murder. The fae don't seem to want to help their fellow brethren, so Mercy sticks her nose into fae business, and the fae are not happy. But Mercy soon finds herself on the real killer's trail and stolen magical pieces seem to be the link.This book concentrates on the fae and the werewolf pack. I missed Stefan (vampire) in this book. With him being such a big part of Blood Bound, I missed the vampire element just a little. But it didn't take away from the book at all.The character development was the best out of all the books. Adam, Mercy, and many of the werewolves have become so real to me that I find it hard to admit that they are not walking amongst us in the real world.The Gray Lords, the rulers of the fae, freak me out. The more I learn about the fae and their past, the more I am intrigued and creeped out. They are a scary race that have no limits.Briggs excels at dramatic writing. There is a depth of emotion the she portrays in this book that we don't often find in urban fantasy. Although we get the the mystery, action, and ever-creative world-building, this book also brings a darker side of the real world that I think will only strengthen Mercy as a character for future books.I want to point out that this book had a more serious tone than the previous two novels. I liked the change of pace. It felt real and seemed the right time to have a huge event change the course of future novels. Like many, I want my novels to entertain me and leave me satisfied as I turn the last page. But if the whole happy-happy joy-joy endings continue, the series starts to feel unrealistic (yes, I know this is all fantasy, but you know what I mean). I like when a book shocks me with it's direction. I don't want to read a formula that will ensure everyone enjoys the book. I want to read words from an author who takes risks, makes me cry, causes me to cringe by what she does to her characters. This is why I read. So, yes, a very traumatic experience happens to Mercy and Briggs handles it in both a sensitive and considerate way that in no way offends me as it has others.The BadAfter the previous two novels that built up who Mercy would finally choose as a mate, Adam or Sam, I felt the final decision in this book was a little anticlimactic. The quick-resolution made the Adam/Sam/Mercy triangle a little pointless as a plotline.The SnugglyThe horrible experience Mercy goes through in this book is done tastefully and without detail as to not upset readers.OverallI have truly fallen in love with this series. Mercy is one of the best protagonists out there in the urban fantasy world. I truly did love the build-up of the potential romantic interests in the previous books, even if I wish the resolution in this book was a little more...well just more. I could not put this book down. And the darker side at the end had me entranced even when I wanted to cry. A big, huge recommendation to all readers out there.

Mercy é uma das minhas protagonistas favoritas e ler AQUELA CENA acontecendo doeu horrores e estou feliz que ela tenha acabado e estou mais feliz ainda que a Mercy tenha mais ou menos superado (você nunca supera uma coisa dessas. Você só aprende a lidar com isso, para ser honesta) e entendeu que ela não é a culpada (nunca é a culpa da vítima. Por isso que ela é chamada de "vítima" e não "criminosa"). Ela foi uma vítima, não importa o quanto tenha gente que tente distorcer isso e Mercy total merece ser feliz.E queria dizer que eu sabia que eu gostava do Ben por algum motivo... Bom, tudo bem que foi depois que o Adam conversou com ele e disse que ele não era o culpado dos crimes em Londres, mas... Ben é um dos lobisomens mais legais e um dos meus personagens favoritos da série.E sobre o Adam...? Não tenho nem palavras para descrevê-lo, mas ele definitivamente é ♥♥♥♥♥♥

So far the best and more complete installment in this series. I very much enjoy Mercy's knack for finding trouble and her contrary nature but in this book, i think she grew, reluctantly but she did. As a person and as a woman, she will never be the same... and i think she will do better. I love Adam, such a gentleman... such an Alpha! So hot!I will continue reading the series, it promises to be greater 😀C. C.

When Zee is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, Mercy decides to investigate. What she doesn't expect is help from unexpected places and the fae! Will she be able to help Zee or will the magic take over? Learning new things both helps and places her in danger. Will she finally decide to pick Adam or Samuel? I love the Mercy stories, it's like reconnecting with an old friend

Patricia Briggs is rapidly establishing a place on my top ten list of fiction writers I will read unconditionally. This is another from my comfort-reading booklist that came courtesy of a self-Santa order to Amazon. I gulped this book down in two sittings (and only took a break because by 6.00 a.m. I thought I should try and get a few hours sleep). At less than 300 pages it's a quick read - quick too because of the roaring pace - but Briggs never sacrifices character for either plot or pace.This is the third Mercy Thompson book. Mercy is a self-employed garage mechanic with a history degree. She is also a walker, a Native American shape-changer, maybe the last of her kind, whose other form is a coyote. Raised by werewolves, she knows just how deadly they can be and in the last two books, `Blood Bound' and `Moon Called', we saw Mercy getting drawn into the increasingly violent world inhabited by werewolf, vampire and fey as well as humans who can barely comprehend what they've only recently begun to be aware of. As a coyote amongst wolves she's an outsider, as a walker amongst humans she's an outsider, as a non-fey amongst fey she's so far outside that she's on a different world, but when she has her nose in the engine of an old VW she's entirely at home. Her life is complicated by the fact that she must decide between two loves, both werewolves: her old flame Samuel and the alpha of the local pack, Adam, who makes her blood boil for two entirely opposing reasons. Briggs werewolves are not nice. Bad-tempered doesn't even begin to cover the barely-held-in check killing rage that they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It makes them grouchy, to say the least, but they are entirely three dimensional characters, swinging - sometimes wildly - between human and wolf.In this book Mercy's friend and mechanic-mentor, Zee, an ancient fey with the ability to work iron, is accused of a (human) murder he didn't commit and it seems as though the rest of the fey are happy enough to let him take the (fatal) fall for it as long as it means the law doesn't come snooping around their reservation. Mercy's stubborn loyalty draws her in to a dangerous hunt for the real killer that brings her into closer contact that she ever thought she wanted with the world of the fey and causes conflict with and between her two potential werewolf lovers (remember those tempers?). It's time to choose between Samuel and Adam, but how can she choose when she loves them both? It may not matter in the end because after some close brushes with death in the form of a Kelpie Mercy's eventual discovery of the real killer puts her in mortal danger of the worst kind. By the time she's been through the wringer she's going to need a lot of love an understanding. From a werewolf? Yeah, right!Highly recommended (but read the others first) and then order the next, Bone Crossed, due later this year.

When Zee gets into trouble, as in arrested for murder we know there is no way Mercy is going to keep her nose out of it. The fae might be happy to sacrifice an innocent man but Mercy feels differently. This brings her to the attention of two ancient Fae, one seemingly benevolent the other just wants to eat her!Oh she also makes a decision about Samuel and Adam!