Product Description
When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to shapeshifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she'll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life-whether she wants to or not.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 159 reviews)

Angieville: IRON KISSED

Wow. So this series just keeps getting more and more intense. And in such unexpected ways. I love it when an author has the ability (and the guts) to slip in a real shocker without compromising her characters or the story as a whole. In a series, that's particularly hard to do without making it seem like a gratuitous plot twist inserted merely to keep the series going. Patricia Briggs has a 7-book deal for her Mercy Thompson series and book three has shown that not only does she know exactly what she's doing, but that we can trust her. To keep her characters and her world consistent. To take them down the right paths and introduce them to the right people...or werewolves and vampires in this case.

Mercy lives in a world where werewolves, vampires, and the fae exist side by side with humans. The first book, Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1), focuses on the werewolves. The second, Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2), centers on the vampires, including Mercy's quirky Scooby Doo loving friend Stefan. In this third installment, coyote shape shifter and VW mechanic Mercy Thompson is called in to help the fae solve a series of murders on the local fae reservation. Soon after, her friend Zee is arrested for the murder and, just like that, Mercy's in the thick of it, determined to clear Zee's name no matter what. Add to that the increasingly imperative choice she must make between the two werewolves in her life: Adam Hauptman (the Alpha of the local pack who's already claimed her as his mate) and Dr. Samuel Cornick (the wolf she fell in love with at 16). In what is becoming classic Briggs style, IRON KISSED combines an intriguing mystery with a streak of compelling romance, interspersed with glimpses of your worst nightmares. The combination is the height of entertainment. And what holds it all together is Mercy herself. The girl doesn't know the meaning of the words back down. I absolutely love these books.
November 02, 2008

Better than the last

This was a good one, better than Blood Bound, because the key supernaturals in this one live up to their hype, unlike the mostly-likable evil vampires in Blood Bound. The Fae are mostly insular and private, wanting to keep their secrets and using their magic and an inhuman ruthlessness to accomplish that. But since humans now know about Fae, there's no way the Fae can live quietly enough to keep humans from sticking their noses into Fae business, because that's what humans do: when we discover a new animal, we need to observe and record it. When we find a new star, we need to map it, name it, and figure out its composition, color, strength, age, height, weight, and hair color. When we find a new element, we have to mix it up with other things to see if it'll explode. And, because our fascination with newness and our insatiable curiosity are results of our fear of the unknown, we also tend to form hate groups opposing the very things we have discovered. Like people who think of the snowy owl as an enemy, because it represents the conservationist movement. I mean: they actually hate a fluffy little owl. Along with the bleeding-heart liberals who protect it, but still.

So this one focuses on a string of Fae murders. Mercy is brought in to help investigate, because she has both a coyote's powerful nose and a human's mind and memory, and so she is an excellent scent tracker -- which makes sense. I also liked the comment that there are not many Fae who could do the same, because that was a gift mostly given to the beast-like Fae, most of whom are gone. Mercy figures out the culprit, and Zee and Uncle Mike, the two Council members who brought Mercy in, go to take care of the problem -- only to find the problem's already been taken care of, because the murderer's been beheaded. Uncle Mike vanishes, but Zee is left to take the fall for the murder of the murderer, and the Gray Lords, who have that wonderfully pragmatic and evil policy of sacrificing any individual in order to protect the group, want Zee to die in prison just after he confesses: an open-and-shut case.

But Mercy won't let it go. She investigates, and pokes her nose in, and fights for Zee even when Zee doesn't want her fighting for him -- Zee accepts the Gray Lord's absurd policy (Absurd because the line becomes ever more blurry over time: you sacrifice one person to save the lives of many, and then sacrifice two people to save the lives of five -- and then one to save one? Or you sacrifice one to save lives, then one to save homes, then one to save Christmas presents, and then one to save -- what, lawn ornaments? At some point you lose what you're trying to save.) and is willing to die for the Fae. Though I notice he didn't kill himself as the Gray Lords would surely have preferred.

And, of course, Mercy gets to the bottom of it. One of the greatest strengths of these books is in the climactic action sequences: the fight with Littleton and the hunt for Littleton's creator in Blood Bound, and the last few chapters in this one. They are a great strength because Briggs doesn't overdo it; as well as she writes an action scene, the character is not action oriented; she's a mechanic with a kinda screwed-up love life involving her neighbor and her roommate (I was also glad to see that resolve in this one, and now I'm eager to see where it goes from here). Mercy wouldn't be in the thick of things all day every day, and so she isn't; this book starts out with her watching "Queen of the Damned" with Warren and Kyle, a hilarious but quiet and peaceful scene. But the final fight in this one was fantastic, both in terms of how Mercy wins, and also how Mercy suffers at the hands of the villain -- please note that I mean it was well-written and therefore fantastic; it was extremely hard to read because it was well-written, but that is ever a strength for me, particularly in books that can so easily fall into sensationalism or fluff. And, of course, the resolution was fantastic, as well. And we also got to meet some seriously scary Fae, and Zee with his cloak off, which was super-sweet. It was a great book, and I will be reading more of these.
November 01, 2008

Hooked on Mercy

This book hooked me in and didn't let me go. I had to stay up late while my husband and daughter slept just to finish the book. My tears of sadness turned to happiness at the ending. I cannot wait for the next book to come out. I really love this series and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good werewolf/vampire/fantasy series. I am definitely hooked on the Mercy Thompson series now.
October 29, 2008

Overall good book -- but why is sexual assault suddenly popular???

I really like Patricia Briggs as a writer. I really liked the first two Mercy Thompson books -- the characters, the setting, the backstories, everything is thought out and well written.

And there were even a lot of things I liked about _Iron_Kissed_, like finding out more about Zee and the fairy reservation.

But for some unknown reason, dark urban fantasy (or whatever this particular genre is called) has developed a fixation with rape. Some series seem to have escaped that, but far too many (the first book in Kate Daniels series, both the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series, others as well) seem to have some sort of contractual obligation to write in a rape or near-rape of either the main character or someone who the main character is close to and helpless to save. I'm not sure why it's showing up in so many series, if it's suddenly become a fad among writers or if somewhere there is a group of editors who think it's the next hot thing, but I personally hate it.

So, trying to not completely spoil everything, I'll say someone gets sexually assaulted in this book, and it's devastating for them, but I won't say who. Patricia Briggs does a good job dealing with it, in that the actual assault is not overly dwelt on in too much detail, the villain gets punished and there's a lot of good writing where the other characters help the victim deal with the trauma and get back on their feet. But I'll be a lot happier when urban / dark urban / contemporary fantasy gets over its fascination with this.
October 17, 2008

Such a great book

"Iron Kissed" is so much better than the other two Mercy books, which is to say a lot since both earlier books are well crafted, well written and the characters are so likeable. However, in this book, Mercy comes up as a real heroine, not because she is the main character, not because she kicks butts (she doesn't really), but because she puts true values above and beyond everything from intimidation to fear. For her friend, she is willing to walk distances, even when it leads her places no woman should have to go. And without regrets too!!!!
As a couple of reviewers put it, Ben's plea for Mercy put tears in my eyes and will stay with me for a while.
Patricia Briggs introduced me to the world of warewolves and I couldn't ask for a better introduction.
You can't go wrong with the Mercy Thompson books. Get'em!!!
October 15, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2)
by Patricia Briggs

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)
by Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1)
by Patricia Briggs

The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows)
by Kim Harrison

Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Kitty Norville, Book 4)
by Carrie Vaughn