Review: Frost Burned

Reviewed by Jen
 

After the big ending of Fair Game, I really expected this book to focus on the aftermath of that one.  It doesn't.  Of course, the decision by the Fae to pull away from human society is incorporated into the story, but it is by no means, part of the main plot.

The big driver of the book: someone has kidnapped Adam and almost all of his pack.  Only by a twist of luck were Mercy and Jesse away from home during the abduction.  She must find a way to keep Jesse safe and pool her resources to try to rescue her husband.  It's not easy. The bad guys are after her too.  And she has to reach outside her comfort zone to trust those she needs as allies.  But in typical Mercy fashion, when the chips fall, she manages to do what needs to be done.

I enjoyed this book far more than I did the last Mercy installment. It recaptured the feel of the older books in a lot of ways.  We're back on Mercy's home turf.  Her allies are with her. I had missed Ben and Stefan. They are two of my favorite supporting characters in the series.  It wasn't only them, but Zee, Tad, Gabriel, Tony, Kyle, and the pack too.  I also like that even with Mercy and Adam's wedding, it doesn't make all the pack members forget how they feel about her.  Those who didn't like her before, still don't like her now.   It's not all sunshine and roses.

Mercy and Adam are apart for much of the book, but Patty Briggs does a great job showing how strong their relationship is.  How they draw strength from one another.  Plus, as an added treat, we get to spend some time in Adam's head, getting some passages from his POV.  Very cool.

It's awesome how Briggs ties in the events of the previous stories, keeping the continuity among the books. But I will admit that there were a couple of times my memories grew a bit hazy on the details, especially when we got into who all the vampires were.  Perhaps I should have done a re-read. (Specifically in retrospect, a refresher on Bone Crossed might have been helpful.) But Briggs did a good job filling in the blanks when my memory failed me.

There is a pretty notable loss for the pack, though so much is going on, I don't really feel like we got the chance to feel the real emotional impact. My only other complaint... I felt a disconnect between the two factions involved in the kidnapping. The first tier made sense, but I didn't get how it was connected to the "other" threat.  How they ended up working together... or at least toward the common end of the kidnapping. (Plus, the last couple of scenes in the book felt out of order, as they jumped around chronologically.)

Overall, though, I liked it. I think it will be a hit for fans of the series.

Rating: B

*ARC Provided by Ace

Click to purchase: Amazon 

Frost Burned

by Patricia Briggs

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Publisher: Ace