Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 3)

This book picked up a month or so after the close of Blood Bound. I like the cover art on these books. Like the books depicting Phedre, I think these get the lead character right. This story seems off-track, but it almost seems the book was split in two, with the 2nd part being Bone Crossed which actually repeats the last page or so of Iron Kissed.

The story moves along. It has a bit of murder mystery theme. I am thoroughly enjoying these books. I find Mercy a likable and "realistic" heroine. While this is the third book, the Sam/Adam issue is resolved, and seems likely to stay that way. This seems more in line with the way the real world works. Men aren't going to dangle forever waiting for you, ala any Laurell K. Hamilton heroine.

Mercy stays in character for the entire novel, like a dog worrying at a bone. Typical Mercy.

Heads up -- I don't like writing spoiler reviews so I apologize if this review is uncomprehendingly vague. If you are so inclined, checking out other "spoiler" reviews here should give added context.

This book is a 4-star/2-star split, and quite frustrating. 90% of the book is really good. Briggs continues consequences from previous books to setup the plot arc of this installment. This time the fae are explored in more detail and their world appears more terrifying than had been let on in the previous books. I continue to enjoy the characters and the mythos Briggs has built up in this series (there could be numerous interesting tangents spin offs could take if she were so inclined).

However, the last 10% almost, but not quite ruins it for me, and it all comes to play at the end. While she initially deals with the issue in question as well as can be expected, the repercussions of it are downplayed to the point of insensitivity. Unlike treatment other writers might have given it, Briggs obviously intended it to be traumatic, but very unsuccessfully hurried the resolution and wrapped up the book in a way many might find incredibly offensive (which is an odd statement, given the genre of the series).

I'll still read her next book (after reading some much lighter fair in between).