Review: Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs

Being a mechanic is hard work.  Mercy Thompson, for instance, just spent the last couple of months trying to evade the murderous queen of the local vampire seethe.  And now the leader of the werewolf pack, who's maybe-more-than-just-a-friend, has asked for her help.  A book of fae secrets has come to light and they're all about to find out how implacable - and dangerous - the fae can be.

Okay, so maybe her troubles have nothing to do with the job.  But she sure could use a holiday...

Mercy Thompson Series:
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron Kissed
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked (Spring 2011)

For more information visit Patricia Briggs' website

Review:
When Mercy gets a message asking her to look after a fae book that she had previously borrowed she is curious about what has happened to it's owner.  Then she finds herself being targeted by a mysterious fae who is not only after her but also targeting Adam and her pack but what does this have to do with the book?  To make matters worse Samuel, who's depression has been worsening over the months, has taken a turn for the worse.  For survival Samuel's wolf has taken control but that makes him dangerous - and marks him for death if Adam and the Marrock find out.  Can Mercy help Samuel regain control before the other werewolves find out what has happened and what does the powerful fae want with the book?

Although this review won't contain spoilers for Silver Borne as this is book 5 in the Mercy Thompson series it will be impossible to review without giving spoilers for previous books in the series.  If you haven't read the rest of the series then I wouldn't recommend reading any further but I would suggest you check out Moon Called as this is one of my favorite urban fantasy series and Mercy is definitely one of my favorite heroines!

Anyone who has read any of the books in this series will already know that Mercy has a knack for drawing attention of the supernatural races who are more powerful than she is.  She may be a Walker (a shifter who can turn into a Coyote) but her powers are limited - especially when compared to the werewolves or fae.  Having come up against the fae before she is understandably wary when she finds herself being targeted again but she is determined to protect her friends and find out what is going on.

My favorite part of this book has to be the interaction between Adam & Mercy, I just love them both as a couple & it is nice to watch their relationship develop since their mating in the last book.  There are some really sweet, emotional scenes between the two of them and if anything I now love Adam even more.  We get to see a more vulnerable side to him in this installment but he is still all alpha male.  Mercy is still trying to get used to the pack bonds and most of the pack still aren't happy that she is now one of them.  I enjoyed finding out more about the pack politics and seeing Mercy learn how to deal with this new bond and the werewolves who are against her.

Samuel has been one of my favorite characters ever since we first met him and although I didn't want him & Mercy to end up together, I do want to see him have his own happy ending.  I felt so sad for him in the last book as you could see how badly he was feeling but parts of this book had my heart breaking for him.  As an old wolf he has lived too long and has started to give up on life.  Mercy loves him and wants to protect him but when his wolf takes control she is very worried about what could happen.  Having a wolf in control is a very dangerous thing for both the wolf and for everyone surrounding him - if the Marrock finds out what has happened he will have no choice other than killing Samuel.  If I had one slight complaint about this story it would be that things with Samuel tied up a little too easily but I'm hoping we will get to explore more about what happens with him in the next book.

If you're a fan of this series then I'm sure Silver Borne won't disappoint, it is one of my favorite books in the series.  I enjoyed the action and mystery surrounding the fae artifact but for me it was the relationship development between the characters that made the story.  If you haven't read this series yet then I can't recommend it strongly enough.  It's going to be a long wait until River Marked but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the Alpha and Omega series in the meantime.

Source: Library

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