Briggs, Patricia: Bone Crossed
Bone Crossed (2009)
Written by: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 309
Some of you might remember that I've refused to pick up Patricia Briggs's fourth book in the Mercy Thompson series simply because the publishers suddenly decided to go with a hardcover format. No disrespect to the author or anything, and I hope she makes as much money as she can from this series, and hardcovers are the best way to go about that. However, the publishing industry underestimates readers, like me, who will REFUSE to get the next book in the series because it messes up the aesthetic look of the collection, which, up until this point, has been mass-market paperback.
So, did I cave? Of course not. :) janicu, like me, refused to buy the hardcover, but like me, she couldn't resist entering a contest to get one for free. Unlike me, she won hers, read the book, and decided to pass it along to someone else who was waiting for the mass market, like me. janicu, I thank you. I will follow in your stead and pay this forward. :)
The premise: book four picks up right where book three, Iron Kissed, ended. Make no mistake, you cannot read this book without books two Blood Bound and three Iron Kissed under your belt. For that matter, you may, like me, have a hard time getting up to speed even if you HAVE read the second and third books, because not only does Bone Crossed pick up exactly where Iron Kissed left off, but it the central plot involves the mistress of the Tri-City vampires learning the truth of Mercy's actions in Blood Bound, and now, Mercy's got a death mark on her hands. To make matters worse, she's still struggling with the events of Iron Kissed, and then a long-lost college friend shows up at her doorstep begging for help to get rid of a ghost. But just like everything else in Mercy's life, there's more to the ghost than meets the eye, and once more, Mercy finds she's in for more than she bargained for.
Spoilers ahead.
I'd already read most of the first chapter, as it was previewed in Briggs's Cry Wolf, which gave me something to look forward to. I like that Bone Crossed picks up (rather, it overlaps) right where Iron Kissed left off, but I found myself really disconcerted for the first hundred pages. Partially because it's been a few months since I read books two and three to begin with, and I was having trouble remembering specific details. Briggs didn't help me much in that regard, as she forged ahead without taking a moment to pause and drop a hint or two. I mean, she does where it really matters, but smaller details left me wracking my brain. There's a part of me that wants to recommend that readers hold off on Iron Kissed until they can read it and Bone Crossed together. There's also another part of me that wishes Briggs would've worked something out with her publisher so that the two books would be released a month apart from each other, but hey, that's just the way the cookie crumbles. The point: a refresher of books two and three wouldn't hurt before diving into this one.
Also frustrating me in the beginning was Mercy's decision to accept Adam as her mate, which was great, only to freak out and try to think of ways to break it off when the vampires mark her for death (as she doesn't want to get Adam involved). I think part of her panic comes from her trying to come to grips with the circumstances of her rape, but I think most of it is just her spinning her mental wheels, thinking of others without REALLY thinking of others, if that makes sense. You know how people say, "I do this for your own good" when really, they should've consulted you first? It's like that.
But once Adam uses the ceremony that binds Mercy to him, a rather dubious scene at that, but I'm willing to forgive it because it gives Mercy her mind back and he's properly contrite for what he's done, all of that doubting goes away and she focuses on what's important. Thank god. If the whole book had been about her trying to find a way to break away from Adam or make him furious enough so that he wouldn't seek revenge on the vampires if she got killed, I would've thrown the book across the room. I also can't help but wonder if Briggs was writing through second thoughts about having Mercy choose her mate. There's a rather confusing section with Samuel, even though I thought that was well-handled in the third book, and then of course, there's Stefan's affection. But hey, whatever. Once Mercy officially becomes Adam's mate, all of that goes away, making the book bearable.
One really good thing about the book is how Briggs handles Mercy's recovery after the rape. At the end of Iron Kissed, we believe she jumps into bed to have sex with Adam, therefore sealing their commitment. But the beginning of this, which was the end of the previous book, has Adam flipping out when she takes off her shirt and throwing her comforter around her. He knows she's not ready for this (especially a week after it happened) and tells her that a simple yes or no would've worked just fine, and he's willing to be patient. Good job. Mercy also starts experiencing panic attacks triggered by different events that all bring to mind the trauma of book three. Another good job. And while she and Adam do end up having sex (I think they did, anyway, that or it was some very heavy petting--Briggs has a way of skirting the details so you're never sure exactly WHAT happens), it's not a magical sex that heals all. Sure, Mercy's happy afterward, but she still has issues, and she's dismayed that sex with Adam WASN'T a cure-all, and he reminds her that healing takes time and he'll be there every step of the way. Good job.
Given my sensitivity to the subject, I'm glad to see Briggs deal with the rape realistically. Admittedly, I'm not sure how realistic it was to have Mercy have sex with Adam so soon, but I'll let those who've actually been through such traumatic events be the judge of that. The point is that healing takes time, and there is no such thing as a magical penis. Or, for that matter, it's not realistic for the heroine to shake it off like it never happened, no matter how much she wants to.
There's some good stuff in this book. I liked meeting Mercy's mother. I liked Chad, the kid getting haunted by the ghost. I liked Mercy learning a little more about her power as a walker, and liked even more getting to see her use it.
I didn't like Blackwood. I liked the whole concept of "You are what you eat" and how he drained certain types of magic from certain types of victims, but the whole mess of him binding himself to Mercy was pretty damn creepy and kind of ticked me off. I think, by the end, we're meant to realize that he'd never actually had sex with her: he'd just fed and then made her feed from him (but how? We see how he does it the one time, but how did he do it to begin with? That's a flaw in the book, IMHO). I don't blame Mercy for freaking out either over realizing that more may have happened than just the exchange of blood, but I'm not sure just how necessary that was at this point in time in the series. I don't want to see Mercy become a victim of sexual assault now with every book that comes next, and I really don't want her to be put in a position where she thinks she is either. It's not fair to the character or the readers. Anyway.
I was interested to see the main plot of Mercy's deathmark really nothing more than an elaborate farce for Marsilia to weed out the traitors in her seethe, but it worked pretty well. I liked how the Blackwood plot became something bigger than it seemed, and it was cool to see the walking stick put to action. Though I thought it'd disappear after this book, but no, it's back at the end, so maybe we'll get a better idea of what it wants to be used for.
OH! And of all the important points, while Mercy keeps getting herself into trouble (I thought the taser was a bit much, because Blackwood should've known she would've come running on her own if Chad was in trouble), she's still rescues herself in the end, which was great.
My Rating
Buy the Paperback: but that's advice is given with caution. I still don't believe any book in this series really, truly warrants a hardcover release, and so my rating is given with that in mind. It's not the strongest book in the series, and I couldn't help but feel that during the first hundred pages, Briggs was struggling to find her story. However, this is a book that really needs to be read rather quickly after Iron Kissed, so if you consider yourself a die-hard Briggs fan, you may want to go ahead and spend the extra dough for the hardcover. And if you're willing to wait for the paperback, I would suggest going back and reviewing the events of Blood Bound and Iron Kissed right before reading Bone Crossed, because I read those two books back in August and I was still having trouble with details. But on a whole, it was a good read with much to like and some satisfying elements to the plot and character development, and I'm happy to say I'll continue to read the series. But I won't be buying it in hardcover. I'll buy the mass-market when it comes out and hope I get lucky again (so I can read it sooner than later) when the next book in the series is released next year.
Cover Commentary: this is the series that makes me gnash my teeth in regards to UF and magically appearing tattoos. In the first book, she has one on her belly, a paw print, and the author incorporated that into the book rather nicely after the fact. But each subsequent cover reveals more and more tattoos on Mercy's body that hadn't been there before and are NOT tattoos that Mercy actually has, so it's really annoying (though I just compared the covers of book one and this one, and the arm tattoos were on the cover of book one too). This book continues that frustrating trend. However, tattoos aside, I really like this cover and it's one of my favorites. I love the coloring and the pose, particularly Mercy lifting her face to the rain. It's got a healing kind of feeling to it, and that's appropriate for Mercy's character in this book.
Next up:
I really don't know. There's a surprise book I really want to read next, but I know if I do, I won't get anything done, so I think I'll work on Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman or Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh until the next weekend, when I can sink my teeth into the surprise book. ;)