I’m going to warn you right now - I can’t be neutral about this series anymore. Winter Lost is the 14th novel in the Mercy Thompson series - a series I have re-read almost every year since I picked up the first book, Moon Called, about five or six years ago. Perhaps more? I can’t remember anymore. In fact, I’m due for another re-read. I can feel it.
Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must stop a disaster of world-shattering proportions in this exhilarating entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
In the supernatural realms, there are creatures who belong to winter. I am not one of them. But like the coyote I can become at will, I am adaptable.
My name is Mercy Thompson Hauptman, and my mate, Adam, is the werewolf who leads the Columbia Basin Pack, the pack charged with keeping the people who live and work in the Tri-Cities of Washington State safe. It’s a hard job, and it doesn’t leave much room for side quests. Which is why when I needed to travel to Montana to help my brother, I intended to go by myself.
But I’m not alone anymore.
Together, Adam and I find ourselves trapped with strangers in a lodge in the heart of the wilderness, in the teeth of a storm of legendary power, only to discover my brother’s issues are a tiny part of a problem much bigger than we could have imagined. Arcane and ancient magics are at work that could, unless we are very careful, bring about the end of the world. . . .Summary from Goodreads
My Review
One of the interesting things about the Mercy Thompson series, for me, is the way that Patricia Briggs changes the scope of things from book to book. In one, the only damage may be to Mercy and her friends. In another, werewolves are all in danger. In another, it could be the end of the world. Nothing stays stagnant in this series, and throughout it, the reader, you and me, gets a close and personal glimpse of what goes down through Mercy’s perspective.
Winter Lost is one of those novels where the end of the world could be both loud and quiet. What’s that line from somewhere? “Not with a bang, but with a . . . whisper?” Something like that. It’s beautiful, chaotic, ordered, and messy all at once. As Mercy, and her husband Adam, draw closer to the heart of the mystery, you see the webs surrounding them, and some of those webs lead to other characters and hints towards things to come.
It’s almost difficult to review a book that’s the 14th in the series. The books are not stand-alone, and there are things that are surprising and perfect in the later books because of what occurred in the earlier books. There are also changes to character and story in a way where their behavior changes the course of the book. There are also moments that are funny or precious because of the story in the previous books.
If you do not like series’, these books are not for you. These are meant to be intertwined, and part of the main enjoyment of Winter Lost was returning home and seeing old friends again.
The story was cool, too. I mean - if I wanted to spoil it I could go into further detail. Let’s just say that I love a story where villain is not who you would expect and where love wins and endures and where the monsters are not the monsters you thought they were.
If I made you intrigued in this series, the first book is Moon Called. If you read the first book and assumed where it would go in the series - all I can say, is it’s very likely you were not correct.
I suppose I look at this series in particular as one story. I certainly read the series like it’s a single book, which is why all other reading stops when I’m in the midst of re-reading. I happen to love that aspect of this series, and I feel like I’m not alone in that.
Anywho, if you were wondering if the new Mercy Thompson book was good, in my opinion, yes. A hearty yes.
Author’s Note: What do you think of going along a re-read with me, with some deeper discussion on each book, perhaps not spoiler free? Let me know what you think. Also, if long series’ or urban fantasy is not for you, check out my review of Murder Road or Welcome to Fae Cafè.