Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Playing With Fire in Smoke Bitten

Smoke Bitten is the twelfth novel in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. Well, twelve, if you don’t count the Alpha & Omega spin-off series or the multiple short stories. It’s hard to believe we’re so many novels deep in the series and still going strong. But it’s true. A fact that many of her fans (myself included) are grateful for.

Mercy Thompson Hauptman has always had a talent for getting herself into the strangest and most dangerous predicaments. We can all agree on that, right? Good. Her track record is proof enough of that, as are the events in this novel.

Once again, Mercy is in the thick of things, with a new danger coming out of the dark to threaten those around her. As it turns out, Underhill (or the creatures within) is not content to stay quiet. We all know what happens when unwary mortals come up against angry and ancient fae.

That statement goes doubly so for the prisoners of Underhill. If that wasn’t enough for Mercy, she also has pack drama to contend with. All while trying to keep everyone alive.

Writing

Patricia Briggs has done it again, delivering us a novel worth remembering. And binging. Smoke Bitten was as intense and dramatic as I had hoped. However, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Mercy has survived twelve different threats on her life (or the city). Is that considered lucky or unlucky at this point?

To be clear, I’m a huge fan of how Briggs portrays her supernatural. Especially the fae. I love that they have rules and consequences for breaking them. So, any novel that includes them is enough to make me happy.

Understandably, I was quite happy when I read the description of this novel. Well, that and nervous (for Mercy’s sake). Did it live up to my expectations? Absolutely. If anything, it surpassed them.

Along with having more in-depth looks into fae and fae politics, this novel provided many other moments and elements. From the sweet (one moment in particular comes to mind here, and it was beautiful) to the anxiety-inducing.

Development

Smoke Bitten was an extremely quick read. I say that a lot, but I mean it here. I think this novel was shorter than some of the others. At least, it felt that way. I’m not complaining, however. I prefer that a story ends when it should rather than being dragged out.

This novel moved along at an exceptional pace. Something was always popping up, whether a new drama or a grave threat. It’s quite amazing that Mercy didn’t fall asleep on her feet. I feel like I might have had I been in her shoes.

One thing that stood out while reading is how personal the series of events felt. Mercy has been through so much lately, so she’s still coping or processing much of it. All of those emotions were practically bleeding off the pages. It was interesting to see, providing insight into the changes she’s facing (alongside the others).

Conclusion

Smoke Bitten is a fun and fast read, perfect for the series’ fans. Patricia Briggs told the story she was hoping to, twisting classic fairy tale moments into something of her own making.

I enjoyed much of this novel, and I have to say that there are threads that have been dropped, making me eager for the next novel as well. I love it when an author does that. It’s enough to keep us interested without resorting to using cliffhangers.

I honestly don’t know how many more books we’ll get from the Mercy Thompson series. But I know I will happily read every single one that comes out. For now, I think I’m content not knowing when the series will conclude.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

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