Storm Cursed, by Patricia Briggs, is the eleventh novel in the Mercy Thompson series. Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a Native American car mechanic who also happens to be a coyote skinwalker and mate to Columbia Basin werewolf Alpha leader, Adam Hauptman. A series of events in previous novels led to Mercy using her magic to create a safe haven for citizens in the Tri-Cities region. This involves the pack protecting the community from suspicious supernatural activity. The pack's home is neutral ground, and the human citizens would feel safe to come and treat with the fae. After undergoing a wild adventure to rescue Mercy in Europe in Silence Fallen, the pack feel relieved to return to a sense of normalcy.
The story begins when Mercy and members of the pack, Mary Jo and Ben, are called to investigate a goblin hunt. The suspect is alleged to have killed a policeman. Mercy calls on Larry, the gobling king, to help with the case. With this event, a secret power held by goblins is revealed that is unique among the fae, which has important repercussions in the future. Meanwhile, the case leads to a police request involving a resident's pygmy goats. Upon closer look, Mercy and Adam discover that the pygmy goats have actually become walking zombies. This leads Mercy to call on the witch family of Elizaveta Arkadyevna to help with the zombie goat problem. Coincidentally, a family that owned the pygmy goats tells Mercy about a woman with a strange witch who tried to buy the goats and and tried to lure their young son to come to her car.
Mercy and Adam return to Elizaveta's house to investigate where the zombies are coming from. Upon their visit, they discover black magic and its deadly side effects. Black magic witches are willing to commit evil acts, such as torture humans and animals alike, to receive a boost to their magical powers. Furthermore, mysterious threats begin to occur frequently within and beyond their territory. To make things even more complicated, the fae of the Gray Lords are mingling with humans and want to engage with the federal authorities to negotiate a peace treaty. The recent atrocities with the black magic witches could inadvertently disrupt this process.
As a skinwalker, Mercy is very sensitive to magic. But she must figure out quickly who is disrupting the balance in the Tri-Cities region. New and recurring characters appear to assist with the investigation. It also tests Mercy's moral ground, and it's up to her to stop the black magical attacks before someone, humans especially, gets hurt.
Patricia Briggs delivers another dark and breath-taking plot in Storm Cursed. Mercy and the wolf pack encounter the most powerful and dangerous magic of all--black magic. Specifically, witches are using human and animal sacrifice with dire consequences. The nice thing about this novel is that it pulls in plots and characters from previous books and interwovens them in ways readers would least expect. Readers will finally get to learn the background of Wulfe, a vampire with a mysterious past, and Sherwood Post, a werewolf with a missing leg. Beloved characters, such as Zee, a powerful fae and longtime fae, and his son, Tad, are also more fully developed in this book. Given the disturbing scenes, no character is safe (except our protagonists). Yet, Briggs is able to keep this series both fresh and fascinating with innovative plot twists. Since this series launched a decade ago, the books are getting better with time (I'm in my 30s now). Overall, I highly recommend this novel.
Stay tuned for the next novel in the Mercy Thompson series, Smoke Bitten.
No comments:
Post a Comment