The scene opened with Mercy accompanying Jesse for Black Friday midnight shopping -- on that note, I LOVE how Mercy addressed Jesse as "my stepdaughter". I have a weakness for family story in any of the urban fantasy series I follow --. But since this is Mercy we were talking about, trouble soon found her. She and Jesse were involved in a car bump (after Jesse shocked Mercy with a question about baby) -- which made them late to came back to the pack. It turned out to be a bit of a good thing, because Adam and the rest of the pack were kidnapped while they were out shopping. It was up to Mercy to find a way to hide Jesse, helped Kyle (who was not kidnapped but held hostage nevertheless), rescued Adam somehow, in addition to find out who was behind the kidnapping.-------------It was the testament of how AWESOME this book (and to that extent, of course, Patricia Briggs) was, that I didn't even feel that it had been two years since the last time I read about Mercedes Thompson -- back in 2011. And book #6 wasn't even filled with many of the 'old' characters; it was a Mercy and Adam's book as they went to their honeymoon. However, just within the first few chapters, Briggs brought me back to the world of Mercy Thompson, Adam Hauptman, and the rest of the pack ... and boy, she didn't pull any punches!!The story was delivered in quick pace without ever losing its rhythm -- and I was still reeling with one heartbreaking scene in the first part of this book. It was so sudden, so out of the blue, I practically continued reading the book in a state of shock. It was amazing how Ms. Briggs introduced a twist to the kidnapping story. It was definitely NOT what I thought the kidnapping was all about.What I loved about Mercy was that she never a heroine with solitary martyrdom complex. It is one of the most annoying plots in any of urban fantasy story I read. Nope, Mercy kept her cool. She knew that she couldn't do things alone. So she gathered allies -- which include Stephan the vampire (how I MISSED him!) and Tad, the half-fae son of Zee. She was also willing to accept help from intriguing werewolf, Asil (or better known as "The Moor" -- and I wanted MOAR of him :p). However, at the same time, when it was down to her fighting the bad guys, well, Mercy totally kicked ass!! Her power was also beyond what we could think of, like the one with the silver. Man!!Then there was Adam. Oh GOD, Adam *siiiiigh*. Man, Adam was so deadly sexy. And he got his own chapters in this. Not just one, but two. It was a great switch of perspective, and it made readers understand Adam more -- how he felt about Mercy, how he felt about his pack.I loved how the familiar characters returned (I especially loved how Kyle got his own darned spotlight -- not just being Warren's better half this time) but also some new characters introduced (Hao was as intriguing as Asil). This book has everything -- action, romance, heartbreaking moment, tenderness, shocking twist, and also some humor/fun quips ("I was going to fight vampires, and my name wasn't Buffy—I was so screwed" -- Mercy). It's easily the best and my favorite book of the series yet. And it cements Mercedes Thompson series as one of my Top 5 Urban Fantasy series.EDITED TO ADD:A friend told me that Asil was actually part of Brigg's "Alpha and Omega" series -- so he wasn't exactly a new character. I don't read that series, though, so I guess he is as new to me as he is to Mercy *grin*
