Narrated by Lorelei King

Patricia Briggs is an automatic buy for me, and a go-to read or audio experience when I want an absorbing story. I am a long-time fan of the Mercy Thompson series, with its contemporary setting, kick-ass fantasy characters, and mystery plotline. As I have said before, Briggs has created a central character (a female auto mechanic) who is simultaneously strong, independent, and empathetically feminine. As a coyote shifter who isn’t fond of restrictive rules, Mercy Thompson has her own strong moral code, and her ethics in any situation make an interesting component to her thought process. One of the many things I love about Patricia Briggs’ storytelling is her ability to create three-dimensional transparency into a character’s motivation, making it a richer experience. You know why her characters behave the way they do; you feel their pain; and you can see the action taking place, as easily as if it were on a screen in front of you.

I was pulled right into Night Broken, when it began with Mercy’s husband (alpha pack leader Adam Hauptmann) getting a called from his ex-wife; Christy was in trouble and the protective instincts of the alpha (especially for the mother of his children) pulled her right into the pack home for protection. And was Mercy …uh…conflicted about this? Hell, yes. I was indignantly right there with her. There was a significant amount of character development around this plot point, taking the listener/reader along for the ride. Lots of readers will have opinions about this – why was Adam so quick to pull Christy in? Why did he seemingly give in to her manipulative demands? Why didn’t he step in when Mercy was getting uncomfortable or hurt?

Christy has been attacked and stalked by a lover, and the pack (most of whom know Adam’s ex-wife, and a few are still sympathetic to her) absorbs her into their home. This makes Mercy’s somewhat tenuous role (as the pack-leader’s wife and high in the hierarchy, even as a coyote among wolves) even more dicey. Those that were still questioning accepting a coyote are given more ammunition by Christy’s “poor-little-Susie-Homemaker-me” manipulations. When fire and death starts stalking the people (and animals) in their town, the mystery (and the cast of supernatural creatures) deepens. Nope, not going to spoil it for you – but the new villain would be fun to see in computer-generated graphics.

Night Broken is the eighth book in the Mercy Thompson series. You could listen to this stand-alone, but it would be a challenge. The world-building is significant and there are many reoccurring characters; it is a much richer experience listening to the series and building into this book.

I have listened to Lorelei King several times and she is very popular with many listeners. Fans of Mercy Thompson, in particular, have adopted her as a favorite narrator. Her evenly-paced delivery allows you to pay attention to the story and not get distracted by too much overly dramatic narration. Ms. King’s dialogue is pitched differently than the background narration; her enunciation is very crisp, and she keeps emotion out of any section that doesn’t contain dialogue (even thoughts).

With each Mercy Thompson entry, it takes me a long time to accustom myself to her style; I find it somewhat mechanical and there are sections of dialogue where I feel she misses some of the intended word emphasis. However I found myself thinking that my dad (who has trouble hearing unless people speak REALLY CLEARLY) would prefer her narration. Her accents are really strong (Stephen the vampire sounds like Vlad the Impaler, and there were some Texas twangs that boinged against your ear). I wouldn’t let this stop anyone from enjoying the story or determining if her style is right for you; she definitely lets the story take the central role (and I love the story).

Victoria