Book Review: Soul Taken

SPOILER ALERT: Please be aware that this is book 13 of this series. If you have not read the previous books, this review might spoil events in those books.

Mercy Thompson never seems to get a break. New problems arrive one after another, and this time is no exception. Wulfe has gone missing, an old murderer known as the Harvester has showed up in the area again, and public opinion of the pack is not so great. Mercy, Adam, and the pack must find a crazy vampire and figure out how to keep the people of the Tri-Cities safe from a murderer. She’s trying her best, but will they figure out what is going on before it’s too late?

Soul Taken is the newest installment of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, and as always, I highly enjoyed this novel. Briggs has always managed to keep her books so fresh and new with each novel. It is truly a pleasure to follow Mercy around while she tries to save her loved ones from a new threat. Plus, she makes brownies.

Briggs has always done an excellent job of keeping her characters consistent throughout every book, and once again, she has brought them to life so well. I truly enjoy all of her characters (even the ones that are not really good guys). They continue to grow naturally throughout the series, and as the reader, we learn more about them in each installment. This book in particular gives more insight into some of the characters that we have previously known very little about. There is still so much to learn and to be interested in even after twelves books. Anyone who loves this series and its characters will be very engaged in all the growth that happens in this novel.

I also really enjoyed the multitude of surprises that happened. I honestly had no clue what direction this story was going to go in. It was unclear what the main problem was or how it would be resolved until the last fourth of the novel. This allowed a lot of misdirection, interesting events, and unexpected outcomes. It is nice when a series, that has had so many books in it, can still deliver fresh unexpected events. Plus, the world building also continues to evolve. We learn more about what is possible in Mercy’s universe. I think many readers of the Mercy Thompson series will really appreciate how hard Briggs works to keep the series fun and exciting for her readers.

One thing that is not different about this novel is how quick and easy the book is to read. In fact, I feel that the writing style is a defining characteristic of the series. This novel is no exception. For a well developed urban fantasy story, Briggs has mastered a style that allows the reader to just breeze through the story. So, if you want or need a book that is very high quality while also being quick and easy to get through, I would always recommend reading a Mercy Thompson book. Soul Taken also has that smooth pacing that is almost too good. The only down side- I finish the novel way to fast, and end up waiting for the next one to be released.