Syahira's Literary Obsession

Bone Crossed is the fourth installment of the Mercy Thompson Urban Fantasy series which follows the life of a mechanic who had to juggle her life working with old cars in her workshop and the supernatural politics she was shoved into by various nefarious means. The book started directly after the ending of Iron Kissed, in which Mercy was forced to find the killer of a fae killer/thief or her innocent fae friend will be executed for being in a wrong place at a wrong time. Mercy found the killer but he held various powerful fae items and thus she was forced to bend her wills to the killer. While she was being raped in her garage, Mercy briefly regained her conscience to break against the fae magic and managed to incapacitate him before killing him in her rage. The rape had scarred Mercy deeply that she was still frightened from the nightmare she had that she hoped time and Adam would heal her. So she tried to convince everyone that she’s fine until a tortured and dying vampire fell onto her doorstep and a crossed bones paint was painted on her graffitied garage signifying that nothing is truly normal in Mercy Thompson’s life.Majority of the book concerned with the events on the second book when Mercy had to find demon-possessed vampires before they wreck havoc to the city but then it was converged with the third book with the incident that lead Mercy’s exposure to the world as the Tri-Cities State Alpha’s girlfriend who killed her rapist. An old university roommate, Amber, found out about Mercy from the news and came to Mercy asking for help with her haunted house in Spokane. Apparently, in the past while Mercy in university, before the fae and werewolves came out, Mercy had drunkenly told her friend that she was raised by werewolves and that she can see ghosts. So, with a vampiric death warrant over her head, she left the city to let Adam sort out with the vampires and so that no one that she care would get hurt. At her friend’s house, she met with Amber’s child, 10 years old Chad who is deaf and his overprotective and cynical step-father, Corban. At dinner, she inexplicably faced James Blackwood, the notorious vampire known as the Monster who had lived in Spokane for centuries and feared by almost every vampires because of his antisocial and often deadly tendencies.Although I had some misgivings about continuing the series after reading the second book last february (my 50th book apparently), since the story is a bit too much about the mysteries, crimes and supernatural politics in the Tri-Cities than Mercy Thompson’s story about herself, like her past or her feelings since she definitely didn’t think much about her own issues rather than her natural tendencies to get into a mess and eventually save the day. But on contrary, Mercy is an unconventional heroine, she love furiously, care deeply and compassionate in every sort of way. Her inner strength to survive even when the odds are seemingly impossible are legendary. Even with incidents of her nearly getting killed several times in a span of few weeks, doesn’t deter her from trying to save someone or fight multiples of someones who always wanting to hurt her and her loved ones. She’s brave, loyal and trustworthy even when she’s not. She had been hurt a lot of time and with even more people trying to break her soul, she somehow persist even when she’s increasingly weary of the world around her. This made her quite an inspirational character even with her multiple of flaws that made her quite human. She’s quite stubborn and determined to face everything on her own, even when she’s reckless enough to fall face into bigger problems in her life especially when she know someone life is at stake.It’s hard to let your mind wander while reading this book. The book contained several references from the past books which made rereading is unnecessary as you can easily pick up the pacing from the book. Although some of the multiple plot was disjointed but everything somehow fused together as you venture into the book. The author doesn’t rely on too much character except making them memorable. I could list down names of the characters without any problem as the author doesn’t skimp on making the book a solo journey. You can see characters reactions and the progression from the previous books (including the Alpha Omega series) and their steady relationship between the main character as the story goes on. I’m not talking just about Adam, Samuel and Stephen, but the pack, the vampire sethe, the fae, the humans that Mercy encountered. Sometimes it felt too much of the world while reading this but when you did, its superbly engrossing especially the suspense and the sometimes musing of the main character while she’s sorting out the events around her.Since the book provide some unfinished clues about Mercy abilities and past with the impending threats from all of the supernatural sides, I guess its feasible to continue reading to feed my own curiosity about the elusive main character who at some times, unnecessary complicate things on her own but eventually lovable just as the same.I would recommend the series to anyone who like decent supernatural crime novel without the fluffs and like strong main female character (without feminist nonsense) along with strong male characters with their flaws and their own conflicts. I definitely would recommend the book if you love the idea of having the character’s interact with each other without simplifying conflicts to suit the readers. I like difficult continuous characterization since it made the book unpredictable. Its not a standalone book since all of the events from the first book will directly effected the storylines so if you can, do read from the beginning.