Mercy Thompson, Book 11: Storm Cursed

by Patricia Briggs

Other authorsDan Dos Santos (Cover artist)
Hardcover, 2019

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Publication

Ace (2019), 384 pages

Description

Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML:In this powerful entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Mercy Thompson must face a deadly enemy to defend all she loves�?�   My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic. And a coyote shapeshifter. And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.   Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn�??t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.   The reality is that nothing and no one is safe.  As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.   But we are pack, and we have given our word.   We will die to ke… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife
I loved this book! I have to admit that I am a huge fan of all the books set in Mercy Thompson's world. Every time I get my hands on a new Mercy Thompson book, I feel like I have been given the most wonderful gift. These stories really are gifts and I cherish each one. As you may have guessed, I
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went into this book with really high expectations. This book was even better than I could have hoped. This book allowed me to escape my life for just a little while and I had a fantastic time with it.

Mercy seems to somehow attract trouble. Actually, her declaration a couple of books back that the wolves would protect their territory is causing most of the trouble. Early in this book, Mercy is called on to deal with some zombie goats and I wondered what the heck was going on. Seriously, zombie goats? I thought I had seen it all but I was obviously wrong. It was so much fun to watch Mercy try to figure out what was really going on.

I loved the direction this installment took. Witches are incredibly interesting to me anyway but witches in Mercy's world were even better. We learned a lot of things about several of the characters that have played pivotal roles in the series for a long time. All of the things that were revealed were eye-opening and some left me questioning everything that I thought I knew about the characters.

I love the role that Mercy and Adam's relationship plays in this series. It is really nice to see an established couple that is in it for the long haul. I think that Mercy and Adam's relationship only gets stronger with each book. I love the way that they trust each other completely and always have each other's backs. There were plenty of great moments between the pair in this story which I found touching.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This is the eleventh book in the Mercy Thompson series which is a series that really should be read in order since there are a lot of things carried over from previous installments. This was a highly entertaining story filled with mystery, action, excitement, great characters, and even a few zombie goats. I enjoyed this one so much I pre-ordered the audiobook so I can experience the story all over again in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Possibly the nastiest Mercy story I've read - black witches and zombies. Betrayal, from some very unexpected angles. And help from some equally unexpected ones. As usual, Mercy got involved and plans that have been in train for decades, maybe centuries got thoroughly derailed. I don't know what she
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did to Wulfe - it will be interesting to see what happens in later stories. Very rich. And mildly amusing, after so many stories about werewolf and vampire and fae politics, to get one with a large dose of human politics in it.
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LibraryThing member kmartin802
Plans are underway for a meeting of officials from the US government and the Grey Lords in the territory of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. There are so many things that can go wrong that Mercy would be hard-pressed to even make a guess as to how many.

What she hadn't factored in were a group of
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witches - a horribly powerful group of witches - who definitely don't want that meeting to take place. Interference from Coyote is also making things more difficult for Mercy because, as always, Coyote has his own agenda.

With Adam busy trying to remain neutral while being under contract to provide security for the meeting due to a bad contract lawyer and an almost forgotten line in an old contract, Mercy has to call in some old friends and some old enemies and some new friends to deal with the witches.

This episode brings in threads from earlier books in the series but stands alone quite well. I love Mercy's relationship with Adam and her growing bonds with the werewolf pack. I liked seeing Zee and Tad and even Uncle Mike again. I enjoyed meeting the Goblin King and, like Mercy, wonder about his cryptic comments about the future.

The book is filled with action and packed with magic. It was an exciting read that kept me up late because I couldn't go to sleep until I knew what happened.
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LibraryThing member EowynA
This next Mercy novel is the result of her declaration in an earlier book that Adam's werewolf pack defends all those in their territory from the paranormal evils out there. Some of the modern humans in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state are reassured -- others are more freaked out by the
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existence of werewolves and others. And now goblins, vampires, witches, and the fae's Grey Lords are using this declaration to their advantage. Maybe.

This is another rip-roaring Patricia Briggs book - a page-turning, character-driven adventure hard to describe and fun to read.
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LibraryThing member phyllis2779
Excellent installment in the Mercy Thompson series. In this book, some witches are the evil ones and, of course, they are hard to beat. They do gruesome things like killing kids and baby dragons and making them zombies. The emphasis in this book was not on the pack, even though they were involved,
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but on various magical being, e,g,, the King Goblin and Mercy's allies.
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LibraryThing member quondame
The 11th Mercy Thomson book and close to the 20th in the series, this does pretty well for all that some of the tropes have worn smooth. Fast moving with an intricate but not too intricate plot that ties backward and forward in the series, Briggs manages her large cast deftly and keeps everyone
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distinct.
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LibraryThing member AVoraciousReader
4.5

Book source ~ Library

Mercy Thompson is a mechanic, but she’s also a whole lot more. As a coyote shifter she has some problems fitting in with the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. Normally, she wouldn’t give a fig about the pack, but ever since she married their Alpha, Adam Hauptman, she kinda
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has to deal with them. And now she’s dealing with a situation that she brought upon herself and the pack and that’s being the go-between for the humans and the Gray Lords of the Fae. Mercy doesn’t try to make her life more complicated. These things just seem to happen.

I love this series. I really do. And while I love this installment in it, it just seems to be a bit much this time. I’m not sure why I feel that way because the book has everything I love about the entire series: paranormal shenanigans, steaminess, humor, my favorite characters, danger, mystery, and a decent plot. Ok, maybe it’s the plot. It feels off. Maybe because the last book had Mercy kidnapped and carried off to Europe. It seems like the thing on the bridge with the troll happened forever ago and I guess what I really need is a series refresher. I do hope the Fae storyline gets some more attention because I think that’s what it needs. They really only end up as a subplot of this book because there’s some new Big Bads in town and they are not Fae. Hint: there’s some adorable zombies involved. If I had to guess, this book is setting up a big Fae/human showdown which should prove very complicated and interesting. I do still love this series and can’t wait for the next story.
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LibraryThing member jshillingford
Mercedes Thompson is one the few series that I still preorder every installment and read it almost immediately. The characters are compelling and grow with every story, and the worldbuilding is excellent.

Mercy opened a can of worms the Columbia Basin pack when she declared the people of their
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territory under the pack’s protection. The human government has manipulated Adam, via his security company, to act as bodyguards to their delegation for secret peace negotiations with the Gray Lords/Fae. Then a nasty pack of witches makes a power play to take over the territory and things escalate quickly.

Despite being a coyote shapeshifting walker, Mercy is still relatable. She has family drama, and gets by on luck as much as skill when dealing with the supernatural community. I love how she and Adam have become a team and the pack is finally warming up to her (I seriously hope Briggs’ leaves Christy off the page going forward). Old friends reappear in this story and the mythology is expanded on – giving us more on witch politics.

Overall, this was a great read and I look forward to the next book.
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LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
Mercy is cleaning up some magical things around the Tri Cities area due to the public statement of putting the area under their protection. The first few incidents don’t seem to have anything in common but in the end the root cause is witchcraft. The pack is mostly tied up with a government
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contract to help with talks between the US government and the Gray Lords. Lots of people from previous books make an appearance in this one even if they don’t have a large part to play. A good catchup book for the ever growing cast of secondary characters in the book and showing just what the pack can do with allies.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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LibraryThing member florabundi
11th in the Mercy Thompson series. There are no cliffhangers in this series but to understand who and what is happening you need to read as published. However if you miss one you will still be able to enjoy the book. The characters carry it all and keep growing with each challenge. Black magic
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witches do lots of damage in this book, cruelty and violence are standard, yet there's humor to give you a smile even in the worst of times. Love zombie goats! This book was just what I needed after a week of snow every day, gray skies and -26 this morning.
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LibraryThing member STACYatUFI
Mercy's back!! SILENCE FALLEN had Mercy by herself for a really big portion of the book, but STORM CURSED brought a lot of Mercy's allies along for her ride and I loved every minute of it.

STORM CURSED had a great pace and a great storyline. Even after 11 books Briggs is still able to bring us new
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and exciting things in her Mercy Thompson world.

I really enjoyed the glimpses into Mercy and Adam's relationship. They are a really strong couple and continue to get stronger with each book. Mercy's connection to the pack also get stronger with each book. One thing I REALLY want to see in a future book—but hopefully sooner than later—is BABIES for Adam and Mercy. PLEASE bring us babies!!!

I really enjoyed STORM CURSED and look forward to reading more. I think I might actually go back to book one and re-read the whole series just so I can stay in Mercy's world a little longer.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member TheYodamom
This book is almost all Mercy. She is overwhelmed with witch troubles, zombie issues, protection troubles, oh just about anything that can go wrong troubles. Adam is barely there, but we get time with Zee, Stephen, Wulf, and some other very cool characters. I enjoyed the time with these characters
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and what we learned here, very, very interesting.
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LibraryThing member kmartin802
Plans are underway for a meeting of officials from the US government and the Grey Lords in the territory of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. There are so many things that can go wrong that Mercy would be hard-pressed to even make a guess as to how many.

What she hadn't factored in were a group of
Show More
witches - a horribly powerful group of witches - who definitely don't want that meeting to take place. Interference from Coyote is also making things more difficult for Mercy because, as always, Coyote has his own agenda.

With Adam busy trying to remain neutral while being under contract to provide security for the meeting due to a bad contract lawyer and an almost forgotten line in an old contract, Mercy has to call in some old friends and some old enemies and some new friends to deal with the witches.

This episode brings in threads from earlier books in the series but stands alone quite well. I love Mercy's relationship with Adam and her growing bonds with the werewolf pack. I liked seeing Zee and Tad and even Uncle Mike again. I enjoyed meeting the Goblin King and, like Mercy, wonder about his cryptic comments about the future.

The book is filled with action and packed with magic. It was an exciting story that kept me up late because I couldn't go to sleep until I knew what happened.
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LibraryThing member tetisheri
Awesome

Mercy is back and is as chaotic as ever. I love her and the pack. I liked seeing more of Sherwood Post. Coyote is as tricksy as ever. Now I have to wait for a whole other year for the next one.
LibraryThing member AngelaJMaher
There's a lot a grisly witch action in this installment, tying in nicely with previous threads of the story but also taking it in new directions. Some aspects of the story were a bit complicated but it is, as usual, a great book.
LibraryThing member murderbydeath
My rating would indicate I wasn't all that thrilled with this book, but I was. I thought it was a very solid entry in the series – it holds its own – though it isn't the best.

I had, overall, three disconnects with the book that stick in my mind after 24 hours. From least important to most they
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are:

1. The blurb set up an unreasonable expectation for me. The blurb, coupled with the cover, made me think of the scene in X-Men 3, where Jane Grey unleashes the mother of all temper tantrums. The reality in this book, while horrifying in itself, is rather underwhelming in comparison; it's not really a storm so much as it's a killing spree.

2. I get it: Mercy really doesn't like being bound to Stefan, even though she freely admits she consented and that he's never, ever done anything to abuse her trust or exploit said bond. To Mercy I say: get over it already.

3. And this is really the stickler, the reason I rated a story I mostly enjoyed so low: animal cruelty and death. I get it - the story is about black magic that feeds on suffering - and I don't care. I did not like the long swaths of descriptions; the story didn't need it either - it was horrifying enough without Briggs putting images in my head I'm really not happy about. I frankly skipped large sections of the book when I discovered she was running with this "theme". I can't believe I didn't DNF the damn thing, though the rest of the story was good enough that I'm glad I didn't. But I'll vet her next books far more closely in future and I'm skipping any that appear to revisit this crap.

Beyond those things, the story really was good. I loved Sherwood's part in the story even though it was shades of Bran; Briggs still made it work well. I found Larry the Goblin King sort of funny, and definitely intriguing - I enjoy stories about, if not underdogs, people who are underestimated. It sounds like the goblins are woefully underestimated. I have mixed feelings about Elizaveta, though I'll probably not miss her, and I enjoyed Mercy finally figuring out that her own strengths were unexplored. It took her long enough, but at least she got there in the end.

Overall a strong story if you can overlook the animal cruelty, which I can't. My enthusiasm for this series has suffered a significant hit; I won't go so far as to say I'm done, but I'm certainly looking at the next release with a lot more circumspection.
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LibraryThing member Tikimoof
This was better than the last Mercy Thompson book (Silence Fallen, I think?), so at least there's that.

So Briggs has done away with the Adam POV - thank God, those were like nails on a chalkboard. It's all in the Tri-Cities, so we don't have to deal with the weird Bran complication mentioned in the
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last book (Seriously, not everybody needs to not-platonically-love Mercy. I thought we'd mostly wrapped that up when she got married except for occasional Stephan stuff. Don't add more!).

The final villain wasn't quite as shoehorned as in Burn Bright, but I guess we're in that late-stage-long-series phase where there are too many characters, and it's easier to start paring down who we have rather than only introduce a new enemy. I still didn't love the resolution, but at least it was a person who'd been more morally ambiguous through the series.

So this still wasn't as fun as the first few books, but at Briggs has recovered a bit from the tailspin.

(and I'll still keep reading)
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
I just can't get enough of this series. Every book is so immediately gratifying -- return to favorite characters, further action-filled step along a long path of story, further unfolding of larger power struggles. Really enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member hypatian_kat
As with most Mercy Thompson novels, a bit of fluffy brain-candy. Unlike Silence Fallen, the previous entry in the series, Storm Cursed avoids the pitfall of appropriating yet another non-white cultural tradition. (If you ignore the cover art.)

The plot and action override everything else here.
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Unfortunately, this leaves almost no room for character development. The danger level is ramped up too high, and many of Mercy's most interesting compatriots are left out because they are too vulnerable. Those powerful enough to help out do... but without anything to say or any time to explain themselves if they do have something to say.

Even with those limitations, some old questions are given glimmerings of answers (or at least new threads to be pulled).

This series continues to coast at a comfortable level, and is a reliable popcorn read.
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LibraryThing member StarKnits
I so enjoy Mercy and Adam! I love Sherwood too.
Goblin King!!!!
I like how Mercy is growing in her Coyote powers.

Ding dong the witch is dead! Though my heart stopped there for a min.
LibraryThing member StarKnits
This story was a little shorter than other books in the series.
A few things to note:
Aiden is practically Mercy and Adam's son which is excellent.
Larry the Goblin King!!!
Mary Jo - ugh with Adam deserves better... Let it go already! Adam chose Mercy.
Pygmy zombie goats!!
At peace Wolfe lol

I really
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enjoyed seeing Mercy, Tad and Z together.

Ugh witches I can't even with them. I am saddened to see how Elizavetta (sp?) Has gone the dark route. There at the end I was freaking out with the kiss though I love how Adam delt with it.
I like how Mercy is learning how to use her coyote gift..even if she doesn't want to really deal with her connection to the dead
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Good as the series gets, another installment involving all of the powers: fae, werewolves, vampires and the witches. The US gov is prepared to meet with the fae to discuss an amicable peace and of course Mercy's Tri-Cities is the ground chosen for this because it's supposedly neutral. However
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someone seems to be going out of their way to disrupt the talks and the number of suspects is quite large, ranging from disaffected humans all through to the fae factions themselves.

Mercey and crew discover that some other witch covens are also on the scene and while the miniature-goat zombies were amusing things rapidly get less so. For once it didn't feel like Mercy was in mortal danger, but several of her various companions for good or for ill and now no longer able to assist her.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2019-05-07

Physical description

384 p.; 6 inches

ISBN

0425281299 / 9780425281291

Local notes

When a new coven of witches comes in and threatens the safety of the area she protects, Mercy must fight them to keep those close to her safe.

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