Mercy Blade

Mercy Blade (2011) Faith Hunter

This is the third Jane Yellowrock novel, and I’m still thoroughly enjoying the story line.

Jane has taken on the job of rogue hunter for the New Orleans’ vampire clans, and is in the process of emptying her apartment in Appalachia to move south when a news broadcast announces the official existence of weres–soon followed by a notice of legal action against the head of the New Orleans vampire clans by the werewolf clan he had kicked out of the area years before. All of this means work and trouble for Jane.

There are some really wonderful threads running through this story–her relationship with Rick, her even more complicated relationship with Bruiser, head blood servant of Leo Pellissier with whom works closely in providing security for the New Orleans vampires. The return of the man named Girrard, who has a history with the vampires that no one will clarify to Jane. But the most interesting–and complex–is Jane’s relationship with Molly’s sister, who is living with Jane while she negotiates with the vampires. One really has to wonder what Evangeline is doing, and what her intentions are towards Jane.

Although the book ended on a note that normally would annoy me, it was well done enough that I didn’t mind. The main arc of the story was completed, and although the last page did contain a big reveal, that reveal wasn’t particularly surprising, so I didn’t mind the lead into the next book.

Another note of awesome–this is one of those rare series where the woman on the cover totally looks like the character found between the pages. And she also looks like she could, you know, kick ass and take names in the outfit she’s wearing. Yeah, there’s probably a little more cleavage than would be a good idea, but otherwise, this is a woman who looks like she can move and fight in her clothes. So ROC? Thank you, thank you thank you!

Although you could conceivably start the series here, I highly recommend going back to the first book, because it contains not just Jane’s back story, but we also see the development of her relationship with Rick and Bruiser and why her relationship with Leo is so complex.

Rating: 8/10

Published by ROC

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