{"id":12908,"date":"2020-05-25T08:56:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T12:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12908"},"modified":"2024-01-21T10:16:30","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T15:16:30","slug":"smoke-bitten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12908","title":{"rendered":"Smoke Bitten"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smoke Bitten<\/a><\/em> (2020) Patricia Briggs<\/a> (Mercy Thompson)<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/a>Bizarrely, I had forgotten about the previous book–the one with the zombies–which threw me initially, since those events were not foremost in my mind.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d disemboweled a zombie werewolf on the old carpet, and one of the results of that was that I\u2019d finally discovered a mess that Adam\u2019s expert cleaning guru couldn\u2019t get out of the white carpet. All of it had been torn up and replaced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How I forgot that, I don’t know.<\/p>\n

This story initially seems to start with Aiden.<\/p>\n

Aiden\u2019s room was in the basement, so I just continued down the next set of stairs. He lived in what had previously been the pack\u2019s safe room because Adam and his happy contractor (who said that fixing the damage routinely experienced by our house from a pack of werewolves had already paid for his kids\u2019 college and was working on his grandchildren\u2019s) had decided that it would be the easiest room in the house to fireproof. Aiden tended to have nightmares, and when he did, sometimes he started fires.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it soon becomes clear that Aiden was just an excuse.<\/p>\n

We also get Wulfe, who is suddenly far more interested in Mercy than he had been.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot fortunate,\u201d demurred Wulfe, answering Aiden with a coyness that would have been more appropriate from a Southern belle in an old movie. In old movies, overacting was standard fare. \u201cNot mere luck. I am stalking Mercy. Of course I was around, because that\u2019s what stalkers do, or so I\u2019ve read. It\u2019s my new hobby.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wulfe is a fascinating character.<\/p>\n

I was afraid of witches. I was afraid of vampires. I was very, very afraid of Wulfe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think the author does an excellent job of making Wulfe fascinating, while reminding us that he is terrifyingly powerful and insane. (It’s not his fault he is insane, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous.)<\/p>\n

One thing I particularly like about this book is that although there is a lot of drama, it is natural drama (so-to-speak). Mercy isn’t the center of it, but she is often caught up in it. (Such as the issues cause by Christie, Adam’s ex-wife and Jesse’s mother. It causes drama, but it’s not Mercy’s fault. Also, she is justifiably hurt by it, and we see her working hard not to overreact to a situation outside of her control.)<\/p>\n

I also adore the little side bits, especially the ones where we get glimpses into side characters.<\/p>\n

When someone asked Sherwood directly about the Robin Hood identity, he hunted me down and asked to see the betting book. Sherwood put a dollar down on Robin Hood himself\u2014 and another dollar on William Shakespeare.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These little side stories are one of the things that make me love the series so much. I figure at some point we’ll get a story about Sherwood, but it’s a delight getting these glimpses.<\/p>\n

Also, bits like this:<\/p>\n

I hoped he could hear my eyes rolling. \u201cThat\u2019s what you told me when I was fourteen. I was hoping for something more useful now that I\u2019m an adult and she\u2019s trying to take over my pack.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t roll your eyes at me,\u201d he snapped. \u201cAnd you were fifteen.\u201d <\/p>\n

I looked at the phone. \u201cYou remember how old I was?\u201d I asked incredulously. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the day Charles glitter-bombed my office,\u201d Bran said darkly. \u201cOf course I remember.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cCharles?\u201d There was no way. \u201cCharles glitter-bombed your office.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is an Easter Egg for those who read the Alpha & Omega series, but it’s also a peek into Mercy & Bran’s relationship, and it also feels like a real conversation.<\/p>\n

It was just lovely and delightful and just what I needed after the darkness of the Jane Yellowrock book.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Ace
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoke Bitten (2020) Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson) Bizarrely, I had forgotten about the previous book–the one with the zombies–which threw me initially, since those events were not foremost in my mind. I\u2019d disemboweled a zombie werewolf on the old carpet, and one of the results of that was that I\u2019d finally discovered a mess that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,2,48,16],"tags":[69,313,525],"class_list":["post-12908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-fantasy","category-female","category-supernatural","tag-mercy-thompson","tag-vampires","tag-werewolves"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3mc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5832,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5832","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":0},"title":"Moon Called","author":"Michelle","date":"May 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs And now comes the re-reading of the Mercy Thompson series. Here's the back-cover blurb: Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/moon-called.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10870,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10870","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":1},"title":"Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson, Audio Version (2014) Patricia Briggs narrated by Alexander Cendese and Lorelei King Flailing around for something to listen to, I decided that I'd listen to the Patricia Briggs short story collection and then go from there. This collection has very few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Shifting-Shadows-e1511034985417.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10947,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10947","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":2},"title":"Silver Borne, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"July 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Silver Borne, Audio Edition (2010) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King This story has one of my favorite arcs--Samuel's falling apart and how hard his wolf works to keep him alive. \u201cWhat have you done with Samuel? Is he all right?\u201d Pale ice blue eyes examined me thoughtfully. \u201cSamuel? I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Silver-Borne.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5503,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5503","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":3},"title":"Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly","author":"Michelle","date":"November 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly (2015) Patricia Briggs and Tom Garcia I'm a huge fan of the Mercy Thompson series, and also love Patricia Briggs' short stories, so although I didn't love the first Mercy Thompson graphic novel I read, I got this because I do like her short stories. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mercy-Thompson-Hopcross-Jilly","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Mercy-Thompson-Hopcross-Jilly.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10874,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10874","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":4},"title":"Moon Called, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Moon Called, Audible Version (2006) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King I'm now listening my way through the Mercy Thompson (and most likely Alpha & Omega) books. As I've noted before, I don't dislike Lorelei King's narration. I think she does a very good job with Mercy. I just think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/moon-called-e1511035386530.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1315,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1315","url_meta":{"origin":12908,"position":5},"title":"Mercy Thompson: Homecoming","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (2009) Patricia Briggs, David Lawrence, Francis Tsai, Amelia Woo What is it with supernatural fantasy authors and comic books? First Jim Butcher, now Patricia Briggs. Not that I'm complaining. It's fun to spend time with characters I enjoy in a medium other than I'm used to, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"mercy_homecoming","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mercy_homecoming.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}