I don’t think it’s possible to get to the 10th book in a series without truly loving it. Like, if you’re lukewarm about it, it’s not gonna work; eventually, you’re gonna run out of steam and your interest will dwindle. Which should tell you something about how I feel about this series.

The tenth book in the Mercy Thompson series is probably the most different so far. Not only did we get a flip-flopping timeline (i’ll get to that in a bit), but we also got to see things from Adam’s POV, AND the story took place outside the US of A.

The story kicks off with Mercy and the Werewolf gang LARPing over at the Hauptman-Thompson residence. Mercy, the first to be killed in the brutal pirate battle, decides to bake cookies (a habit that’s got her marked as an early target by all the other players) but goes down to the kitchen to discover that there aren’t enough eggs in the house. Mercy, ever practical, hops into her husband’s SUV and books it to the store to buy more eggs.

Aaaaaand everything pretty much goes downhill from there.

You’ve gotta feel for Mercy – thrown into the thick of things in the very first chapter. You really gotta.

One of the things I love (and sorta hate, let’s be honest) about this series is that it never fails to remind you that, Child of Coyote or not, Mercy is still very much mortal, and very not invincible. She’s had some very close calls of late, and they’ve all served to take away any assurance readers might have had that Mercy would always come out of things alive and kicking. At least, they have for this reader.

Seeing Mercy all alone in Europe, completely separated from Adam (because their mate bond’s just as inconsistent as ever) and in the clutches of a not-entirely-sane Vampire Master had me concerned for her. Don’t look at me like that, I had every right to be. Thankfully, Adam wasn’t about to let Mercy fend for herself and was helping her however we could.

Which brings me back to the flip-flopping timelines.

This book is told from both Mercy’s POV, and Adam’s. It was a delightful surprise, even if it did make mentally keeping track of the chronological order of events a little tough. It took away the linearity of the narration that we’re so used to from the previous books. We would follow Mercy through a bunch of main events, and then, a few chapters in, hop into Adam’s brain to see how he was handling things on his end.

I don’t know if everyone else who read this book will be singing the same song, but I actually really liked the flippity floppity and Adam’s POV. Adam’s voice is sorta like… not a palette cleanser… but a lovely complementary flavor to Mercy’s robustness. Adam’s a lot more wry and serious, which is a lovely juxtaposition to Mercy’s snarky quippier voice, if that makes sense. As for the flip flopping, I loved the gaps it filled. It took away the need for tedious exposition towards the end of the novel when

Mercy and Adam were eventually reunited

and it kept the flow going. So it gets a yay from me.

I don’t know what else there is for me to say, really, besides I really enjoyed this book. I love the way these characters and worlds all continue to grow. Ten books into the series and you’d think that all the develop would have started to peter out, but it hasn’t.

And I don’t know about youz guis, but for as long as this series can continue to give me fresh stories and growing characters; I 👏 am 👏 here 👏 for 👏 it.

This review and more here