Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another fantastic installment in Briggs' Mercy Thompson series.

Fire Touched focuses on a boy who escaped from Underhill after centuries of wandering the dangerous magical realm alone, but he didn't come out entirely human. Now Underhill wants him back, and the fae want him as a bargaining chip to reclaim their old homeland. Mercy and Adam, lovable bleeding hearts that they are, decide to protect the human-looking boy from all the big bads out to get him, and in doing so, claim the entire Tri-cities as their territory to defend against all comers.

I found the beginning of this book a little slow, starting off with a seemingly random scene of Mercy buying products from (basically) an Avon lady. But then a rampaging troll was set loose on the cable bridge and the story took on a more usual pace.

I really liked the character of Aiden, the young-looking boy who isn't young at all. As always, Briggs' writing really shines through in her characters. Aiden is powerful, self-assured, and rude while at the same time being just a scared little boy. He lashes out and pushes people away, but really just needs a good solid hug and someone to tell him he's safe.

The climax and wrap-up felt a little rushed to me, but were still satisfying. Mercy and her pack of do-gooder werewolves will live to fight another day . . and I can't wait to read about it.

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