16.
Title: [Fire Touched]
Author: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Pre-Ordered
Date Completed: March 9, 2016
Rating: ***

The latest in the Mercy Thompson series, Fire Touched has received rave reviews on LibraryThing.  Though I, too, share much of the enthusiasm as these readers, I have to beg to differ on their love of this latest.  To be direct, I found it to be an incredible disappointment.

Why?  Because nothing happens.

I've long looked to Briggs as a consistent fantasy author whose work I know will deliver a certain level of entertainment.  She writes interesting characters, and is consistent throughout, developing each personality in linear (i.e. believable) ways.  Her protagonist is compelling and sympathetic, and the whole work has a strong mix of reality versus fantasy that makes it both familiar and escapist. However, the active arc of Fire Touched is dry and mechanical as compared to much of the series thus far.  From the first, Mercy and the wolf pack are used as an extension of the police force, and their presence is more like a weapon than sentient participants.  Something bad happens, the wolves are called in, and everything is resolved.  Even the social conflict between fae and the rest is glossed over, and very little is done to build this tension.  There are so many moments which could have been entertainingly (but consistently!) dramatic, but things are neatly and quietly resolved in the blink of an eye.

Despite the title there is very little fiery about this story.