In Soul Taken, Briggs has delivered a smasher of a book that is fittingly spooky for the thirteenth outing for Mercy Thompson. It’s Halloween and the local cinema is showing a B horror movie based on the local legend of a mythical figure called The Harvester. In true Mercy style, there’s of course more than a little truth to the local legend and Mercy and the pack soon find themselves right in the middle of things. It’s not just them this time though; one of the vampires is missing.

It’s Wulfe, one vampire that Mercy and her allies never know what to expect nor the true scope of his powers. He’s a wildcard, and to make matters worse, the leader of the vampires has given the pack an ultimatum; find him or there will be war with the vampires. Marsilia’s strange ultimatum isn’t the only thing that doesn’t make sense, and as Mercy and the Pack start to look into things they find even more questions.

Soul Taken dips a bit more into the horror genre than previous books, and mixing it with the pop culture of horror movies takes the edge off it for readers who might not like their books that dark. It also allows for some excellent conversations with Jessie and Mercy on the subject. The world-building of this book was delicious, and I enjoyed every single moment of it. I especially loved learning more about characters that we’ve known for a long time. This series just keeps getting better!

I loved Patricia Brigg's urban fantasy novels, my only note is that the last one are a bit too repetitive and I think there's too much inner monologue and some parts seems to be too divisive to be entertaining.
That said this is not one of the best, if you like the series it's like having an update
I would be very happy to read story like at the beginning of the series
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A solid installment in a great urban fantasy series. I would definitely recommend to urban fantasy fans. Patricia Briggs consistently delivers and this was no exception.

3.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2023/08/03/soul-taken-mercy-thompson-13-by-patricia-briggs/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Number Thirteen, Unlucky for Some

There are two elements to the storyline of Soul Taken. Firstly, it appears that a couple of vampires have gone missing and the finger of suspicion is on Adam, Mercy and the Colombia Basin pack, meaning they need to figure out what’s really going on. On top of this, as Mercy and Adam start to investigate it soon becomes clear that for some time members of the community have been turning up dead! Things are about to get frantic. There appears to be a figure straight out of a horror movie stalking the streets and the latest issue with the vampires threatens to shatter the alliances.

It took a little while to get into the story this time around but once the action kicked in the pacing was good. I actually really enjoyed the strange links between the horror movie and the actual soul stealer. I loved some of the reveals and also looking back at some of the history of the vampires and there are plenty of favourite characters thrown into the mix here. Plus I do love Mercy. She’s such a great character.

But,I have slightly mixed feelings with this one. On the one hand, I love this series and I can’t imagine ever reaching a point where I don’t want to continue. The characters are like old friends and picking up the next instalment is like putting on your comfiest PJs. It’s just a no-stress, no-brainer really and I love sinking into this world. It’s full of everything that makes urban fantasy so great to read and during the course of this series Briggs has added layer upon layer resulting in a rich world with complex characters. So, with slight hesitation I would say that two things held me back from loving this one as much as previous books. Firstly, it took a little while for the story to take off, which is partly due to explanations and recaps that feel a little unnecessary, well, I understand the desire to bring new readers up to speed, and sometimes a little memory boost is a good thing, but, it felt a little too much with this one like the balance was off. And, although I did like the plot here, it felt a little like a stepping stone to what’s possibly coming next.

All that being said,I do love this series. I feel excited when a new release is due and it feels like there is still so much potential.

I received a copy courtesy of the publisher, through Netgalley, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars

This author never fails to deliver a stunning addicting addition to the Mercedes Thompson's series. I loved the story, the characters and reading the book feels like I have returned to my favourite story world.

Book 13 in the Mercy Thompson series. Vampires, wolves, Fae and many other supernatural creatures make up this world of Mercy and Adam her Alpha wolf mate. Vampires and other supernatural beings have gone missing. The Harvester a soul taker is playing at the local movie theatre there seems to be a connection. These are well loved beloved characters from a long running series and really shine in this story. I have not read many of the others in the series, but l found this did not stop my enjoyment of this story. I found the characters so well written this really engages the reader. This book becomes one you cannot put down. Will enjoy looking for others in the series.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so bored. This book wasn't it for me. A total miss. There was only one tiny interesting about this book. I only finished it because I was hoping something would happen and that something was just a teeny tiny detail about who Sherwood is. That's it. I read a boring book just for that bit of information. Quite the waste of time if you ask me. Briggs has written WAAAAY better books in this series.

Mercy is back and with a bang - to her face that is , just who threw the pumpkin that knocked her into a mud puddle ?
When Mercy and Adam are told that unless they find Wulfe, Mercy's crazy stalker who has gone missing , their alliance with the Vampires will be forfeit . But not only Wulfe is missing , other lesser Fae and humans are also missing and the blame is being put on the Pack - if the cannot hold to their promise of safety within the Tri-Cities Mercy claimed just what will their word be worth ?
At the same time an entity called the Harvester has re-emerged , he kills with a magical Sickle - a Sickle that Zee thought he had destroyed years ago !
As Mercy and Adam investigate they find the disappearance of Wulfe and missing magicals are connected to the Harvester - can they find the Sickle and survive or will it take their souls too ?
Their are many twist and turns , character reveals that settle long held mysteries to hold the most discerning reader - well worth the read , especially the hint at the end of troubles in the Alpha and Omega world
I can't wait for the next books in either world

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Soul Taken is the 13th book in Mercy Thompson series. It had been a while since I read the previous book, but I caught up pretty fast on who was who and what was going on. Wolfe, the insane vampire who has been stalking Mercy goes missing and Mercy and the wolf pack are issued an order to find him. But things aren’t what they seem and she realises pretty fast that it’s the other vampires that need finding. Wolfe, on the other hand, is in much greater peril.

A centuries-old possessed weapon has found its way to Tri-Cities and whoever is wielding it is killing people who possess a little magic. And now it wants Mercy.

This seemed a shorter book than usually. The book had barely gotten on the way when we were already facing the final battle. There were all sorts of side plots going on, like Sherwood finally figuring out who he is—a huge surprise there—which threatens the pack dynamic. But everything was interesting and held my attention well like always.

The final battle was shorter and less destructive than usually. I like how Mercy isn’t all powerful, even if she yet again managed to win against great odds. I must say though, that at this point in the series, the battles aren’t as interesting as the family and pack stuff—probably why the book was balanced towards the latter. Still, I’ll continue with the series, if for nothing else then to find out what’s going on with Samuel.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

vampires, werewolves, and things that go bump in the night, a scary read that grips you right till the end....

it was good to catch up with mercy and her gang and to see the fight that nearly wipes them all out...cant wait for the next book in this series

I’m a massive Patricia Briggs fan , a huge lover of the Mercy Thompson books and the Alpha and Omega books too. Soul Taken is the 13th book in the series and I’m still loving them as much as I did at the start, I still get the same book anxiety, worrying over characters, what will happen, god I’m nearly at the end I hope everyone is ok by the end (this might be just me) I’m always so impressed Patricia manages to keep these books so fresh, as so many other book series by now I’m losing the freshness, the characters are changing and not always in a way. Not here. I love Mercy as much as I did in the first book, moon called. I don’t think I’ll ever not love Mercy Thompson, this book is as thrilling as the previous 12, if you haven’t read this series you really need to and start at the beginning, if you have you’re going to love another fantastic instalment of the Mercy show, here for this and for every future book to come

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Soul Taken is the gripping 13th book in the Mercy Thompson series.

It’s easy for such a long running series to become stale, but Patricia Briggs continues to deliver with the Mercy Thompson books.

Another exciting adventure between Mercy’s pack, the fae, and their local vampire seeth. The relationships between the various groups continue to evolve, and seeing the politics and also the people behind all the decisions was interesting.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

I’ve been a fan of this series for a long time, but I think this book was like book 12, and didn’t quite deliver for me. It started off OK, then veered into something else with the spider things, the vampires are away, weird dreamscapes, Soul Taker that is also whoever it possesses, Mercy *sees* people… overall I didn’t really follow it and it dragged on too long. I know it’s an Adam and Mercy series, but it felt too light on everyone else, and I’m not sure we ever found out what was bugging Warren, or what Sherwood decided?

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Mercy Thompson, VW mechanic and coyote shapeshifter, is married to Adam Hauptman, alpha of the Columbia Basin Werewolf Pack in the Tri-Cities area of the American North West. A few books ago they declared themselves to be protectors of/from magical beings in their territory. They forged an alliance with the local vampire seethe run by Marsilia, and got rid of the local black witches. They also have an uneasy truce with the fae at large, and a close friendship with Zee and his son Tad. Zee is the Dark Smith who has, over the millennia, gone by other names (including Wayland). He's immensely powerful but happy to spend some time being Mercy's mentor in the garage (and other things).

That's the general background to the series. In this book the vampire Wulf (old, powerful and crazily unstable) is missing. His disappearance threatens the uneasy alliances that keep the Tri-Cities werewolf pack safe, so Mercy (coyote shapechanger) and Adam (pack leader) need to find him, and soon. At the same time a shadowy villain called the Harvester starts killing people with a magical sickle, and it seems that the sickle is not just any old weapon, it's the powerfully cursed, sentient weapon called the Soul Taker. Expect giant spider-monsters, an amnesiac werewolf who finally remembers who he is, the return of a vampire enemy and some epic fight scenes.

Ms Briggs Mercy Thompson books are buy-on-sight for me. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it, but it'd not the best starting place for the series. I suggest starting from the beginning with Moon Called. You'll be glad you did.