Posts Tagged ‘Mercy Thompson’

Cover Launch: SOUL TAKEN by Patricia Briggs

MECHANIC. SHAPESHIFTER. FIGHTER.

Mercy Thompson returns in another thrilling instalment of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series from author Patricia Briggs.

We are thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover for SOUL TAKEN, releasing in hardback in March 2022:

Design by Ellen Rockell at L,BBG

Read on to see what’s in store as Mercy faces her biggest threat yet:

The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of ‘fun’ is stalking Mercy, some may see it as no great loss. But when he disappears, the Tri-Cities pack is blamed. The mistress of the vampire seethe informs Mercy that the pack must produce Wulfe to prove their innocence, or the loose alliance between the local vampires and werewolves is over.

So Mercy goes out to find her stalker – and discovers more than just Wulfe have disappeared. Someone is taking people from locked rooms, from the aisles of stores and even from crowded parties. And these are not just ordinary people but supernatural beings. Until Wulfe vanished, all of them were powerless loners, many of whom quietly moved to the Tri-Cities in the hope that the safety promised by Mercy and Adam’s pack would extend to them as well.

Who is taking them? As Mercy investigates, she learns of the legend of the Harvester, who travels by less-trodden paths and reaps the souls that are ripe with a great black scythe . . .

Praise for Patricia Briggs:

‘Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer . . . I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!’ Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author

‘It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel’ RT Book Reviews

‘Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story’ Erin Watt, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series.

‘I love these books’ Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author

Available for pre-order now!

Cover Launch: WILD SIGN by Patricia Briggs

We’re thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover for WILD SIGN (UK|ANZ), the sixth book in the Alpha and Omega series from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs.

Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham are back, and they must discover what could make an entire community disappear – before it’s too late.

Check out the fantastic cover designed by Duncan Spilling below. Read on for a taste of what’s in store for Charles and Anna next. . .

Book cover for WILD SIGN by Patricia Briggs - Alpha and Omega 6

In the wilds of the Northern California mountains, all the inhabitants of a small town have gone missing. It’s as if the people picked up and left everything they owned behind. Fearing something supernatural might be going on, the FBI taps a source they’ve consulted in the past: the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. But Charles and Anna soon find a deserted town is the least of the mysteries they face.

Death sings in the forest, and when it calls, Charles and Anna must answer. Something has awakened in the heart of the California mountains, something old and dangerous – and it has met werewolves before.

Praise for Patricia Briggs:

‘Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer’ Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling series

‘Patricia Briggs is amazing . . . Her Alpha and Omega novels are fantastic’ Fresh Fiction

‘I love these books!’ Charlaine Harris

‘The best new fantasy series I’ve read in years’ Kelley Armstrong

WILD SIGN is publishing in March 2021, you can pre-order your copy here: UK|ANZ.

Excitingly, this is also the first time we’ll be releasing a book in the Alpha and Omega series in hardback!

Don’t forget to follow Patricia Briggs on Twitter @Mercys_Garage and on Facebook @OfficialPatriciaBriggs.

The Alpha and Omega series:

The Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs (UK covers)

Cover Launch: SMOKE BITTEN by Patricia Briggs

Exciting news for fans of Patricia Briggs: everyone’s favourite kick-ass shapeshifter, Mercy Thompson, will be back in action next year in SMOKE BITTEN (UK|ANZ).

We are thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover below.

In the twelfth installment of this bestselling series, Mercy encounters a threat unlike any she has faced before. Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

 

I am Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman. My only ‘superpowers’ are that I turn into a thirty-five-pound coyote and fix Volkswagens. But I have friends in odd places and a pack of werewolves at my back. It looks like I’m going to need them.

Centuries ago, the fae dwelt in Underhill. When they were cast out, they left behind their great castles, troves of magical artefacts . . . and their prisoners. Without the fae to mind them, those creatures roamed freely through Underhill wreaking havoc. Only the deadliest survived.

Now one of those prisoners has escaped. It can look like any creature it chooses and if it bites you, it controls you. It lives for chaos and destruction and can make you do anything – even kill the person you love the most. Now it is here, in the Tri-Cities. In my territory.

It won’t – can’t – remain. Not if I have anything to say about it . . .

 

SMOKE BITTEN will hit the shops in May 2020 and is available for pre-order now!

 

Praise for Patricia Briggs:

‘Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer . . . I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!’ Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author

‘It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel’ RT Book Reviews

‘Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story’ Erin Watt, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series.

‘I love these books’ Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author

 

Cover Launch: STORM CURSED by Patricia Briggs

Exciting news for fans of Patricia Briggs: everyone’s favourite kick-ass shapeshifter, Mercy Thompson, will be back in action early next year!  In STORM CURSED, Mercy must face a deadly enemy to defend all she loves . . . we are thrilled to reveal the stunning cover below.

Storm Cursed

Cover portrait: www.sorted.tv
Cover design: Ellen Rockell – LBBG

 

Read on for a taste of what’s in store for Mercy in the next thrilling installment of the number one bestselling series:

 

My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic.

And a coyote shapeshifter . . . And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack.

Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae.

The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death.

But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it.

Cover launch: SILENCE FALLEN, the new Mercy Thompson novel by Patricia Briggs

We’re very excited to present the UK cover for SILENCE FALLEN, the new Mercy Thompson novel by Patricia Briggs.

Waiting for the next book in this thrilling series can be a trial for urban fantasy fans, as we’re all desperate to find out what’s in store for our favourite kick-ass shapeshifter. Well, we’re happy to say that it’s coming in March 2017 and is available for pre-order now!

Silence Fallen cover

Read on for a taste of what’s to come:

Coyote shapeshifter Mercy Thompson is attacked and abducted in her home territory. Fighting off a crazed werewolf, she manages to escape, only to find herself alone in the heart of Europe, without money, without clothing and on the run from the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world.

Unable to contact her pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, but first she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy needs to be at her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves – and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise . . .

 

Cover photograph by Sorted.tv
Cover design by Nick Castle

 

Is Urban Fantasy Dead? Or Undead?

We remember when urban fantasy first arrived on our shelves, but the genre has changed significantly since then. Are these stories still popular? If so, why? We asked some of Orbit’s authors for their take on the genre’s past, present and future.

Where does urban or contemporary fantasy come from?

JIM BUTCHER, author of the bestselling Dresden Files, as well as recent adventure fantasy THE AERONAUT’S WINDLASS

Butcher

‘Urban fantasy is nothing more or less than the resurgence of fairy tales. We’ve changed what our big bad wolves look and act like, and our forests appear somewhat different than they used to, and Little Red Riding Hood is generally much more heavily armed than she has traditionally been, but we’re telling the same stories, in the same ways, with the same emphasis on the fantastic and the terror and delight of its clash with our everyday world.

It’s the everyday reality that so many of us find terrifying – to such a degree that we flee to tales of vampires and werewolves and dark sorcerers just to lighten the mood.’

CHARLIE FLETCHER, author of THE OVERSIGHT and THE PARADOX

CharlieFletcher

‘People have always created stories to try and make sense of stuff they could neither see nor understand. ‘Urban’ fantasy is just a logical step since as society has become less rural and more metropolitan so the old dark woods of the old fairy-stories have been replaced by a sodium-lit concrete jungle. And of course we may have moved to the cities, but we brought our darkness with us.

There’s a lot of product jammed in under the urban fantasy label that doesn’t do it for me, but the books that do mean something to me are the ones that engage creatively with the inevitable transition from the old to the new world and deal with its consequences as a central part of the story (AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman is a particularly fine and definitive example of this).’

What does the future of urban fantasy look like?

LILITH SAINTCROW, author of the Bannon and Clare Affairs and BLOOD CALL, as well as many other urban fantasy series

Lilith2

‘I think the last five years, as with any shiny new trend, have brought a certain amount of reader fatigue. Urban fantasy isn’t going away, but it’s not so much of a Wild West ‘let’s throw a vampire in there and hope it sticks!’ anymore. Which is very good, if sometimes frustrating when paranormal or urban fantasy is what you want to write.

After working in publishing for so long, I see “urban fantasy” as a genre title, nothing less, nothing more. There’s always a market for tales well told, and urban fantasy, like any genre, offers a set of tools and toys for a writer to play with.’

BENEDICT JACKA, author of the Alex Verus novels

BenedictJacka

‘I’d have trouble pinning down exactly how urban fantasy’s changed over the last five years, but I’m pretty sure that it’ll stay popular for the foreseeable future. The mash-up nature of urban fantasy lets it evolve easily, and the sources it draws on (comic books, games, epic fantasy) still have a lot of resonance for city-dwellers. So while I’d expect the type of urban fantasy stories to shift over time, I think the genre will stick around for a good while yet.’

PATRICIA BRIGGS, author of the Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha and Omega series

PatriciaBriggs2

‘There isn’t a reader appetite for urban fantasy the way there used to be. Five years ago, any book that was urban fantasy was guaranteed a certain number of readers. I think, and it is not a bad thing, that readers are pickier now. For me as a reader, right now, what I love about urban fantasy is that there are so many good storytellers working in this field. Good stories still work and can still find an audience, though it might take longer to find a readership than before.

One of the things that I actually like about this is that we are seeing more diversity in books that are published again. I love, love, urban fantasy. But I also love space opera, traditional fantasy, and contemporary fantasy – and those genres were getting drowned.’

ELLIOTT JAMES, author of CHARMING

ElliottJames

‘I like to read stories where the extra-ordinary and the ordinary mingle. Some people sneer at escapist literature, but “escape” implies relief, release, and freedom, none of which are bad things. Escape also inevitably holds a mirror up to the thing being escaped from.

Urban fantasy often gives ordinary characters a chance to demonstrate extraordinary qualities. It encourages readers to examine what it means to be human through contrast or by eliminating a lot of the obvious assumptions.

There have always been stories that introduced fantastical otherworldly elements into the everyday knockabout world that we humans optimistically call reality, and I expect there always will be.’

Cover launch: FIRE TOUCHED, the new Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs

We’re very proud to present the UK cover for FIRE TOUCHED, the new Mercy Thompson novel by Patricia Briggs.

Waiting for the next Mercy book can be tough for urban fantasy fans, since we’re all on the edge of our seat to find out what happens next in this gripping series . . . But we’re glad to say that that it’s coming in March 2016 and is available for pre-order now.

Fire Touched, the new Mercy Thompson urban fantasy novel by Patricia Briggs

There’s a real treat in store with this new book . . . see what’s to come below!

Mercy Thompson is back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer . . .

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans and the fae, Mercy, Adam and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

DEAD HEAT, the new Alpha and Omega novel from Patricia Briggs

Great news! In March 2015 we’ll be releasing DEAD HEAT (UK | ANZ)  a new urban fantasy novel from Patricia Briggs – and it’s a brand new Alpha and Omega book. FAIR GAME (UK | ANZ) was the last novel in this series, and fans have been dying to find out what happens next to Anna and Charles . . .

It’s very much a case of “opposites attract” with these two. With Charles being an Alpha and Anna being an Omega, they  represent the different sides of the shifter personality. Watching their relationship develop, and how they face each dangerous new situation together is just so addictive . . .

Please see here our brand new cover artwork for the book, which is from the illustrator Fred Gambino. Look out for it in March 2015, and read the blurb below!

For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles’s role as his father’s enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal, or at least it starts out that way . . .

Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae’s cold war with humanity is about to heat up – and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire.

DISCOVER THE NEW CHARLES AND ANNA NOVEL 2 FROM THE NO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PATRICIA BRIGGS.

Out now: SHIFTING SHADOWS by Patricia Briggs

Discover all your favourite characters from Patricia Briggs’ bestselling Mercy Thompson series like you’ve never seen them before: starring in their own short stories! SHIFTING SHADOWS features never-before-released original short stories, and is out now!

The Mercy Thompson series is into its eighth full-length novel with NIGHT BROKEN (UK | AUS) and has many high-profile fans such as Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison, but this is the first collection of short stories set in the world ever published.

Patricia Briggs had this to say about writing the short stories: “I came late to the writing of short stories, and, in many ways, they are more difficult for me to write than novels. But after twelve novels, I have a lot of stray bits of story rattling around in my head that don’t fit neatly into the books. Letting those bits out to expand the secondary characters and the world has been a lot of fun.”

If you love your urban fantasy with plenty of high-octane action, adventure and mechanics, and delivered in bite-size pieces, pick up SHIFTING SHADOWS today.

Cover launch! SHIFTING SHADOWS by Patricia Briggs

The book cover for SHIFTING SHADOWS, a collection of short stories based in the world of Mercy Thompson, mechanice , shapeshifter and fighter, by Patricia Briggs We’re very happy to unveil our cover for an exciting new book coming from Patricia Briggs on 2nd September 2014! It’s called SHIFTING SHADOWS (UK | ANZ), and it’s a collection of fantastic short stories set in the world of Mercy Thompson.

Patricia Briggs is a number one New York Times bestseller and one of the most popular urban fantasy authors writing today. This anthology revolves around her much-loved character Mercy Thompson – mechanic, shapeshifter and fighter – and the people she calls friends. It includes numerous brand-new stories which you won’t have seen anywhere else.

Mercy fans – this is a must! And for anyone who hasn’t read Patricia Briggs yet, this might be a good time to check out why Kelley Armstrong calls the Mercy Thompson series ‘the best new urban fantasy series I’ve read in years’.