Book Review: Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 14 of Mercy Thompson
Publisher: Ace (June 18, 2022)
Length: 416 pages
Author Information: Website
I confess, at fourteen books strong, sometimes I wonder if I’m still reading the Mercy Thompson series because I’m just too deep in it now to quit. The last few installments have had me pondering this question and wondering if their lackluster plots mean we’re running out of steam.
However, Winter Lost has made me feel a lot more optimistic. Patricia Briggs has stirred up a bit of mystery and injected some much-needed conflict into the lives of the Columbia Basin Pack. Our coyote shapeshifter protagonist Mercy Thompson is once more at the center of this novel, but we also have other perspectives chiming in now too, including that of her mate Adam—a welcome change. The two of them now find themselves in another jam, with Adam’s attention divided by his work as well as his responsibilities as pack leader. Mercy is still dealing with the aftermath of her Fae entanglements, her anxiety made worse by a sudden call for help from her half-brother Gary in Montana.
Amid terrible winter conditions, Mercy and Adam make their way west, but then a blinding snowstorm strands them at a lodge in the middle of nowhere along with a group of other travelers. These, though, are not your typical guests. Like Mercy and Adam, most of them are members of the supernatural community, and they have come expecting to attend a very important wedding—one that is now cast in doubt. Ancient magics are at work, threatening to bring an end to everything unless our characters can tease out the secrets hidden within the lodge.
Winter Lost does more than just add a compelling mystery to the series; it’s keeping things fresh by introducing elements from Norse mythology in addition to filling in more of Mercy’s backstory and familial ties as well as the lore of the supernatural world. Admittedly, the snowed-in-and-stranded-in-the-wilderness trope is also one I can never resist, along with all the tensions and unknowns that come with it.
But for longtime fans of these characters, the best part will be the deepening of Mercy and Adam’s bond. In many ways, the tone of Winter Lost reminded me very much of River Marked, an earlier installment which still remains one of my favorites, in that it is somewhat self-contained and focuses on the actions of our main couple with minimal pack drama getting in the way. That said, the narrative would frequently be interrupted by interludes catching up with the rest of the other characters, but these were often short and not obnoxiously intrusive.
While the ending was satisfying, it does raise some questions—perhaps not about this book, but for the direction of the series as a whole. A lot of the characters and plot development introduced in Winter Lost can potentially lead to more stories, but it still felt more or less like a one-off which can be a refreshing change of pace. And yet, it makes me wonder, not for the first time, what the future holds. Will the next book read like another standalone piece, or will it take us back to the bigger series arc, and if so, what other things can the author do to keep things interesting?
Well, after fourteen books, apparently Briggs still has what it takes to keep me coming back, so I’m sure she’ll think of something. Despite some recent lows in the series, I’m still enjoying these stories and characters a lot, and Winter Lost has reminded me why I fell in love with Mercy and the gang in the first place.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Reread of River Marked (Book 6)
Review of Night Broken (Book 8)
Review of Fire Touched (Book 9)
Review of Silence Fallen (Book 10)
Review of Storm Cursed (Book 11)
Review of Smoke Bitten (Book 12)
Review of Shifting Shadows (Anthology)
Review of Soul Taken (Book 13)
The BiblioSanctum 
She needs to end things imo. Start fresh with a new series. How many of the sales she gets are because of loyal fans hanging on and not because of good story telling? I think a new, fresh series would be a good indicator.
But I know it isn’t going to happen 🙂
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I feel the same way about Dresden Files sometimes. But as long as the stories are still interesting, I get the motivation. Guess I’ll have to see what happens next book!
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Ughhh, Dresden……
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i cant wait! But I will still wait a year for the paperback
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Ah yes, the wait is hard!
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I imagine it’s not so easy to keep continuing stories fresh and engaging, so a little “tiredness” now and then can be expected, but in this case it would seem that the author found some new energy. Since I’ve been eyeing this series for quite some time now, I can be assured of some entertaining reads along the way… 😉
Thanks for sharing!
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It’s such a long running series now, I can imagine it will be quite intimating to start at this point! But there’s definitely a lot of entertainment 🙂
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Anytime I see a series get this long I have the same concerns as you mentioned, so very glad to hear this one might have dispelled some of that.
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I think the next book will be very telling in the future direction of this series!
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It’s quite impressive that she’s been able to keep this series up and alive for this long! I’m glad you had a good time with it though!
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Yeah sometimes I think it’s time for the series to end but as long as the stories are still good, I’ll keep reading!
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This is always a concern with a long-running series, isn’t it? I’m sort of in the same situation with the Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh – but I’ll always come back because even though the plots are becoming a bit similar, there’s no one else who writes quite like she does.
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Annddd… a great review, Mogsy, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Which I thought I’d put at the top of the previous comment, until I read it through and realised I hadn’t. *sigh*
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Haha no worries! And you’ve described exactly how I feel about this series. Some of the story arcs are very similar, but I just love the way Briggs writes!
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I just can’t help coming back for more – I though sometimes I do wonder if this series will ever reach a natural conclusion. Sometimes I just don’t want that though, this is such a comfort blanket kind of series, I know the world and the characters and just fall into the book wish such ease.
Lynn 😀
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