Mercy Blade (Jane Yellowrock, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jane Yellowrock is back at it again for this third book in the series. Though things start out a bit slow with Jane and her boyfriend Rick out of town in the Appalachian mountains, it quickly heats up. After seeing startling media reports that show Weres (particularly werecats in the beginning) are finally coming out in the open, they are both called back to duty in New Orleans. Jane continues her duties as an employee of Leo, the Master Vampire of the city, and Rick continues his as an undercover cop. Though they apparently began growing close over their one month relationship, this latest crisis certainly puts a strain.

Upon arriving back, Rick quickly disappears to his undercover job and Jane is requested to head up security for upcoming talks among the supernatural creatures. Other duties and tasks quickly pile up as she gets into the swing of things and, as usual, nothing in her job goes exactly as planned. In the aftermath of some bloody battles, she is forced to work quickly to solve mysteries that have a far more reaching impact than she has faced yet. New creatures and secondary characters add to her growing list of troubles, but add also to the excitement. The action is as deadly and bloody as previous books. Jane is left with little time to recover before the next confrontation begins keeping the reader in suspense. This latest installment brings back many of the characters seen before and delves further into their backgrounds. While some questions are answered, many more are brought out. Janes ability to keep her identity a secret will also become difficult. She is exposed to more supernatural races and they join the others in being suspicious of her nature.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, there are two main problems I would mention. As stated in others reviews, Jane spent far too much time in angst over Rick. For only dating him a short time and having avoided serious relationships up to meeting him, it just didn't seem credible for her to be so obsessive. The author could have shown Jane had some concern without it going overboard. Also, it seemed that Jane spent entirely too much time worrying over her religious sins. Particularly over having slept with Rick out of wedlock and nearly sleeping with another man. She is a woman that kills others for a career. Technically, Christianity emphasizes peace and turning the other cheek. She obviously doesn't follow those tenets so why all the inner dialog on her sinning? This happens frequently as the story goes along. It should also be considered that Jane follows some of her Indian heritage beliefs. This puts the two belief systems at odds. It would have been better to leave out all the unnecessary religious connotations. Her Indian beliefs have far more importance for this series anyway. If these two complaints were taken out, I would certainly label this a five star review for everything else in the story was excellent.

For those who have not read the first two books in the series, I would recommend reading them first. It is possible you could read this one alone, but it would be difficult to gain the emotional attachment and understanding of all the characters without reading the others. This is an excellent series and well worth the time to read. It is not romance heavy, but there is some elements to it. The Jane Yellowrock series is best suited for those who enjoy a bit of mystery, a tough [...] heroine, and lots of paranormal elements.

Faith Hunter is an interesting author - its not always a straightforward read - a bit of concentration required, which is because sometimes she goes a bit off piste. Her Jane Yellowrock series is a lot more user friendly and enjoyable than her Rogue Mage series some of which is mad. Jane is a skinwalker and thus can shift into animal form which aids her investigations into the trials and tribulations of the local vampire community in which she seems to be increasingly involved. The romance angle hasn't been at the forefront in this series as some other urban fantasy tales. The 2 interests are cop Rick and vampire associate Bruiser. Hey I'm with Bruiser. I find Rick way too sleazy.

The third book in the Jane Yellowrock series does not disappoint.

The book starts off with the Supernatural world getting bigger with the Werewolves and Werecats coming out of the closet, this in turns throws out a bunch of problems for the Vamps and hence Jane. To top it off her boyfriend, Rick disappears whilst undercover.

I did enjoy this book, but there is quite a lot to absorb - new characters, new species, more lore, quite a few plot lines.

Annoyingly, this book had an amazing ending which leaves you wanting more - like right now!

If you liked the other books, then you will love this, maybe not just for the storylines, but for the character development and flashbacks/insight into Jane's past, oh and tensions between Jane and Bruiser.

I feel I must point out I'm definitely a Team Rick (despite some events in this book...)