Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)
by Patricia Briggs
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Book Reviews of Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)
Book Review: I want to be Mercedes Thompson! This fantasy romp with werewolves, skinwalkers, vampires is a world worth diving into.
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! A fun and engrossing story. My first book by Patricia Briggs was Cry Wolf. I LOVED it. Now with Mercy Thompson, auto mechanic, friend of vampires, fairies and newly turned werewolves, I have the excitement of a female action hero who is not a sicko strange killer like Anita Blake, but a female warrior with a real heart. An added plus is that many of the characters in Cry Wolf are given more depth and coverage in this book, most importantly the handsome, virile Dr. Samuel Connick, son of Bran, the Marrok of the North American werewolves.
I loved how Mercy has a trade, a normal blue collar job that keeps her in contact with everyone in the neighborhood. I loved how she is very comfortable in her beautiful skin. She knows every body, human and otherwise. I liked that she chose her tatoo to be a coyote paw print. She shifts from being a single, independent woman to a coyote easily, quickly and without fuss. No navel staring and no whining about why me?, why was I orphaned and raised by werewolves only to be banished by Bran to live in a different pack, why am I burdened with this disability? She too busy living and enjoying her life to waste time crying and whining about her unique life.
She's exactly the kind of woman you want next to you in a fight. She knows martial arts and how to handle weapons and firearms. I liked the way that she is compassionate and sensitive enough to recognize that when a shivering starving young man MAC asked for a job at her auto shop, he was a newly turned werewolf, who had no one to assist him in the change. She could have turned him away to protect herself from a potentially life threatening situation, (i.e. being alone with a starving, confused new werewolf who could easily kill her) but she helped him. She feels it deeply when she finds out that he was the victim of a diabolical plot to use newly turned werewolves to attack the pack living next door to Mercy.
I like Briggs style of writing. Spare, direct, humorous, respectful to the wierd and wonderful world of the other worldly. I like how Briggs understands that the world of werewolves is based on the patriarchal ancestral worlds of male dominance, but almost all the "good" males in this story treat the females with respect.
I hope that Briggs keeps us in this world. I love how she keeps it grounded into North American myth and lore. I love the spirit world of the Native Americans and hope she keeps giving us more of those nuggets of knowledge.
Book Review: This book's got bite
Summary: 4 Stars
After finishing the Sookie Stackhouse novels for the second time, I was on the hunt for something good to read. "Moon Called" turned out to be a pleasantly surprising find.
Mercy Thompson lives in a world where people are aware of the "lesser" fae creatures, because they were forced out by advancements in forensic science. However, other creatures have yet to "come out" of the supernatural closet. Enter our heroine, Mercy, who was raised by wolves, although she's not one herself. She a different kind of shifter from the werewolves who raised her. Her magic is rooted in Native American lore; she is a skinwalker (referred to as just "walker" throughout most of the book) , and she can transform into a coyote at will. She was sent to live with the Marrok, who is the leader of all the wolves of North America, but she never really belongs in the world of werewolves.
The book starts many years after she's left the Marrok's pack, and now she is a successful auto mechanic in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. Her life is simple, and she's happy. She lives behind the Alpha of the local pack, but mostly is left out of pack business. Mercy has every intention of keeping it that way, until a new, young werewolf shows up at her garage looking for work.
Mercy Thompson is an immensely likable character for me. She smart, strong, she knows her limitations and her strengths. While she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she knows when she's in over her head. She struggles against the pack dynamic in order to keep her independence, but doesn't always succeed.
I only had two complaints about the book. One was that it was a little verbose. Some of the chapters got a little long and wordy for my taste. My other complaint is that sometimes the repetitiveness of the descriptions of pack dynamics. Things that I felt only needed to be explained once or twice, ended up being described four or five times. Neither of these things really detracted noticeably from the book for me, but they were a tensy, tiny bit annoying.
Overall, this is a great book. Fans of the True Blood series will enjoy this look into the author's take on our favorite supernatural characters. There's enough romance to keep you interested, but it didn't overwhelm the story. I really enjoyed the book, and I'm already reading the second one.
Book Review: Really Good Start
Summary: 5 Stars
The library is an amazing place to search through multiple books until you find the one you have been looking for. I had so many stacks of books just searching for the next series I want to read and actually finish and this if they all hold up to this book then this is it. After going through the whole twilight withdrawal like everyone else...well more like twilight disappointment I finally found the series that holds my attention.
Mercy Thompson is an auto mechanic in the tri-cities area and it's not a normal world. No of course not it's full of werewolves, Fae and vampires. People have been telling me I am obsessed with vampires but I say no I'm just obsessed with paranormal stories. It can be mind readers, dream catchers or anything that's not normal. I mean let's be honest We all live a semi-normal drama filled life so why do I wanna read about that in my spare time? That's why supernatural is always what grabs my attention or even Victorian time. As long as it's not present and normal I'm usually in. Don't get me wrong on occasion I do like the normal drama but it just doesn't consume too much of my time.
Anyways about Mercy like I said a mechanic, she's also a shape shifter (coyote form) interesting twist that she's not a wolf. She is however surrounded by them and they of course are usually in packs with an Alpha. But she's no submissive coyote she knows the limits with the wolfs but she's not to be intimidated. She's strong willed and seems to be friendly with almost all the creatures. When the Alpha gets hurt and a dead body is left on her door steps she has to act fast. The story goes through discoveries of why such events took place and trying to rescue the Alpha's (Adam) daughter. In the process of course there are some indications of love (territorial to wolfs) triangle. I really don't know who I want her to be with at this point...
Point is the story was great, exciting and had action and some humor. I had to keep in mind sometimes the Alpha characteristics sometimes were more territorial and possessive than anything (Which I usually don't like) but she handled all them very well without being submissive. The story is resolved by the end but I want to read the rest of the series for the love story and more of the page turning action.
I went out and bought the second and third book....
Book Review: Exceptional 1st book.
Summary: 4 Stars
In the 1st book in the series, Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) the author introduces Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson. Along with many other characters in the book: (1) her next-door neighbor, Adam Hauptman, is a werewolf; (2) her former boss, Siebold Adelbertsmiter "Zee", is a gremlin; (3) and she's fixing a Volkswagen bus for, Stefan Uccello, a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself she is a walker, she can transform easily, at any time she wants, into a coyote.
When a new teenage werewolf shows up in town and approaches Mercy asking for work things become complicated. Not only is he unconnected to a pack, but he is also completely untrained and uneducated as a werewolf. The werewolf goes by "Mac" he was locked up and experimented on. After Mac and Mercy are attacked she decided that she needed to take him to Adam, Alpha of Columbia Basin Pack, for help. Things go from bad to worse...
In the process the author introduces several supporting characters. Mercy encounters with fae, vampires, other werewolves, and a witch or two. Mercy must also contend with Adam and Dr. Samuel Llewellyn Cornick's "Sam" interest in her and the territorial contentiousness that results from it. Sam once chose Mercy as his mate, even though he didn't love her - he wanted her to have his children, after she left his pack he mourned the loss of his mate. More recently Adam claimed Mercy as his to his pack, even though she has not accepted - and it not official considered his mate..
The book continues with a momentum that rushes to a surprising conclusion. This was a quick read. Unfortunately, there are a lot of characters introduced and it was hard to remember who was who, what they were, and which sect they belonged to.
The other book in the series...
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2)
Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, Book 3)
Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4)
Book Review: Just can't go home again
Summary: 3 Stars
Mercy Thompson is a walker, which means she can shape-shift into a coyote. She's friends with a gremlin, a vampire who digs Scooby-Doo (Me too Stefan!) and lives behind the local werewolf alpha. Things are pretty good, until a dead body shows up at her door, and the alpha's daughter's kidnapped! Mercy's now out to find the killers and the kidnappers in time, before an ugly were-war breaks out.
Ok, I was all jazzed to start this series. I read the Alpha and Omega books first (which I don't recomend doing. There's a lot of back story, and I accidentally ruined the ending of this book, by re-reading Alpha and Omega, but I digress) and found Samuel charming and couldn't wait to see how it all began. Big mistake. The book went way into explaining things. And I get world building and such, but Mercy didn't even really talk to anyone for the first few chapters, and all we were getting was back story on the fae, not her. She constantly mentions growing up with the Marrok and Samuel, but never really gets in depth. Meanwhile, hottie Adam is squandered. Trotting him out only to be injured and yell at Mercy. He's totally adorable and a way better choice than Samuel who's a prick. I just wanted more Adam/Mercy time, and got mad when there wasn't. Samuel, btw, spends most of the book being an ass. Once upon a time, he tricked Mercy into believing he loved her and wanted to marry her, only so he could have a baby. She was 16 at the time, he was, I don't know REALLY old. Ew. Not to mention, about 15 years later, he yells at her, and puts on a show in front of an injured Adam to try and claim her again! Arrogant, son of a- but I'm getting off topic. I'm also mad at Mercy for forgiving him, letting him move in and basically being a doormat where he's concerned. Don't get me wrong. I get the whole, never-getting-over-your-first-love-who-done-you-wrong, thing, but come on! I wanted at least one conversation about his motives for conning a child into a loveless marriage all for the sake of being a father. All we do get is Bran's version, which is dumb,cause he's a third party in all this. I hate Samuel now, and he never got the chance to defend himself. Stupid. I'm tempted to skip ahead and read the good points for Adam and Mercy in the later novels, but I got sick of this one halfway through, so I fear a bad moon rising.