Friday 14 May 2010

Review: Moon Called - Patricia Briggs

I didn't realise he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn't at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil...
Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She's a mechanic - and a damn good one - who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens to belong to a vampire. Her next-door neighbour is an alpha werewolf - literally, the leader of the pack. And Mercy herself is a shapeshifter, sister to coyotes. As such, she's tolerated by the wolves but definitely down the pecking order. As long as she keeps her eyes down and remembers her place, the pack will leave her in peace.

Hardly a normal situation, but then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly a normal young lady ... and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her in a whole lot of trouble.

Mercy Thompson Series:
Homecoming (Graphic Novel)
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron Kissed
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked
Frost Burned
Hopcross Jilly (Graphic Novel)
Night Broken
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson
Fire Touched
Silence Fallen

Alpha and Omega Series:
(This is a spin off to the Mercy Thompson series)
Alpha and Omega (novella found in the On the Prowl anthology)
Cry Wolf
Hunting Ground
Fair Game
Dead Heat
Burn Bright

For more information visit Patricia Briggs' website

Review:
Mercy Thompson is a Walker which means she can shapeshift into a Coyote. Brought up by werewolves she is used to dealing with pack politics and being weaker than the others around her - she's learnt to use her brains as well as her physical strength and her karate training comes in handy too. She left pack life behind her years ago and is working as a mechanic but she is still surrounded by the supernatural - literally. Her neighbour is an Alpha, her ex-boss is fae and she fixes vampire's cars for protection.

When a young boy arrives at the garage looking for work life is about to get complicated - Mac is a newly turned werewolf who has yet to gain full control of his wolf making him dangerous to be around but he is also in trouble and Mercy is unable to turn him away. But she had no idea just how difficult things are going to get and while trying to deal with her current problems she is going to have to face up to the past she ran away from.

Moon Called is the first Patricia Briggs book I've read and it is a very promising start to the Mercy Thompson series. Patricia has created a realistic world populated by an interesting mix of characters - from the lesser fae who have already "come out" to the human population to the more dangerous fae, and other supernatural characters like werewolves and vampires who keep their existence hidden.

Mercy is a likeable character who knows how to stand on her own two feet - she doesn't rely on the pack for protection & is determined to be in control of her own life. I like the fact that she stands up for herself against the werewolves even though she is physically weaker than they are. I liked the wolves - particularly Samuel and Adam and I'm looking forward to learning more about them throughout the series. We don't get to see too much of the vampires in this book but I think Stefan is going to be an interesting character to watch out for as the series continues.

The only thing that prevented this from being a 5 star read for me was the ending - I didn't really understand the bad guy's motive or what he was hoping to achieve which made it a slightly unbelievable ending. Having said that I still thought this was a great start to the series and I will definitely be reading future books. I'd recommend the series to urban fantasy fans who like books with a wide mix of characters. If you like Kelly Armstrong's Bitten I'm sure you'll enjoy Moon Called.

Source: Library

Other Reviews:
All Booked Up
Story Wings
Chrissie's Corner
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

13 comments:

  1. oh no no no, i shouldn't have read this review, im on a book ban, must.not.buy. but now i want! gah!

    HEHE! Ive never read this author before, but now you've put her on my radar Sarah, thanks hun! it sounds like a great read =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keep reading I love this series! It's fab, I read the latest one only last month.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Sparklybearsy - WOOHOO makes a change for me to be recommending something you've not read before! Sorry about your buying ban LOL. I'm having trouble sticking to mine too :o)

    @ Laura - I thought this was a great start to the series so I'm very happy to know it gets even better! I have the next 2 books in my TBR pile so I'll get to them soon :o)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is one of my fav series! I re- read these books whenever I get in a reading slump :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Heather, it's good to know you recommend the whole series. I really enjoyed this one & am looking forward to reading more :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This has become one of my favorite series. As with the BDB, I've read and reviewed the books twice in a twelve month span.

    My review of Moon Called: http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2010/02/moon-called-patricia-briggs.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Elena, I've only read the first book so far but I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series! I've added your link :o)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks. I'm sure you'll like the other books as well. I know I did. And they're just as good on re-reading too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Elena, I've just finished reading Blood Bound & really enjoyed it :o) I actually think I've already read that one before, I thought things about the world were familiar when I read Moon Called but I didn't recognise the story - now I know why LOL. I did still enjoy it on a re-read though although I have to say it was probably a LONG time ago I read it the first time!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good. They are such good books.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Elena, I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this series :o)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Sarah. Great review!!! I recently read this one and I loved it. Can't wait to get started on book 2! Here is my review for Moon Called: http://www.chrissiescorner.co.uk/?p=2154

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Chrissie, I'm glad you enjoyed this one too - I'm really loving this series, each book is better than the last :o) I can't wait to see what you think of the rest! I've added a link to your review

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails