Guest Review: Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1)

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1)
- Patricia Briggs

Publisher: UK - Orbit

Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself--she's a shape-shifter.

As I type this, London is bathed in brilliant sunshine and soaring temperatures. Whilst this is lovely if you do not have to work, for us commuters it quickly becomes hell in a metal tube… In order to combat feelings of light-headedness/nausea/claustrophobia I recommend a really good book – such as Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series! I started Book 1 – Moon Called – on the way to work the other morning, and finished it on the journey in the very next day.

Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson is an American skinwalker, a stubborn, fiercely independent woman, and a car mechanic. Yep, a car mechanic called Mercedes! Not the most subtle of jokes, but Briggs doesn’t labour the point. As a skinwalker, Mercy can change into a coyote at will, and unlike her werewolf neighbours her life is not dictated by pack politics and wolfy tempers. However, that doesn’t mean that pack issues and posturing dominant males don’t regularly intrude.

Mercy is dragged into the affairs of the local wolf pack when a young were comes to her for help, a simple situation that somehow leads to bloodshed, silver bullets, witchy clear-up, furniture abuse, fae daggers, vampires and posturing alpha males.

Moon Called is a really, really enjoyable UF read. It’s fast-paced, but not at the expense of character development, with a well-developed world, but still with the capacity to expand as the series progresses. The weres may be ‘typical’ in their behavior – aggressive, possessive, hot-tempered and loyal – but they are still massively entertaining characters and have done nothing to change my preference for a werewolf over a vampire boyfriend!

One for fans of Kelley Armstrong (yes, I do rate the series that highly!) 8.5 out of 10.