Review: Moon Called, Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson is an auto mechanic.  She’s also a shape shifter and lives next door to a sexy werewolf, Adam, in a world where supernatural creatures are being forced out of hiding due to advancing science.  When a new, teenage werewolf who isn’t affiliated with Adam’s pack shows up in Mercy’s shop, she finds herself in the middle of both a werewolf war and a love triangle as she goes back into her own past for some answers.

I very much enjoyed this book.  I liked this version of AU America; every urban fantasy has a slightly different twist on it and this one is great.  It makes perfect sense to me that werewolves, vampires, and the like are about to be outed via modern science.  If we can cure diseases, surely we can investigate other physical phenomena.  Since most urban fantasy gathers werewolves into packs like this one, it was a wonderful move to set Mercy slightly outside the pack.  She turns into a coyote but shares few of the advantages that werewolves have; she is not necessarily more human than they are but she is one step outside of their society while still being in it enough to be a part of the action.

Mercy herself is a great character.  She is brave, a bit stubborn, and clearly a tomboy, but still has a romantic heart and is very easy to relate to.  I had a soft spot for her the minute I learned she’d majored in history.  She’s determined to get to the truth of the mystery she’s unearthed and she doesn’t back down when threats emerge.  I think her struggles with the men in her life only enrich her character more; we learn about her history and simultaneously can witness for ourselves just how much she’s grown and changed.

The plot rockets along in this short book, which comes in under 300 pages; there were a couple of times when I felt that Mercy was explaining a little too much but as something of a set-up for the world, I’m used to it in the first book of a series.  I’ve been reading a lot of these lately.  By the time I hit the middle, I needed to know what happened, and by the end, I didn’t want to give it up.

I can’t wait to read Blood Bound.  I immediately went and ordered it online and now I’m just waiting impatiently for it to arrive.  I really, really enjoyed this book.  I can’t wait for the relationships between the characters to deepen, for another story to start, or to learn more about the world.  If you like urban fantasy, I highly recommend giving this series a shot.

Buy it from Amazon, Amazon UK, Powell’s, or IndieBound.