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:
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron Kissed
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked (Spring 2011)

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 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
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