Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1) — Patricia Briggs

TITLE: Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1)
AUTHOR: Patricia Briggs
GENRE: Paranormal Fantasy
AGE RANGE: Adult

SYNOPSIS:
Mercedes Thompson, aka Mercy, is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy’s next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy’s connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water…

Dance when the moon sings, and don’t cry about troubles that haven’t yet come.

This review is so long overdue, as I read this book twice within a year and am still just now getting around to typing up my thoughts! Don’t let that make you think for a moment, though, that it’s because I don’t have anything to say about Moon Called, because believe you me, I do. Some back-story here: paranormal fantasy was one of my favorite genres as a teen, but when I hit adulthood, it became popular for people to make fun of the genre (thanks, Twilight), and I’m willing to admit that peer pressure shoved me right out of my love for books like this. Now, at 26, I’m so glad I’ve learned to stop giving a crap about what other people think of my taste in books, because damn, Mercy Thompson is fun.

“Love thy enemies,” it says in the scriptures. My foster mother always added, “At the very least, you will be polite to them.”

Patricia Briggs just has this writing style I can’t help but love. It’s not flowery or over-the-top; it’s just quick-paced, enjoyable, and full of character development. At the time that I’m writing this review, I’ve read a few of her novellas and two novels (like I said, having read this one twice), and there’s never been a bored moment for me in any of them. In fact, it’s the opposite — I find that once I pick up a Patricia Briggs story, I can’t stand putting it down until it’s over.

Samuel’s shoulders shook slightly. “I can see it now, Mercy holding a roomful of vampires at bay with her glowing sheep.”

It’s not just that the plot was fun (though it was), but more than anything, these characters are so immediately lovable that I couldn’t possibly have disliked this book. Mercy is so to-the-point and down to business, and she’s surrounded by the best side characters, whether it’s Samuel’s witty jokes or Adam’s quiet sarcasm, or even Bran’s general state of “I don’t have to show off because I already know I can kick your ass to kingdom come” living. The pack dynamics are pretty solid, too; there’s a lot of emphasis on how the alphas aren’t just there to boss everyone around, but they’re also protectors and leaders, and it makes for a really good time.

“Don’t lick the guests, darling. Bad manners.”

There’s also a slew of non-werewolf/shifter characters, such as the fae folk and vampires, which I think is such a fun addition. I feel like, as a teen, all of the werewolf books I read were just about wolves, or maybe about wolves and vamps, but never fae folk, etc. It could easily get overwhelming with the vast number of characters you meet in this fairly short novel, but Patricia Briggs has this way of giving them all such distinct personalities that I never struggled to keep anyone separate.

“Mine,” he said.
“I don’t think so. She is mine.”
It would have been flattering, I thought, except that at least one of them was talking about dinner…

In case you were curious, I’m reading the Mercyverse books in the order recommended by the author! Not including the novellas (aside from A&O), this is the order I’ll be reading in:
1. Moon Called (review)
2. Alpha & Omega (review)
3. Cry Wolf
4. Hunting Ground
5. Blood Bound
6. Iron Kissed
7. Bone Crossed
8. Silver Borne
9. River Marked
10. Fair Game
11. Frost Burned
12. Dead Heat
13. Night Broken
14. Fire Touched
15. Silence Fallen
16. Burn Bright

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