Moon Called: Mercy Thompson book 1 (Mercy Thompson, #1)

by Patricia Briggs

'I didn't realize 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 normal herself...and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

• ISBN10: 1841496839
• ISBN13: 9781841496832
• Publish Date: 5 June 2008 (first published December 2005)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Out of Print: 5 March 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orbit
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I'd been hearing a lot of good things about this series, so it was about time I got to it. I'll admit that all of the praise caused my expectations to be pretty high, so I was bummed when I wasn't hooked from the first chapter.

There was quite a bit of info-dumping, which disrupted the flow of the story. I generally love the world building aspect of fantasy books, but only when it feels organic, which it definitely wasn't in Moon Called. Whenever we met a new character, Mercy would give us a short biography and history of their life. Most of it didn't even add to the plot or to my understanding of the character, and just felt like information overload. There were quite a few instances where I forgot what was happening story wise, because of some lengthy character description.

Despite all of the info-dumps, I don't feel like I truly understand how werewolves and skinwalkers work. I have no clue how old Mercy, or any of the other non-human characters, is. There's mentions of the 1800s, so I know they're old, but do they age extremely slowly? Or do they stop aging at whatever age they were changed? Do the born shapeshifters like Mercy just stop aging at a certain time, or slow their aging in their prime? I just have no clue. I don't even know exactly what a skinwalker is, or how Mercy is different than werewolves other than that she changes into a coyote. Are all skinwalkers werecoyotes, or do they turn into other animals? There's just a lot of holes in the world that seriously nagged at me.

As for the plot, it was just okay. The Alpha's daughter has been kidnapped, there's some new drug being tested on werewolves, but who's behind it and why? Well, it ends up being a tangled mess of supernatural politics, and I just didn't care. In fact, I didn't even fully understand what was going on, and how everyone involved was connected. This was probably because the big reveal was another info -dump rather than a slow trickle. The pacing is also super slow, so I found that my mind would wander and I'd miss some of what I was reading and have to re-read.

Ultimately, this one just did not work for me. I did like how many types of supernatural creatures are featured, but the plot was slow and confusing, and the whole book was bogged down with unnecessary history lessons and random personal information. I didn't particularly like Mercy, but I didn't dislike her either. She just wasn't very interesting, and it seemed like all of her actions were just to reinforce her repeated line of "I'm not part of the pack and therefore don't have to listen." I'll probably read the next book, since it should be free of so many info-dumps and hopefully has a better plot.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[violetpeanut]

Despite the ridiculous cover, I really enjoyed this book. I loved Mercy - she was tough but not ridiculously so. She still had some vulnerability about her. The secondary characters were also developed and really rounded out the story.

The plot revolves around the kidnapping of the local Alpha's daughter and the book actually sticks to this track rather than becoming secondary to the protagonist's love life as in so many other books. I liked that everything did not revolve around sex like in so many paranormal books recently. There are love interests but she doesn't jump into bed with the first (or or any) guy who is good-looking.

We get a lot of info about paranormal creatures (werewolf pack behavior, vampire seethes, fae, etc) that helps to move along the plot but I suspect it will also come into play throughout the story.

The one thing I did not really like was the resolution to the mystery. The reasoning seemed weak and a little convoluted to me.

Overall very enjoyable and I look forward to the second in the series.

[nitzan_schwarz]

March 13 re-read: I'm 100% sure I've read this 3 times. Where did my second re-read go??

Notes for myself for when I write my re-read review:

*I actually enjoyed this one a lot more this time around!! Bumping the rating up to 4 stars 'cause of that. Usually, it's the other way around with books.

* Second (third??) re-read and yet here I am finishing it in a couple of days again. Staying power!

*I'm super impressed with how many things Briggs had set up in this novel! Like, there were a ton of things that made me blink because I was *certain* it came up later in the series, but nope, it actually started this early up. And yet, it still feels incredibly flowing and not like a lot of shit is being thrown at us. Major kudos for us.

* I am still one hundred percent a Mercy x Adam shipper. Samual is NOT the one for Mercy. He doesn't view her as capable, whereas Adam is fully on and understand this and Mercy--even if he doesn't exactly like it.

* Still sad about Mac.

* WARREN

* BEN?

*The villain is still kind of out of left field. Could have been set up better. Sad, though.



The world of Moon Called (and the Mercy Thompson series in general) is a fun world to read of; it's dark but has a storyteller voice that makes you forget that. It's complex, but told in a manner that makes everything seem simple. It's filled with supernatural creatures; vamps, weres, witches, faes... And the best thing about it is that the world-building itself doesn't overpower the plot of the book, and the series.

Mercy Thompson is a mechanic, a Walker (Something along the lines of "were-coyotes"), and the main character of the book.
She is strong, independent, strong-willed, stubborn, and active, the farthest thing away from a "damsel in distress". In fact, she's the one who saves the guys most of the time, not the other way around.
And all those are qualities that makes me adore her.

Then we have the guys in this book:
First we've got Adam...

To Read the Rest of the Review go to my Blog; Drugs Called Books

[kimbacaffeinate]

The first in the Mercedes Thompson series. The protagonist Mercy is a strong, likeable, witty and feisty character. Mercy is a shapeshifter who grew up with a pack of wolves. She is now a VW mechanic who lives near the sexy Alpha werewolf Adam. She is friends with the fae and a vampire. When a young lone werewolf shows up in trouble she goes to Adam for help. This book dealt with a lot of background on the werewolf packs and vamps in the area. I love that Mercy is a strong independent female. This looks to be a promising series.

[ibeforem]

I didn’t know much about this series when I started this book, other than a few mentions here and there about it being good. It definitely lived up to the good things I’ve heard.

The world Briggs has built is a little bit different than the typical urban fantasy/paranormal universe. There’s vampires and werewolves, but there is also a whole class of fae that includes creatures other than faeries. There’s goblins and all sorts of "lesser" fae, and then there’s Mercy, who is a skinwalker. She’s sort of like a werewolf, but she turns into a coyote and she can do it whenever she wants; she isn’t slave to the moon.

Mercy was raised by werewolves, so she quickly spots the young man who comes to her shop looking for work for what he is — a were on the run. It’s her understanding of the weres and their politics that helps her survive the events of the novel.

Mercy is a strong lead, but she’s not reckless. She doesn’t take unnecessary risks, which puts her above some other strong leading ladies. Usually they’re assertive, but have a tendency to think with their emotions rather than their head.

The book was a little heavy on world-building and were politics, but that’s not unexpected in the first book of a series. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be reading more in the series.

[Linda]

Great book - I love the walkers and the weres.

[inlibrisveritas]

Very good book, and I definitely can't wait to crack open the second one. I really like the main character because she doesn't try to be overly tough nor is she some damsel in distress.

[wyvernfriend]

In a world where people with magic are coming out of the woodwork, Mercy Thompson is a skinwalker. Living next door to the local werewolf pack she's tolerated by the community. She works as a mechanic and mostly keeps her head down. However her life is interrupted when a dead werewolf ends up on her door. She's an interesting character and knows her limits.