Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Mercedes Thompson, more commonly referred to as Mercy has a life that 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 isn’t exactly normal herself.  When an attack on the local werewolf alpha drags Mercy into the middle of a supernatural conflict, she finds herself in the middle of a sci-fi fantasy “who-done-it”.

Moon Called is the 1^st book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.  Moon Called also happens to be the first Patricia Briggs book I’ve ever written and the formula is definitely there.  After reading and re-reading all 4 of the Twilight books and all 11 of the Sookie Stackhouse books (which I love every minute of!), I really expected I was going to be faced with the same scenario – girl meets (sometimes sparkly) boy vampire, girl falls for boy vampire, girl’s life is put in mortal danger, girl gets saved by vampire and they live happily ever after, forever teetering on the dangerous edge of immortality……Not so much. 

Patricia Briggs does a great job of giving us the tale of a woman – incredibly strong and independent – who happens to live half in and half out of the supernatural world.  Mercy Thompson is a shape-shifting mechanic living in the Tri-Cities.  She’s beautiful but at the same time, she’s tough as nails.  I loved her INSTANTLY.  This is a girl that I could so get a long with! 

In this series, vampires are not cuddly creatures to be nuzzled with in the wee hours of the morning.  They are dangerous and to be avoided if possible – and also NOT the main character for a change.  Werewolves are not 15 year old boys who constantly throw toddler-like temper tantrums.  They are spiritual creatures who have work incredibly hard to hone their ability to control the “wolf side” as they too are incredibly dangerous.  Through Mercy’s eyes, you learn to respect all of the creatures surrounding her for the damage they can inflict.  Although she’s strong willed, she’s not stupid. 

Moon Called is a very well written mystery with only slight romantic undertones.  I believe that Mercy is a character that will hold her own for quite some time and I can’t wait to read the next in the series!  Moon Called gets 5 stars!