Moon Called is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series. An Urban Fantasy, it had been languishing on my To Be Read shelf for well over a year before I dusted it off to read and review as part of Keishon’s monthly TBR Challenge. This sort of story is not one which would usually attract my attention as I’m not a huge fan of paranormals or fantasy. I bought it due to the tremendous buzz the series has generated over the past couple of years. I was not disappointed!
Mercy Thompson is a mechanic and a coyote shapeshifter. She lives in an alternate reality Tri-Cities, featuring werewolves, vampires and other strange creatures. Mercy was born to a human mother and a coyote father, so she has traits of both species and is able to shapeshift at will. After the death of her father, Mercy’s mother was unable to cope with a half-coyote baby and gave her up to be fostered by werewolf relatives. These relatives belonged to the Marrok’s pack. Bran, known as the Marrok, is the leader of all the werewolves in North America. After a failed love affair with Bran’s son, Samuel, Mercy left the pack at the age of sixteen and has been on her own ever since.
At the start of the story, Mercy is at her garage, working on her vampire friend Stefan’s VW bus. She’s surprised by a visit from a strange young man named Mac. Mac is a newly-made werewolf and obviously in some distress. Mercy takes pity on him and offers him a job, not realizing she’s about to become embroiled in something very dangerous indeed.
A couple of nights later, Mac is attacked at the garage, and Mercy kills another werewolf in his defense. Realizing she’s in serious trouble, Mercy calls her neighbour, Adam, for help. Adam is the Alpha of the local werewolf pack and Mercy’s favourite frenemy. When he doesn’t recognize the dead werewolf as one of his own, he calls an emergency pack meeting at his house, with tragic results. By the end of the night, Mac is dead, Adam is gravely injured, and Adam’s daughter has been kidnapped.
Mercy has no one to turn to except the very people she vowed never to contact again: the Marrok and his followers.
This is a terrific book. It’s a testament to Patricia Brigg’s storytelling skills that she managed to engage me in a supernatural tale and leave me wanting more. Mercy is a fantastic heroine. I was afraid she’d be either “Too Stupid to Live” (e.g.: Bella in the Twilight series) or annoyingly kickass (e.g.: Buffy or Lara Croft). Thankfully, Mercy falls into neither category. She’s tough but recognizes her physical limitations. She’s independent but she’s smart enough to know when she needs to ask for help.
The other characters in the book are equally well-drawn, especially Mercy’s two would-be suitors, Adam and Sam. Personally, I’m rooting for Adam in the love triangle which I just know will develop in future books.
My criticisms are few and not necessarily logical. Firstly, one of the characters speaks German and Brigg’s use of the language is somewhat creative. I realize this would not bother someone who didn’t speak German, but it yanked me out of the story on a couple of occasions. Secondly, there is a troll. I don’t do trolls. Admittedly, said troll plays a very minor role, but still…it’s a troll.
Nitpicking aside, Moon Called is a compelling tale with an interesting conclusion. I finished the book wanting to know what the future will bring Mercy and her friends. Grade: B+
{ 16 comments }
Heh, I’m rooting for Adam too! I loved Mercy, I completely agree that she’s not a helpless princess nor is she unrealistically tough; she does call on the werewolves for help when she needs to but she also stands up for herself. I can’t wait for the next in the series, which I’ve heard is even better.
@Meghan I already have ‘Blood Bound’ & ‘Iron Kissed’ but I’m going to space them so that I’m ready for ‘Bone Crossed’ when it comes out in paperback. I see she has a connected series about Sam’s brother, Charles. Dangerous…
Yay, I am so glad you like the Mercy series. It gets better and better. Mercy is great and she definitely carries the series. Keep reading!
One of my fav books and series!!!
Sarah — About the German: I feel you there. I get stopped dead in my tracks when Regency romances (mostly the longer ones, like Julia Quinn, Eloise James, etc.) have the supposedly well-born heroine say “bloody.” It may be a quaint English usage over here, but having lived in England in the 70s, I know that it was considered a pretty harsh swear word then, so imagine how taboo it must have been in 1820? I get it that these books are virtually paranormals, as a great deal of what goes on just could not have happened in the Regency England of reality. But how hard would it be for modern authors to read Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (whose research was legendary) and not use any language that those authors didn’t use? (There are other anachronisms, like getting married by special license in a private residence: by law, it couldn’t happen then and can’t happen now, but those are obscure and you’d only know about them if you had a former husband who was a) English and b) a lawyer…!)
@Jill D. I was surprised at home much I liked it. As I said, I don’t usually go for paranormal/fantasy/SF, but Briggs won me over.
@Mandi So many people have said this, so I needed to know what all the fuss was about!
@Magdalen The German was me nitpicking. It really doesn’t detract from the story. Maybe I’m peculiar. I generally avoid books with settings/subjects which are too familiar to me. I try to avoid historical romances with an Irish setting, for example.
Oh man, I love this series. And, Jill D is so right, it just gets better with each book. I’m really excited, because Bonecrossed was just released in audiobook format, and while I already read the book, I love the idea of listening to it as well.
Great review! You’re so right. Mercy is able to be strong, without being tstl, too clingy, or too annoyingly kick-ass. Though, I actually like those kick-ass heroines, as long as they use their brains, too.
@Renee I don’t usually care for kickass heroines, which is probably why I never warmed to the Anita Blake series.
Have you read the Alpha and Omega books? If so, is Mercy in them, or are they part of a completely separate series?
The Alpha and Omega series follows Sam’s brother and Bram’s younger son, Charles. The original novella was first in the On the Prowl anthology, but I understand is now available digitally on its own from Penguin/Ace. I highly recommend tracking it down and reading it before Cry Wolf, the first book in the series, because it is the set up for the series.
Mercy is not in the series, but some of the same characters are, and the original novella actually picks up from the events of Moon Called. IDK if you remember how Charles is sent by Bram to Chicago to investigate what happened to Mac? Well the novella is that part of the story, following Charles as he arrives in Chicago. Cool, huh?
@Sarah
I love these books! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Mercy is one though chick!
The German bothered me a bit at first, too. But Olaf (I think that’s his name) is actually speaking Medieval German, not the modern Hochdeutsch.
@Renee Thanks, Renee. I’ll check out the novella.
@Monroe I’m now on a self-imposed series ban! I can’t possibly start anymore.
@heidenkind The part I remember is Mercy’s boss, Zee, who is described as being a “Metallzauber”, which would translate as metal magic. I think she meant to write “Metallzauberer”, or metal magician/sorcerer. As I said, it’s minor and doesn’t detract from the book as a whole. But I noticed it and it yanked me out of the story, however briefly.
Coincidentally, AztecLady has a blog post up on Karen Knows Best about how irritating she finds it when authors have characters misuse Spanish phrases. As I speak not a word of Spanish, I’ve never noticed this.
Hi Sarah
Glad that you’re enjoyed Moon Called
This series is quickly becoming very popular 
I think that any authors who decide to incorporate foreign language should have it checked out. Misuses are the most annoying! and I think that errors always bother people who actually knows the language.
LOL about the troll. Well, everyone has their quirks
@nath Don’t they just!
This is an awesome series so I hope you keep enjoying them, SarahT.
@Keishon Thanks for the impetus to finally read it!