The first book of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. When my good friend first told me about this series of books, I was highly skeptical. "Really? A shapeshifter who hangs out with werewolves, is friends with a vampire and works with a fairy?". My friend practically had to beg me to read it. I'm so glad that I did. Despite the rather ridiculous premise, these books are absolutely compelling, and surprisingly well written. I suggest these books to anyone.

Mercedes Thompson is a walker, a descendant of Native Americans and has the ability to turn into a coyote and detect magic and block it. She gets drawn into a fight with werewolves because of her neighbor. Turns out she helps out a lot and practically saves the day, and only sustains mild injuries.

This book was so much like the first couple of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books, it has the same tone and sort of the same concept, but different...lets just hope she doesn't turn the series into nothing more than completely gratuitous sex scenes in book form. I liked the tension between Mercy and the local werewolf alpha, Adam. I like the whole idea of the story but it felt a bit like something was missing as well, although, I can't quite place what. Mercy is a strong female lead and I liked that as well. We will see what the rest of the series has in store.

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This was a cut above the urban fantasy clones I've been reading lately - the political system of the werewolves was interesting, and romantic conflicts didn't make we queasy, and there was no gratuitous werewolf sex. I will read further in this series. ( )

Reading Patricia Briggs is like being struck by a rattler. You don't feel it at first and then you are completely taken over. Simply put, you are entwined in a fantastic story that has led you down a merry path. I'm pretty stingy with praise for literature-but this is the best supe novel I've read since Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking.

I happened on this book when I was doing laundry in my building. We have a spiffy common room for the residents, a hub if you will, with gorgeous couches and a bookshelf. I picked up the book and never put it down. I read it in a few hours and the next day ran over to Borders to pick up Book 2. I had never heard of Patricia Briggs before that first book.

Kudos to Briggs' editor who must be an absolute control freak. The story is very tight, economical, compact and packs a whallop. The pace is perfect and the suspense is drawn out just enough, Plenty of showing instead of telling the story like other authors.

What is even more painful is the way that Briggs dangles the Sam/Adam relationship. She gives us a tiny sip and makes us want more. And she doesn't overdo it...doesn't give us the milk for free. Clearly she is making her fans work for it. I can't wait until Iron Kissed comes out-Briggs reveals that Mercy will have to make a choice. This book comes highly recommended. None of the flowery crap that is churned out by other supe authors. Elegantly crafted.Copyright(c)Nicola Mattos ( )

Being raised by a pack of werewolves gave Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson a certain perspective into their world. Living across the street from one of the top alphas (Adam Hauptman) left Mercy with a constant reminder of what she was, a coyote, a shape shifter, a skin walker that knew of no one else like herself. Having a gremlin for a friend (Zee), a vampire that she kind of trusted (Stephan Uccello), and all of Adam’s pack around her all the time, and then a boy named Mac (a werewolf that had escaped from some sort of testing facility) showed up in her shop looking for work and he needed help. Getting some of the details left Adam injured and Mercy unable to trust his pack, so taking things into her own hands, she enlisted the top alpha of North America (Bran Cornick) and his pack.

Book 1 ….. Interesting combination of werewolves and vampires and witches - oh my! Great action and really interesting characters with some previous history but the reference to the past were done well. Not a romance (in my definition of romance), but there is definitely options. I was not sure about Mercy at first, but she grew on me as a character. There is just something about all that alpha male, all of them wanting to protect and help Mercy - she is going to end up being a very strong character with extraordinary powers that no one can predict (just a guess on my part). I am eager to get my hands on the next of these interesting stories (Blood Bound). ( )