Moon Called

I was frankly surprised that the characters were so engaging. Briggs steps away from the mold and allows her beings to have real character and personal problems, hobbies and quirks. A vampire restoring an old VW bus? That's great! I'll be reading more of the books to visit with the gremlin, Zee and the werewolf, Warren and his boyfriend Kyle.

Have you ever wondered if werewolves are sexy? Apparently it isn't just Rule 34 that has the answer on that question.

Moon Called is the first in the highly successful Patricia Briggs series. Mercy Thompson is the local mechanic, a shape shifter, and a lightning rod for trouble. First a runaway with problems starts work at her shop, bringing his problems with him. Then her friendly neighbourhood werewolves get dragged into the start of a civil war. And then it appears the local witches and vampires are involved. Then Cthulhu rises... Okay, I made up the last bit.

Patricia's Mercy Thompson series are not normally the sort of book I would choose to read. Being a guy, I have all of these prejudices about sparkly vampires, sexy werewolves, show more and novels clearly aimed at that market. Which is stupid on my part. The Moon Called has as much in common with Twilight as Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. In other words, I could have been enjoying this series earlier if not for my misplaced prejudice.

This was a fast paced novel that was highly entertaining. One thing that stood out to me, though, was the novel kind of ended without really finishing the story. This made the ending feel a little unsatisfying, but at the same time it felt like a more natural story, especially for a series. I suppose it is refreshing to have a novel unafraid to not have an epilogue or tagged on final chapter that ties up all of the loose ends. And this open-endedness doesn't feel like a deliberate setup for a series, rather it feels like a genuine limited world perspective: we don't get to know everything because the characters don't know everything. I will be reading many more Patricia Briggs novels. show less

I'm writing this review after my 3rd or 4th rereading of this book. Mercy Thompson, Coyote Shifter, is one of my absolute favorite urban fantasy heroes. She's strong, funny, sarcastic & vulnerable. She's a supernatural creature who is relatively small and powerless compared to all the other supernaturals she interacts with. She knows herself well enough to know when she needs help & she's careful to make decisions based on what would be safest for all supernatural creatures, not just herself.

Awesome book. well plotted, great heroine, good twists and strong world building. Just a very good read all around.

Reread 2021: This is one of my favorite UF series and I'm finally doing a reread with the Vampires, Weres and Fae group here on Goodreads. I love everything about the way this novel is constructed. The world-building is wonderfully intricate. I read a lot of werewolf novels and love discovering how each author makes their world unique. Briggs take on werewolf lore with the Marrok, the male versus female werewolves, and the brutality of the change and sharp animalistic nature of werewolf behavior make for a wonderful read. My favorite thing are the characters. I have favorites (Zee, Tad, Jesse, the wolves of the Marrok's show more pack--yes, even Leah), but every time a new character appears on page, that character becomes my favorite. They're all so wonderfully drawn. On reread I loved discovering the details of this story for the second time, seeing Mercy's determination to figure out what is going on with a werewolf situation thrust on her doorstep, while negotiating pack politics. I look forward to more. show less

I'm over a decade late joining the Mercy Thompson party (partly because I was put off by the, mostly inaccurate, covers) but now that I've read the first one, I want the rest RIGHT NOW:

I finally picked up "Moon Called" when I found that I was going to be trapped on another long-haul flight where they lock me in a steal tube for nine hours at a time. It was a good choice, time flew by and Patricia Briggs now has a new fan.

"Moon Called" is Urban Fantasy as it should be. There's a likeable, kickass heroine who was raised by werewolves, makes her living fixing German cars, can take on the shape of a Coyote at will and is happy to spend time with fey, vampires, werewolves and humans as long as they're interested in cars. There's a complex show more cast of weres and vampires and fey and humans who are written up as people rather than game avatars. There's a nicely curly plot with strong action scenes but with a pace slow enough to give me time to get to know people.

The whole thing has a positive, feel-good vibe to it without getting cosy and losing its edge.

Perhaps the main thing is that I like Mercy Thompson and want to know what happens to her.

So of course I immediately went back to audible.com to buy the next few books in the series (hey, who needs a smaller TBR pile anyway?) only to find that books 2-6 are not available. I HATE IT when this happens. It usually means an argument about rights somewhere. I hope they get it sorted out soon. I could buy the ebooks but I'd prefer listen to Lorelei King telling the story.

Listen to the SoundCloud link below to hear why

https://soundcloud.com/hachetteaudiouk/moon-called-by-patricia-briggs-audiobook-... show less

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

I’d heard about this series for over a year before I indulged. People raved on the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance forums over it constantly, so who wouldn’t be curious? Shapeshifters aren’t really my thing, but Urban Fantasy, series, and good stories are, so I was eager to dive into it and join the “raving” crowds. Did it live up to my expectation?

From the start it’s clear that Mercy is now your ordinary female protagonist. It’s a refreshing change to go to someone without a massive chip on the shoulder. As a sweet natured gal, she’s also independent in an unusual career – owning an auto shop and repairing cars. She lives in a trailer by show more the more luxurious house of the town’s werewolf pack master, whom she loves to irritate and goad in all sorts of sarcastic ways. Being a different kind of shifter, she’s usually killed by the predators, but is under protection of sorts because of her history and connections. Wary, she keeps her distance as much as possible but must work with the alpha in this particular story.

The book lends plenty of chuckles when encountering the powerful, dominating alpha and his human teenage, and of course her pal Stefan, a vampire who keeps bringing in his van, painted like the Scooby Doo vehicle, for repair.

Not all is fun and games when an attack forces Mercy to go back to her hometown and face an old friend who turned betrayer (at least in her mind), she found out why he was really interested in her.

Really the story shines due to Mercy. She actually has common sense leading her around and is missing that massive bitch-chip on the shoulder so many other UF Protagonists have. Adam’s a bit dreamy and Stefan interests me, but frankly the story always squeaks by. It’s bland. The world feels unevenly structured when it comes to supernatural explanations and hierarchy. This could be since it’s the first novel, though, so waiting to see how it expands. The mystery is decent but takes a bit long to reach.

Briggs writes well – her dialogue is especially right on. She saves the suspense and excitement more toward the end for this one – which is a semi-risky move when it comes to a first novel in a series. If you’re interest holds, it gets better.

Overall this decent series appetizer left me wanting to read more, not really for the story, but for the melodrama in some of the character’s lives. All “loveable”, they have intriguing potential. Not every series starts with a bang, but as long as it gets there, then that’s the point of continuing and trying on for size right there.

Recommended for when you want some Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and want to toss in some fun, elbow grease, engine oil, and a feisty, unique female. show less

We meet Mercy while she is under a car repairing it. She's a mechanic who works on foreign cars, owns her own shop and, is a "walker". What's that? Well she changes into a coyote, not a were-coyote, she's different. She hales from a line of skinwalkers, witches who shift into whatever creature's skin they put on. She happens to be the coyote. That said, she was raised by foster parents, one of whom was a werewolf. Her mother felt that would be the best for her so that she could be raised understanding what she was somewhat better. Now on her own her neighbor Adam is the Alpha of the local werewolf pack and she has a dilemma, a newly made were has turned up in her shop and she needs to inform him so there isn't any trouble. Sadly though show more there is a lot of trouble. Someone has come up with a drug that works on were's fast metabolism and is changing people into weres willy nilly. Mercy gets sucked into this mess and needs the help of all her unusual friends. Zee, the fae who sold her the shop, Stefan, the vamp, and Samuel her first love. Of course, the wolves hate the vamps, the fae are suspicious of everyone, and Adam and Samuel flex their dominant muscles over Mercy.

I loved this book! Mercy is just a great character. Not over the top kick-a$$ like Anita Blake, not jaded like Kate Daniels, nor spoiled like Faythe from Stray. Just a regular gal, as much as she can be, that steps up to the plate and does what needs to be done. Loyal to her friends and having a good heart, I really liked her. The supporting characters were good too. Adam and his daughter Jesse, Warren, his second in command, Zee, and Stefan were nice rounded characters and look forward to getting to know them better. Samuel wasn't bad, but I have a problem with guys who think they have rights to former girlfriends, but that's just me ; )

One funny part involves the vamp Stefan. Mercy is repairing his VW Vanagon which is tricked out like the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and even his cell phone voicemail music is the theme from Scooby Doo prompting Zee to ask, "What kind of vamp uses the music from Scooby Doo for his voicemail?"

I will definitely continue with this series!! show less