Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)

Carole Wooten

Amazingly good!

"I love it when I can read a book for a second time and enjoy even more than the first time. There are a few book worlds that I hate to leave and Mercy's world is one of them. When I finished reading Fire Touched recently, I wanted more Mercy so I decided it was time to listen to some of the audiobooks from this series that have been sitting in my audible account for a couple of years. I was surprised by how much more I liked it this time around. This is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series and it does a really good job of introducing a large number of the key players in the series. This book is one of the really great first books in an urban fiction series. All of the world building works nicely into the plot. The book opens with a lot of excitement and you just kind of learn how things work as the plot moves forward. I loved going back to spend time with an earlier Mercy. She is such a wonderful character. She is extremely brave in this story despite being fully aware of her limitations. She is smart and able to make good decisions under pressure. She really shows a protective side in this story with both Mac and Jesse which I really liked. It was really fun spending time with Adam, Samuel, Bran, Zee, Stephen, Jesse, Warren, and the rest of gang in this book. The mystery in this book was solid. When a young werewolf ends up in Mercy's garage, she quickly learns that some strange things are happening. Adam is quickly pulled into the mystery and is actually quite vulnerable during much of this book. Mercy and the werewolves must find out what is going on and what their motives are in order to keep everyone safe. I really liked seeing how many things from later in the series were foreshadowed in this book. There were so many things that I didn't pick up on during my first reading. It took me a few minutes to adjust to the narration of this audiobook. Don't get me wrong, I thought the narration was great in the end but Mercy is a character that I have been reading about for years so I had a preconceived notion about what her voice should sound like. The narrator didn't match the voice in my head at the beginning of the story but by the end her voice was Mercy's. I think that the narrator did a fabulous job with all of the different character voices. I really enjoyed how much emotion came across in her reading of the story. I definitely plan to listen to more audiobooks featuring Lorelei King's narration. I would highly recommend this book and series to fans of urban fiction. The Mercy Thompson series along with the Alpha & Omega series which is set in the same world are among my favorites. This is a series that is best read in order so this book is a great starting point. I am looking forward to re-reading the second book in the series very soon. ["

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February 12, 2016 Verified Purchase

Mithrendiel

Pick this series up ASAP

"I can't believe it's taken me so long to read this series. Patricia Briggs work is sort of essential reading for most Urban Fantasy lovers, as is evidenced by the 5 star ratings her books get on almost every blog/review site. I'd just put off reading her because werewolves in general are not my favorite urban fantasy creatures, and ware-coyotes (or walkers if you want to get technical) sounded even less interesting to me. After reading two chapters of Moon Called, I found myself soundly smacking myself on the head for putting off reading the book for so long. It is SO good. Like really really engaging work. Every book in the series is action packed, full of amazing characters, and beautiful story telling. - Premise - Mercedes (Mercy) was raised by a pack of werewolves, and while she's moved away in an attempt to distance herself from their politics, she still maintains close ties with them. When her local pack alpha (the oh so sexy Adam Hauptmann) comes under attack, she does the right thing and steps in to lend aid. - World - The story really does read as unique to me because it focuses on werewolves. Although Fae and Vampires exist in the world, they are distant side characters. Her wolves are smart, well organized, and very likeable. The author has created organizational structures for each of her supernatural species that make sense. The world building is simple - but superb. There aren't any complex magical or scientific principles to explain, but everything is very well laid out and makes sense. There's nothing that feels far fetched or implausible to me. - Characters - Characterization is definitely this author's strong suite. Mercy may very well be one of the best strong female protagonists in this genre. The only gal I'd put against her would be Merit from the Chicagoland Vampires series. Mercy is strong without being foolhardy or full of insane bravado. She's the kind of girl that's too smart to foolishly throw herself in the way of danger, she'll handle whatever comes her way on her own. No knights in shining armor needed here. She's honorable and loyal, and would gladly sacrifice her life to do the right thing for people she cares about . You can't help but love this gal. Adam Hauptmann is the alpha werewolf of Mercy's local pack, and he's just fantastic. On one hand he's the semi classic alpha type you find in many romance novels - he's anal retentive, controlling, and over protected. On the other hand there's this soft side to him. He works to really hard to know the people around him. I had the sense through most of the story that Adam understood Mercy, and half the other characters in the story better than they understood themselves. It makes him an amazing leader, as well as a down right loveable character. Sam is the son of the Alpha of all Alpha werewolves. He's ancient (like hundreds of years old), but has a very human personality. He's really the heartbreaker of the series - his backstory is very tragic, and you won't be able to help but care for him when you've seen all he's been through. His soft, light happy personality seems odd when you consider his past, but it just makes him all the more loveable. Side characters include a fantastic Scooby do loving vampire named Stefan who is probably one of the more multi-dimensional characters in the story, and an ancient iron fey named Zee who used to run Mercy's mechanic shop and is old, grumpy, very powerful and downright cool. - Romance - These books aren't romance focus - it sort of takes place in the background, and it very yummie, but not very "in your face." There's a love triangle present in this book between Mercy, Sam, and Adam. I'm not normally a big love triangle fan, but this one didn't bother me, mostly because the romance wasn't a huge part of the story, and Mercy didn't bounce back and forth too much between the guys. I also liked each of the characters in the triangle for various reasons (although Adam was definitely my favorite). - Plot - Fantastic, page turning, and impossible to put down. I felt this way about every book in the series up to River Marked, which seemed slow paced to me. Moon Called will suck you in within the first few chapters, and you'll probably avoid sleep, eating, going out or anything else that would distract you from its pages until you're done. HIGHLY recommended book/series. If are a urban fantasy fan, these books should be considered a "must read." ["

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September 27, 2011 Verified Purchase

nightdenizen

Excellent fantasy! Action, intrigue, a little romance

"MY RATING SYSTEM 5 stars--WOW 4 stars--would read again 3 stars--was good, won't read again 2 stars--read it, but didn't enjoy it 1 star--didn't finish, it was so awful Do I need to read books before this one: no Cliffhanger: no SUMMARY A boy approaches Mercy as she fixes cars in her shop, hoping to earn cash. Mercy smells he's a new werewolf, takes him on, will figure out how to get him to Adam, the alpha here who's also her neighbor. Her human police friend, Tony, stops by, sees Mac, and tells her he's seen Mac sound and he's not violent nor on drugs. Later, Mac confides he and his girlfriend were attacked in Chicago. He survived the Change, she didn't. He woke up in a cage, heard someone sell him, and had a variety of drugs tried on him. She goes back to the shop to bring Mac a blanket and finds him being threatened. Mercy shifts into her coyote form, kills the werewolf and scares off the human with a gun. She calls Adam, who takes Mac home to introduce him to the pack. She also calls Elizaveta, the witch the pack pays to do cleanup. In the morning, Mercy's cat wants out. Mac is dead on her doorstep. She mourns, then hears noises at Adam's. She races over, kills another werewolf who's fighting Adam, and sees his 15yo daughter, Jesse, has been kidnapped. Worried about a coup to take Adam's leadership, Mercy can't call his pack, so she puts Mac's body and Adam in her van, then drives to Montana to the head alpha of North America, Bran. She'd been fostered in his pack, though she's a skinwalker, not a werewolf. She calls Zee, the gremlin who taught her everything about fixing cars and sold her his garage, to cover for her while she's gone and warn him about what happened. She also calls Stefan, her vampire friend, to explain she hauled a dead body in his van (painted like the Mystery Machine), though Elizaveta cleaned it. In Montana, she shifts to hunt the hills for Bran. She finds Samuel, her old boyfriend she'd planned to marry until Bran interfered. Bran makes it clear Mercy is welcome home so the pack don't hurt her. Samuel, since he's a doctor, tends to Adam and will investigate Mac's body and the tranquilizer dart she'd found by Adam. In the morning, she reconnects with Dr Wallace, the human who'd helped her after her foster parents died; he's now a werewolf, but he won't hunt because he's a veterinarian and a vegetarian. Samuel returns to Kennewick with Adam and Mercy to keep Adam's wolf controlled until Adam is healed, and to investigate the attacks. EVALUATION Excellent story. Mercy's compassion for Mac drew me in; her being friends with a variety of supernaturals and humans intrigued me; and her snark made me laugh. Her character is well developed: her history includes loneliness, love, loss, fear, and self-acceptance; her present is developed through action and dialog rather than a lot of interior monolog. Other characters are introduced, though not as well developed, and I look forward to knowing them better. The plot starts simply, and keeps growing, not going where I expected. RECOMMENDATION Everyone who enjoys fantasy should read this. FAVORITE QUOTES There’s a lot of truth in the adage that all cars named after animals are lemons. His voice was soft and sweet as molasses; but my mother once told me that you had to trust that the first thing out of a person’s mouth was truth. After they have a chance to think about it, they’ll change what they say to be more socially acceptable, something they think you’ll be happier with, something that will get the results they want. “I don't like lies. Not even lies of omission. Hard truths can be dealt with, triumphed over, but lies will destroy your soul.” “Living's easier than dying, most times. Dance when the moon sings, and don’t cry about troubles that haven’t yet come.” “Happiness is German engineering, Italian cooking, and Belgian chocolate” “Siebold Adelbert’s Smiter from the Black Forest,” I translated, using my required two years of a foreign language course for the first time ever. For four years I banged out tunes for a half hour a day and hated the piano more each year. It hated me back. Politics. Humans, werewolves, or, apparently, vampires, it doesn’t matter; get more than three of them together and the jockeying for power begins. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” I confessed. “Maybe when this is all over, you can drive, and I’ll stick my head out the window.” “Next to vinegar and baking soda, WD-40 is the miracle discovery of the age.” “I’ve never heard you swear before. At least not like that.” “Power words. Without which mechanics the world over would be lost.” POSSIBLE TRIGGERS (spoilers) Sex: kisses Language: 0 F words, 1 Lord's name in vain, 1 S words Violence: animal maulings, threats, gun fights, drug experiments, report of suicide CRITIQUE (spoilers) I'm not clear how Clark died. Is there a coup happening in the vampires? ["

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January 17, 2021 Verified Purchase

Phillips Family

Easy Read; Easy to Love the Characters

"I will admit I am new to reading books by Patricia Briggs but I am now kicking myself for not picking up her books sooner. I literally read all of the available Mercy Thompson books in less than a week. I just could not put them down. Patricia has managed to create a world that is believable and interesting and you cannot help but love the characters. This is why I love series so much because you get to continue reading about characters you fall in love with. Mercy is a great heroine because she doesn't believe she is. She is down to earth and a little bit of a smart ass. She antagonizes the local alpha of the werewolf pack of the tri-cities on purpose because she can and he lets her get away with it because secretly he loves her. Mercy has managed to basically stay out of trouble her entire life, that is until now. All of a sudden she goes from being a nobody to someone in the mist of danger and it is up to her to save the day. When the local alpha is wounded badly (which leaves his status up for grabs if his wounds are out in the open) she takes it upon herself to be his savior. She takes him to the Marrok (the leader of all leaders) who protected and raised her (did I mention she is a coyote shifter) - werewolf protecting a coyote! They deal with the immediate threat and get Adam on the road to recovery and Mercy learns that she wasn't the pain she thought she was to the Marrok (even though he would never openly admit just how much she means to him). Soon Mercy is back to the tri-cities with not only one dominate werewolf but two (the second being the son of the Marrok who she almost ran away with when she was 16) - Samuel the Marrok's son was sent for a few reasons: 1) to try and get him out of his suicidal funk - the Marrok thinks sending him with Mercy will help 2) to protect the wounded alpha and 3) to keep Mercy from doing anything stupid while looking for the Alpha's daughter who has been kidnapped. Of course Mercy manages to get herself into trouble but not before the Alpha is kidnapped and she is needed to rescue not only him but his daughter. In the end she of course succeeds and now has not only one werewolf trying to court her but two (the Alpha has named her his mate to keep his wolves from attacking her as she is a coyote in were wolf territory and the Marrok's son Samual who has decided he is moving in with her with or without her approval (he has no qualms about camping out on her porch). The characters are relatable and you learn to like them quickly. I am glad the series continues so you can keep learning more and more about the characters you love. Did I mention the characters are great? Anyway, long story short - read this book! ["

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November 23, 2012 Verified Purchase

Jennifer @ Bad Bird Reads

A great start to the series.

"Summary Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too. Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf. She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire. 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. The Good Briggs brings us into a world were the lesser fae have been revealed to the public. Ever advancing technology and forensic investigation has given them no choice. But the greater fae, vampires, werewolves, and the many other superantural beings have remained hidden. The protagonist, Mercedes Thompson, is a mechanic and a skinwalker--a Native American shapeshifter who turns into a coyote. The story begins with a werewolf teenager who comes looking for a job in Mercy's garage. She gives him one, realizing he's not from the local pack and is alone. Determined to help her new friend, she introduces him to the local pack alpha, Adam, who also happens to be Mercy's neighbor. But soon things start to heat up and Mercy is forced to revisit her childhood home to ask the Marrok, leader of werewolf packs in America, for help. And things go downhill from there as the local vampire seethe and a witch takes interest in the mess Mercy has found herself in. This book really surprised me. I was drawn in from the beginning and couldn't put the book down. Mercy is a very likable heroine who is both strong, courageous, and humble. She understands the supernatural order of things and tires her best to find a place for a lone coyote. All the other characters caught my interest right away. The vampires are creepy, the werewolves are both reasonable and savage (which is an odd mix). The fae just leave me puzzled. Not sure how to read them yet. We have potential love interests with Adam and Sam (and old werewolf boyfriend). Briggs has set herself up for a great series. This book has mystery, horror, and fast-paced action. But it's the characters and Briggs amazing ability of character development that really made this book. Moon Called is very refreshing compared to the many urban fantasy novels out there. Briggs found a way to write an entertaining story without a whole lot of sex and an unrealistic, overly powerful protagonist. The Bad Absolutely nothing. The Snuggly Nope, no sex. Just a little nakedness. Overall Wow. This book blew me away. It had so many interesting elements and storylines that can be expanded on in the future of the series. Moon Called provides a believable alternative reality to our present day that made me want to live in that world. I would recommend this book to all readers of urban fantasy. ["

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December 10, 2011 Verified Purchase