Moon Called

Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs

I have to say, Moon Called was a lot of fun to read. I had no expectations of the book at all (I bought it because I liked other books by Patricia Briggs), so everywhere the story went was a surprise. And a pleasant surprise at that. Also, this book was as much a mystery as it was a fantasy, and a pretty well-done mystery at that.

Mercy Thompson is a mechanic and a shifter. Being a shifter is similar to being a werewolf, in that she can change into an animal form–her other form is a coyote–but in other ways it’s completely different. Her changes are not affected or regulated by the moon, and her shifting is easy and painless. Mercy also lives next door to the alpha werewolf for her area, so she is surprised when a young werewolf shows up at her garage looking for work, because as far as she knows, he’s not part of the local pack.

The writing was very good: the pacing was excellent (this was another couldn’t- put- it- down- to- go- to- sleep book), the dialog was sharp and amusing, and I really liked the story. Several times it went places I hadn’t expected, which I especially liked. Plus, actions taken earlier in the book left me wondering whether any character was safe from being killed off. Which I also really like, because as much as I hate having characters I like killed off, I also find it ridiculous when everyone comes through a horribly dangerous situation completely unscathed. (Though I have to admit this is far more noticeable in movies than in books.)

I could have done without the cover though–at least the half-shirt / perfect breasts portion of the cover. I mean come ON. The woman is a mechanic. She doesn’t need grease embedded in her entire torso, including her ridiculous breasts and I’m pretty sure any woman smart enough to be a mechanic would also be smart enough to wear a bra to work. Not to mention the fact that wearing your hair loose combined with moving engine parts just can NOT be a good idea. So boo-hiss for the cover.

Luckily, the book more than overcame the foolish cover.

This book also had my all-time favorite characteristics–the story arc was completed within the book. Although there are plenty of openings for another book in this series, my hope is that when(!) Patricia Briggs writes more books with Mercy Thompson, she’ll continue to write in this vein: completing the story arc in a single book, and no cliffhanger endings. Plus, as an added bonus, very strong female lead character.

And I really hope she writes more books about Mercy Thompson. The writing and dialog were excellent, but most of all it was just a fun book to read, and I want more like it. If you’re looking for a fun book to read, I highly recommend Moon Called.

Rating: 8/10

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