Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson: Book 1)

9/10

"I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn't at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil..." Mercedes Thompson runs a garage in the Tri-Cities. She's a mechanic, and a damn good one, who spends her spare time karate training and tinkering with a VW bus that happens to belong to a vampire. Her next-door neighbour is an alpha werewolf - literally, the leader of the pack. And Mercy herself is a shapeshifter, sister to coyotes. As such, she's tolerated by the 'wolves but definitely down the pecking order. As long as she keeps her eyes down and remembers her place, the pack will leave her in peace.

Meet Mercedes the Volkswagen mechanic, as if that was the only or most interesting thing you could know about Mercy Thompson.  Indeed it is not.  Mercy is a shifter, meaning that she can shift into the form of a coyote in the blink of an eye.  She was also raised by werewolves and try as she might to stay out of trouble it is something that evades her constantly. 

While working in her shop a teenage werewolf newly made comes looking for work bringing with him a massive dose of trouble.  Men in black are quick to follow the boy to the local Alpha’s house attacking the pack and severely injuring Adam – the Alpha.  Mercy speeds him toward Montana to the Marrok, the Alpha of the North American territory and Mercy’s foster father.  A pack war is brewing threatening the secrecy of the werewolves and the lives of people Mercy cares for dearly along with drawing unwanted attention from the local seethe of vampires and the family of witches that call the Tri Cities home.

Moon Called is such a fun and fast introduction to the life of Mercy Thompson.  A full time auto mechanic and part time coyote the reader chases Mercy throughout the book at lightening speed.  Never is there a dull moment as you learn about pack structure, why the fae came out publicly proclaiming their existence, or Mercy herself.  Patricia Briggs is brilliant in this book as she delves into a section of fantasy – the werewolf and its culture – that hasn’t been as widely explored. 

Kudos to Patricia Briggs for bringing werewolves into a new light, for offering up a believable and relatable female author, and for an over all quite interesting story that had me guessing till the very end. Bravo.