Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A sorcerer-turned-vampire wreaks havoc on Washington's Tri-Cities, causing death, destruction and a paranormal faceoff in the second of Briggs's series featuring Mercy Thompson, a mechanic and "walker": one who can turn into a coyote at will. After attempts by the paranormal community to destroy the malevolent sorcerer fail, Mercy finds herself pulled into the fray: though her werewolf and vampire friends are stronger than she, it turns out that Mercy's abilities make her the only one in town who can save them all. While she discovers the truth about her powers, she also learns more about her past, and the werewolves who raised her. Though the romantic subplot-involving two rival werewolves, Alpha wolf Adam and Mercy's roommate Samuel-fizzles, Briggs has a refreshing knack for imbuing her characters (even non-humans) with lived-in human qualities. When it gets going, this paranormal adventure story is engaging, but a flabby first-person narrative stunts the suspense.
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From Booklist

Jalopy mechanic Mercedes Thompson may not be a were-creature, ruled by phases of the moon, but she can change into a coyote whenever she wants to. Because she owes him a favor, Mercedes agrees to back up vampire friend Stefan when he confronts another of his kind. But, being demon-possessed, that vampire proves deadlier than most. Before she can so much as bark, Mercedes is up to her ears in vampires fighting vampires, werewolves fighting vampires, and humans in the middle. She aims to off the demon-possessed vampire before any more killings, but she can't count on everyone who ought to be her ally because the local top vampire has schemes of her own. Briggs' world in which witches, vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters live beside ordinary people is plausibly constructed; the characters are excellent; and the plot keeps the pages flapping. Those who haven't read the first Mercedes Thompson tale, Moon Called (2006), may well want to after reading the second. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ace (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441014739
• ISBN-13: 978-0441014736
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (192 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Mercy Thompson Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as strong as Moon Called, but still worth five stars., February 18, 2007

By	Rhianna Walker "Rhi" (Northwestern US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Blood Bound picks up not too long after the first in the series, Moon Called. Introduced to mechanic and sometimes-coyote, Mercedes Thompson in book one we get to dive right back into her world. A walker raised by werewolves, trained in mechanics by a fae and friend to vampires and ghosts, Mercy's world is far from ordinary. Blood Bound finds her vampire friend Stefan calling on her for return of a favor from Moon Called (book one). There's a new vampire in town and he's brought a demon with him. From here the story takes off at a stop-start pace involving both the local wolf pack and the vampire seethe, even getting some of the fae involved. But it is Mercy's ability to speak to ghosts that is in high demand and eventually she saves the day.

With diverse characters carried over from the first book and a few new ones salted into this one there were no faces I missed. I look forward to more unique and enjoyable characters as the series continues. Her efforts to make Mercy a girl-next-door-who-just-happens-to-be-a-shapeshifter character who is a girl most readers can relate to are spot on. I won't compare her to other characters of books in this same genre because she tops them all in sheer likability.

As a native of the area Briggs' tale takes place in I was once again impressed with her knowledge of the region and pleased at how well she carried me back home through her accurate description of the simple things like the climate, local culture and real places within the area. The unique choice of location certainly adds to the story as cities like New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles and such, while all wonderful places, have been over-used in similar series. Using an area not widely known has given this series a refreshing change from the cliched and expected.

If you enjoy a good paranormal tale with vampires, shapeshifters, ghosts and the like that won't get lost in between pages of sex scenes this series is for you. While there's still a tantalizing love triangle element I appreciate that Mercy is a very real woman who doesn't sport a harem of Adonis-like fellows at her beck and call. Briggs never loses the story's plot in attempts to hook her heroine up with her heroes.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supernatural tough chick Mercy is at it again!, February 4, 2007

By	Snowbrocade (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Patricia Brigg brings her coyote shape-shifter character Mercy back in this sequel to Moon Called. Mercy is a rare coyote shape shifter raised by a werewolf pack. By day she works as a mechanic in a world that has only recently become aware of the fae--who live on a reservation, and werewolves--who keep a very low profile. Vampires are still not part of the mainstream.

Yet Mercy seems to collect preternatural friends of all types, from her werewolf roommate, to her fae ex-boss and her vampire friend. When a demon possessed vampire goes on a killing spree, Mercy goes into action to stop him from outing the vampires in a very bad way. Her friendships and budding love-affairs with two werewolves are put to the test as Mercy resists efforts by the local vampires and werewolves to control her.

Briggs does a nice job of portraying a gutsy preternatural hero in a supernatural alternate universe. Her characters are appealing and lively. The writing in Blood Bound is tight and creates spine-tingling suspense. My only gripe is that I wish it were longer!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second Book Book 3 on way, February 3, 2007

By	Hugh C. Haynsworth IV "Libertarian, a believe... (Rock Hill, SC USA) - See all my reviews

Ok, Mercy is a used car auto-mechanic who specializes in German manufactured cars. Mercy is also a coyote skin-walker. Her best customer is a vampire who drives around in an old VW mini-van with a Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine paint job, and her next door neighbor is the alpha-male of the local wolf pack, who she has gone out on a couple of dates with. Her room-mate is the son of the chief were-wolf in North America, who she almost eloped with when she was 16. Her ex-boss is a fey who calls himself a gremlin, and whose talent is working with metal and iron (normally poisonous to all fey.)

With her first book, Moon Called, we barely meet the vampires and fey in the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington State. In this book, not only have the weaker fey creatures been outed, but the were-wolves have also outed themselves to humanity. Vampires are still unknown however; and the local vampire sidhe queen needs help stopping a rogue vampire who is a sorcerer, a human who has invited a demon into his body giving him powers over vampires, were-wolves, and fey. Can Mercy stop this sorcerer/vampire?

Part of what makes this book and series important is the look into the politics of the various supernatural groups in Briggs's modern world, and Mercy's struggles as a businesswoman and member of the paranormal community. She must also help protect her fellow humans, while struggling with her potential boyfriends, and helping all her friends whether human or paranormal. Briggs along with David Weber, Kim Harrison, and Charlaine Harris do an excellent job of this with differing levels of emphasis. By the way, I agree with Patricia Briggs that this 2nd novel is an improvement over the first novel, and I am avidly looking forward to book 3 which has been submitted to the publishers even as we speak.