Book Review: _Moon Called_ by Patricia Briggs

What if magic and supernatural creatures existed in our world? Probably the world would be more fascinating at times. The subgenre of Urban Fantasy uses these elements for interesting stories. Fantasy author Patricia Briggs brings werewolves, shape changers, fae and others into the modern world for an entertaining read in Moon Called. The book comes together for a fast paced read because of its setting, characters and plot.

First, the book is entertaining due to its setting. Ms. Briggs creates a realistic modern day world with plausible supernatural creatures. The different magical creatures live among humans, but hide their identities and true natures. This world consists of werewolves, vampires, fae creatures and others. The book’s story focuses mainly on werewolves with the author making a culture for them. They have a pack structure like wolves. The packs are spread out all over the U.S. led by dominant alpha males. Keeping newly changed people under control is part of their responsibility. All of these details add up to make the story gripping and characters come to life.

Next, the interesting characters makes the book entertaining by drawing readers into the story. Mercy Thompson is the main character. She is a mechanic with the talent of being a skin walker, which allows her to change into a coyote. Her past is colorful since she was raised by werewolves. Mercy tends to be a loner but gets drawn into problems when she meets a runaway boy who has been changed into a werewolf. This brings her into werewolf business and brings her into conflict with old family troubles. Other characters bring Mercy’s personality to life and enhance the story. Adam is the leader of the pack in Mercy’s town. He is attracted to her while dealing with personal problems. Samuel is a rival werewolf from her past who provides a love triangle that stays unresolved. Ms. Briggs establishes characters with strong personalities that readers will like.

Lastly, the plot is suspenseful, providing a hard to put down book. Action starts right from the beginning of the story. Shortly after the runaway shows up at Mercy’s shop, he is attacked by a group of mysterious people. While saving the boy, she kills a werewolf and gets caught up in a mystery of who is trying to kill werewolves. She must deal with vampires, witches and fae creatures in order to solve the mystery, which is done with plenty of action. The author writes tights plots, keeping the action coming and the story gripping.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs is the first book in the “Mercy Thompson” Urban Fantasy series. The book is an exciting fast read due to setting, interesting characters and a suspenseful plot. The series will continue with the second book due out in 2007. Most readers will anxiously wait for the new book.