*This title will be released on March 1, 2011*

Title: River Marked Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercy Thompson #6 Cover Art: Dan Dos Santos Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Ace Books; 1st edition (March 1, 2011) ISBN-10: 0441019730 ISBN-13: 978-0441019731 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to sex. References to homosexuality. References to rape.   My Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

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Description

Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.

 

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River-one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help...

Author’s Comments

Review

Why does it always feel like Christmas come early when a new Mercy Thompson book comes out?  Oh right, because it’s Mercy Thompson. Mercy has changed drastically over the course of this series going from someone who was wary, tough,  and very independent to a much softer, more playful, and embracing woman.  It’s taken me a little while to adjust to this new Mercy, but I think RIVER MARKED is probably my favorite Mercy book since IRON KISSED.  Mercy is a lot more emotional this time, and not without reason, as she has to deal with revelations about her father, her heritage, and what the future of her relationship with her mate will be like.

 

The majority of RIVER MARKED takes place outside of the Tri-Cities, and as much as I like all the wolves, vamps, fey, and human characters we’ve met since MOON CALLED, it was nice to pare down to just Mercy and Adam.  We do meet some rather significant new characters who provide real answers and explanations about Mercy and Walkers in general.  I know Briggs has said that she was nervous about delving into Mercy’s Native American origins, but she' needn’t have been.  It never felt like information overload.  Most of the explanations—apart from one about Joe Old Coyote—felt logical and interesting. 

 

And after missing Stefan in BONE CROSSED, I was very pleased with the scenes he got in RIVER MARKED (including my favorite description of him to date: “He was like Superman, but with fangs and oddly impaired morals”).  I’m guessing here, but I’d be surprised if Mercy #7 didn’t deal heavily with Stefan and the Seethe.  We’ll have to wait until 2012 to see if I’m right.

 

The Mercy Thompson series is one of the best in the urban fantasy genre for good reason.  The mythology of the series is rich and complex, borrowing just enough fact to feel real, and mixing just enough fantasy to feel magical.  Mercy’s world is about to get much bigger in RIVER MARKED when she learns, in a lot of ways, that she is not nearly as alone in this world as she thought. Overall, Mercy 2.0 may be more domesticated than the, pardon the pun, lone wolf mechanic we met in MOON CALLED, but her transformation into the woman we see now has been believable and hard won. 

 

Mercy is happy now in a way I don’t think she imagined possible.  And I’m happy for her. Of course Mercy’s happiness is about as far from boring as it gets.  In RIVER MARKED she battles river monsters, Otterkin, and Native American gods armed only with her wit and walking stick.   And she does it all with the same cool and tenacious attitude that endeared her to so many of us six books ago, and hopefully for many more books to come.

 

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Moon Called Blood Bound Iron Kissed Bone Crossed Silver Borne	Genre Go Round Reviews

*Disclosure: I received this book courtesy of Penguin Books

Book Description

All-new action in the #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series

When mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy Thompson attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.
It seems the book contains secret knowledge-and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side-leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

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Book 5 in The Mercy Thompson Series 

Mercedes is Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. Her native american heritage has gifted her with the ability to take the form of a coyote at will. She's surrounded by far more powerful supernatural beings, including werewolves, vampires and an assortment of fey. –Hurog.com

Review:
SILVER BORNE has been my most anticipated novel of the year (and already the River Marked, Mercy #6 is my most anticipated book for next year). Everything I’ve loved about the previous books are here again.  Mercy is just plain cool.  She is laid back, resilient, tough without being pushy, and brave enough to risk her life for those she loves (which she inevitably does several times in this book).  If you want to know exactly how cool Mercy is, check out the Character Profile I’ve compiled for her HERE.

The world building is as rich and nuanced as ever. Werewolf, Fae, and Walker lore are all explored with more detail (sadly Stefan and the vampires are no shows this time out). And a pretty significant piece of Samuel’s past is revealed that will have definite repercussions on future books. I have to say how impressed I am with Patricia Briggs’ ability to showcase her—rather large by this point in the series—cast of characters without making SILVER BORNE feel crowded.  Every scene is full and satisfying even though most of the characters only have minor roles, they still have impact.

Well deserved praise aside, I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t as blown away by SILVER BORNE as I expected to be. Maybe I built it up to much, maybe I missed the character of Stefan too much, or maybe it was the lack of romantic tension between Mercy and Adam.  They became mates in the previous book, but because of Stefan, there was still plenty of romantic tension.  But Adam and Mercy are in full blown couple mode throughout SILVER BORNE constantly telling each other how much they love the other one.  Mercy has previously been pretty gun-shy with her feelings, and I didn’t expect her to be this mushy (for Mercy) so quickly. 

That all came out harsher than I intended.  The Mercy Thompson books are still my pick for best urban fantasy series out there.  They set the bar for every other urban fantasy series I read, and no one has dethroned Mercy yet (though Kate Daniels comes close).  Even with the minor criticism, SILVER BORNE was an excellent read, and even at hardcover prices, you should put it at the top of your to-buy pile.  The next Mercy book is called River Marked, it has a tentative release date for Spring 2011. 

Sexual Content: References to a previous rape, references to  homosexuality. A brief non graphic sex scene.

My Rating (out of 5):

Click HERE to read an excerpt of SILVER BOURNE

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044101819X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441018192
• Cover art: Daniel Dos Santos

Disagree with my review?  Email me your review for this or any other book I’ve reviewed and I might use it for 2nd Opinion Review

Book Blurb: It wasn't hard to follow the scent of blood to the living room where the fae had been killed. It had been a violent death, perfect for creating ghosts.
Mercy Thompson enjoys being a mechanic, but life is never simple given her increasing closeness to the local werewolf pack, and her ability to change into coyote form at will. And when a member of the fae comunity calls in a favour, needing her skills for a covert murder investigation, she jumps into the hunt. But the dangers multiply and she clashes with shadowed creatures of great power. When her old boss Zee is charged with a brutal assassination, Mercy finds herself fighting alone. There are those who love her, who would keep her safe, but she is wary and holds her freedom precious. Until, that is, she has nothing left to lose but her life...

Mini Review: I’ll probably be saying this a lot on this blog, but I love Patricia Briggs.  She manages to breathe life into everything she writes (I’m even enjoying her early straight fantasy works, though admittedly I haven’t been able get a hold of a copy of Masques yet, but I will, someday…) And the Mercy Thompson books are my favorite urban fantasy series so far, with this third addition to the series being the best yet.  With each successive book, more of Mercy's world is revealed (I loved that we get to see more about Zee and the Fae this time), and more hints about Mercy and her abilities.  I think for most readers, we were eager for Mercy to make a decision about her increasingly complicated love life, which she finally does in this book (although I’m still holding out for Stefan).

*SLIGHT SPOILER* The assault that occurred at the end of the book surprised me (I had to go back and re-read the scene to make sure it had even happened). I thought the whole thing was handled tastefully as possible, but I'm not sure why the author chose to do that. It feels unnecessary at this point. Maybe the author will justify the assault in the next book. It necessarily affected the tone of the book. I don't know if the author will be able to recapture the lighter tone of the earlier books or if she should even try given what's happened. We'll have to read book 4 and find out.

Sexual Content: A rape is alluded to, though never described. The emotional (and, to a lesser degree, the physical) consequences of the rape are discussed. There is a reference to child abuse as well.

Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 1) 
by Lori Handeland

Book Blurb: Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department’s fight against injustice. But when Liz’s foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci? While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz’s eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril.

Review: Ugh! This book is basically an excuse to string along one sex break after another.
The main character has to have sex (no less than 6 times) with a skinwalker(aka shapeshifter) in order to awaken her supernatural gifts. Then she is told that the only way she can acquire new abilities is to have sex with other supernatural beings.
*SPOILER* The coup de gras of the whole book takes place when the main character is abducted by her ex-boyfriend (who is conveniently evil now) and forced to be his sex/blood slave. Our heroine see this as an opportunity to bring him back to the light with her body. The result: lots and lots and lots of sex. *END OF SPOILER* What really bothers me is how misleading this book was.  The description does not in any indicate the overwhelmingly erotic nature of this book. I'm so glad I didn't spend money on this book (it was an LibraryThing Early Review). I blame the publishers for this one.  There are readers for erotic fiction (I am not one of them), and there are readers who prefer actual plots in their books (Yo!).  It is up to the publisher to ensure that the description/blurb etc. accurately reflects what the author wrote so that the intended audience can find said book.  Otherwise they end up with reviews like mine.

Sexual Content:

Makes Anita Blake look chaste.