We've all heard of the werewolf. And the vampire. And the fairies (or faeries, depending on how you want to cut it). But there are hundreds of other beings out there beneath the surface we've just scratched. One of those creatures is the skinwalker, and it comes to life in Patricia Briggs' Moon Called.

Mercedes Thompson doesn't have what we'd call a 'normal' life. For starters, she's the only VW mechanic she's ever heard of with a name like Mercedes. And she's a skinwalker: a being that can literally go from human to coyote in the blink of an eye. It's the only thing she got from her Native American father.

Her ex-boss, Zee, is a gremlin (who can handle metal just fine, thank you very much). Her very attractive, but thoroughly dominant, pain-in-the-butt neighbor, Adam, is the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. And her newest office help, Mac, is a werewolf too.

And she's fixing a van that's painted up like the Mystery Machine (complete with large stuffed Scooby Doo seat-belted in the passenger seat)… that's owned by a vampire named Stephen.

Just another day at the office.

But things are not all well in the Tri-Cities

Mac tells of being changed against his will. Of being kept in a cage and used as a lab rat (lab werewolf?) after whatever changed him slaughtered his girlfriend. The man who kept him locked up sounds a lot like another Alpha, and that means big trouble for the two-natured community.

Adam, the handsome Alpha, has a member in his pack that could very well be a cold-blooded murderer. And when Mac is dumped on her doorstep, dead as a doornail, and Adam's teenage human daughter is kidnapped, Mercy is tossed into the middle of things she's just recently found out about.

Whether she likes it or not.

The Marrock, the Alpha of all the werewolves and the one who could very well be the oldest living werewolf in the United States, is the only one who can help her patch up Adam, and control him long enough to ensure he doesn't eat anyone as he's healing. So she loads up a severely wounded Adam, a dead Mac, and herself into a Twinkie on wheels and heads for the wide-open land of Montana.

But that old saying, 'you can't go home again', really applies to Mercy. Her first love is the Marrock's son… and the one that is sent back to the Tri-Cities with her to find their mad scientist.

Someone is looking for a cure for the werewolf 'curse'. And they're not picky about how many bodies litter the ground when they're done. Even if it means killing an innocent human girl.

Ms. Briggs has created a rich, textured world that exists just beneath our own veneer of civilization. Not only are her characters believable, you find yourself wanting to get together with them after the book is done. Adam is both dominant enough that you want to smack him, but when it comes to his daughter, he's just like every other father I've ever met. Samuel, the Marrock's son and Mercy's first love, is in turmoil because while his human side wants Mercy as his mate, his wolf just wants Mercy…and it's not easy when the man he's supposed to be helping also wants her as a mate.

It's not easy being a woman. It's borderline impossible to be Mercy Thompson.
"Ms Thompson, it said in heavy block letters, Please keep your feline off my property. If I see it again, I will eat it.
The note was unsigned." Moon Called, Chapter One.

Reviewed By Marissa
© October 2007