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Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) | 
 enlarge | Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Category: Book
Buy New: $7.99
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Rating:  150 reviews
Sales Rank: 3010
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0441014739
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780441014736
ASIN: 0441014739
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
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Product Description
Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 145 more reviews...
 Not quite as strong as Moon Called, but still worth five stars. February 19, 2007
Rhianna Walker (Northwestern US)
48 out of 50 found this review helpful
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.
Supernatural tough chick Mercy is at it again! February 5, 2007
Snowbrocade (Santa Barbara, CA)
40 out of 44 found this review helpful
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!
Great sequel: Urban Fantasy with a smart heroine and good intrigue January 30, 2007
Jane Litte (US)
31 out of 35 found this review helpful
Patricia Briggs has the unique gift of being able to make the reader believe, for the space of 300 some pages, of her truths. That vampires, fae, werewolves, and magic makers live in tentative harmony with humankind. Her world is just like ours, only a bit more dangerous and a bit more sexy.
Mercy Thompson is a walker. As a walker, she has very few powers. She can shift into coyote shape and is somewhat resistant to other magics such as vampire compulsion or werewolf pack control. Because of her resistance to, vampire friend Stefan calls upon her to deliver a message to a visiting vampire who has failed to pay the proper respects to Stefan's seethe. Stefan is fearful that the visiting vampire has some type of magic that can compel him to do things he wouldn't ordinarily do and that Mercy is hopefully immune and will be able to report back to his seethe should anything happen to him.
Of course, things go badly and soon Mercy is wrapped up in a hunt for a vampire/sorcerer who is causing the Tri Cities area to have an increased rise in violence, harming werewolf friends, and endangering lives of innocents. To complicate things, her feelings for Adam, the local Alpha, are scaring her and her feelings for Samuel, an old flame, appear unresolved. Throw in a bit of vampire, fae, werewolf politics and the story does not stop.
The strength of this story is in that the details of the world construct and the consistency of characters that create a believable alternate reality. Mercy has a keen sense of smell, consistent with the canis species, that she employs on an everyday basis. She uses it when she is in danger, when she is working and when she is full of desire. She uses her brain to solve problems but doesn't hesitate to ask for help when she needs it. Mercy is portrayed as unassuming but loyal. She is the kind of person that you want to befriend so that when she is in danger or hurt or angry or in lust, all those emotions are felt keenly by the reader.
The complaints that I would have for the book is that, at times, Mercy monologues in a very educated manner. I felt that was more a reflection of the author's learnedness than Mercy's character (although she is described as being a history major in the previous book, Moon Called). Briggs has a small tendency toward repetitiveness. Certain details she deems important are inserted often. For example, Samuel is described as more dominant than the Alpha, Adam, about five times.
Additionally, there is another love interest developed for Mercy other than Adam and Samuel and while I am not philosophically opposed to this, I winced slightly upon reading it. I would loathe to see Mercy's unaffected charm be wiped away by having everyunattached male in the Tri Cities area falling for her.
Those are small quibbles and didn't really affect my appreciation for this book. The characters, the action, seem so alive. That's power of the pen - the ability to change a reader's perception. It's why we readers read fantasy.
Looking forward to more books in this series January 30, 2007
R. Kyle (USA)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful
It's difficult to find good urban fantasy these days, but Patricia Briggs has started a new series. The first book, "Moon Called" which came out last year, introduced us to Mercedes 'Mercy' Thompson, a girl who was raised by wolves--well, werewolves to be exact. It seems Mercy is a skinwalker. She appears to be human, but can change to a coyote form at will. In this society, the fae have come out and many are restricted to reservations. Weres and vamps are also in the process of coming out, but there's quite a bit of politics and public relations involved in this process.
Mercy isn't in your typical glam profession, either. She's a mechanic, a VW mechanic to be precise, named "Mercedes."
The second book, "Blood Bound" returns to Mercy's world. Stefan, a friend and not your typical vampire (he drives a VW bus decorated as the "Mystery Machine"), asks Mercy to come along as witness in her coyote form. He suspects a vampire-sorcerer is loose in the Tri-Cities area. He's right--Mercy witnesses a vicious murder.
Worse, as the heat increases, tempers everywhere are flaring and the body count is rising. Marsilia, the Master Vampire, comes to Mercy and tells her that she's the only one who can stop this sorcerer. Between the vamps and the fae, Mercy has the skills and the tools to do the job.
Just before she can, the vampire-sorcerer has taken the Alpha Werewolf and her close friend, Samuel. Mercy's pretty sure by nightfall that the two of them will be added to the death toll.
Mercedes is definitely a likeable heroine. I enjoy reading about a VW mechanic's life juxtaposed into a fantasy situation. The world she's created is interesting and mostly believable. Briggs definitely knows how to keep you turning pages. I certainly did til I was done with the book.
Absolutely Fantastic! This is shaping up to be an excellent series! January 31, 2007
Shelly Tavenner (Virginia)
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
Blood Bound is the second title to explore the life of Mercy Thompson. Briggs does a wonderful job of adding to the world she first showed us in Moon Called. Blood Bound is a much more focused effort that is a one sitting read.
The Tri-Cities has a problem -- a big one -- in the form of a demon inhabiting a sorcerer who has been made a vampire. Mercy reluctantly sits back while Warren, Ben and Stefan take the lead on tracking down the monster. At least until Warren is hurt and Ben, Samuel, Adam and Stefan all go missing, then Mercy realizes she might be the only one who can catch the terrible creature.
I love this series because, slowly, Mercy is finding out who she is. She's exploring her options as far as the men in her life and she's learning more and more about the fae world around her. The dialogue is sharp, funny and real and the pace is strong, but not out of control. For all those out there that loved the earlier books in the Anita Blake series you should pick up Moon Called and Blood Bound right now. And for others that are looking for a solid "other world," great characters and a good mystery/chase look no farther than Patricia Briggs!
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