Blood Bound (Mercedes Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 5 stars
Pages: 336
Summary: Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...
Rating: 5 stars
Pages: 336
Summary: Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...
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...
Thoughts: I absolutely loved Blood Bound. It had everything I could want in a good book - a great plot, a kick-ass heroine, a believable love triangle, and wolves.
But what makes the Mercy series so amazing is Mercy herself. Unlike a lot of protagonists - both male and female - she shows a fair amount of common sense. She doesn't run in looking for trouble, errs on the side of caution, and refuses to sit around whining about her problems. Not to mention she has a work ethic I would pay good money for. Just because she was almost killed the night before is no excuse for not turning up to work the next day! Seriously. Mercy is one of the few characters whose judgement I trust implicitly.
Blood Bound focusses on the vampires in Briggs' world - meaning Mystery-Machine-driving!vampire Stefan played a much bigger role than he had in Moon Called. Vampires are never good news in Briggs' world, and Mercy finds herself thrown into the middle of yet another muddle she desperately wants to avoid. We learn so much about the verse in this book - and Mercy learns an awful lot about herself.
On the romance front, the triangle gets a bit of play while still remaining only a sub-plot. What I was most impressed at was Briggs' ability to actually make me like Samuel. Even though I had long ago made my mind up that Adam was the one for Mercy, Briggs manages to make me understand Mercy's hesitation in choosing. For me, this is pretty much a miracle (usually authors who mess with my OTP usually make me want to throw things.) The action in this book would have gotten it a 4.5 stars - but the romantic tension brought it up to the bloody spectacular level!
Bottom line? There is a reason this series is so damn popular. You need to start reading it... now.
I totally agree with your 5 stars! I love Mercy & Adam & Sam! I just bought Silver Borne and can't wait to start reading it!
ReplyDeleteInteresting covers there in the UK. I think I actually like the North American ones better for the first time in a long time! I was late to the Mercy Thompson bandwagon, only reading the first one last summer when my father lent it to me. I loved it and have since stolen his copy for my own and bought the rest.
ReplyDeleteThough I *am* tempted to buy Silver Borne from the UK just to get my next fix in paperback earlier. ;)
@Susie - Enjoy Silver Borne! I still have to get through Bone Crossed before I can get started on that one.
ReplyDelete@Cat - Yay for another Mercy fan! I am just as much of a newbie to her series (I too started last summer) and have been pacing myself from devouring them all.
As for the covers, I actually prefer the UK covers - even though I like the US ones. I guess I am just not so keen on the artistic license taken on Mercy's tattoos (and her stomach - I am pretty sure Mercy wouldn't wear shirts that short!) But still, the art is quite lovely. I think if it were any other series I'd be in love... but not Mercy.
And lol! I was thinking about splashing out and getting the US version of Silver Borne for my next hardback fix!
Awesome review, Kay! This one is an absolute 5 star read for me as well. I went WILD over it when I first read it. Like you say, the action, the romantic tension (the scene in the dojo--*shivers*), and the excellent sort of double ending just seal the deal for me. Top notch urban fantasy.
ReplyDelete@Angiegirl - That Dojo scene was *intense* - seriously, if I hadn't already been an Adam girl, I would have jumped ship immediately. But then to follow it up with that utterly tragic scene with Samuel? *sighs* God, Briggs just breaks me.
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