Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Book 2)
Book Review: The perfect urban fantasy
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read every single Patricia Briggs book I could find, and the Mercy series is by far my favorite. It's action packed from page one, and every page after that. I absolutely could not put this book down. Definitely A must read!Book Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
An excellent read, as is the first book, "Moon Called". Love those tattoos!Book Review: Better than the first one
Summary: 5 Stars
"Moon Called," author Patricia Briggs' introduction to the shapeshifting Mercy Thompson, was good. "Blood Bound," the sequel, is better.
Mercy lives among werewolves in a society that knows they -- as well as various fae populations -- exist. But Mercy isn't a werewolf; lycanthropy is a culture based in European roots, while Mercy's coyote shape is rooted in Native American lore. She is far less powerful in her coyote form, but has certain advantages, such as a natural resistance to vampiric mind games.
That will prove to be a useful trait in "Blood Bound," which pits Mercy, the local werewolf pack and the community of vampires -- who have not been revealed to the public at large -- against a rogue vampire with a demon in thrall and powerful sorcerous abilities at his command. As the body count rises and key characters are taken out of play, Mercy finds herself fighting an enemy she can't even find, much less defeat with any certainty. To add a delicious layer of tension to the story, her allies may prove as deadly as the sorceror she's hunting -- she definitely can't trust them to watch her back.
And all she really wants to do is keep her garage open for business and tinker in her spare time on her beloved VW Rabbit.
Refreshingly, the romance aspect of the story -- Mercy has two powerful werewolves and maybe a vampire vying for her affections -- is subdued, almost inconsequential to the plot. Some folks might be disappointed, but romance is making such a heavy push into contemporary paranormal fiction, it's almost a relief to see it de-emphasized for a change. Mercy is no heart of stone, but she certainly doesn't feel the need to have a man in her life, for love or protection against the greater dark.
"Blood Bound" is a compelling story with a strong, capable heroine who defies expectations in an increasingly crowded genre. Characters, action and suspense work together smoothly to drive the plot in interesting directions, and readers will hug the pages as Briggs takes unexpected turns.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor
Book Review: A deeper and darker book than the first, but just as good
Summary: 5 Stars
_Blood Bound_ by Patricia Briggs is the second book in the Mercy Thompson series. Mercy is a walker, who can change shape between coyote and human at will. She has a few other minor abilities, but generally keeps a low profile around other more powerful types of supernatural creatures. In the Tri-Cities area of Washington state (where she lives), this includes fae off of the local fae reservation, where the various elves, goblins, faeries, etc. went after outing themselves to the general public a few years ago; a local werewolf pack, who are still unknown to the general public but will probably have to reveal themselves as well in a couple of years; and a number of local vampires, who have no intention of outing themselves to the public anytime soon and who see regular humans as nothing more than meat.
_Blood Bound_ covers the incidents that start when Mercy is asked for help by Stefan, a local vampire. Mercy generally stays clear of vampires, but Stefan is sort of cuddly for a vampire -- he even drives a VW bus painted like The Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo. And she owes him a favor.
After going along with Stefan in coyote form to check on a vampire traveling through the area, things quickly spin out of control. The new vampire is a vampire, a sorcerer who is likely losing control of the demon he possesses for his power, and an all-around brutal sadistic [...]. Mercy's injuries from that encounter bring in Adam, the alpha of the local werewolf pack who is Mercy's local protector (when she lets him be that), and Samuel, a lone werewolf living with Mercy who has known her since she was a child.
I'm not going to go into much more detail about the plot, as quite a lot happens and it gets a bit desperate at times. Mercy is in a unique and unpleasant position -- as a walker, she has some abilities and personal control that both the vampires and werewolves lack. But she also has much less physical power than the vampires and werewolves, so she must tread carefully when she does decide to act.
For me, this book really stood out for two reasons: one is Mercy's need for thought before she acts and the things she has to figure out along the way. The revelation of why vampires hate walkers was both stunningly simple in its facts and almost mind-boggling in the implications. The second is the depth of some of the male characters. Many novelists will create only one- or two-dimensional characters of the opposite sex. But with _Blood Bound_, Briggs did a good job exploring the struggles of Adam, who is a rather authoritarian figure that has a hard time learning how to be both honest and willing to compromise with a couple of independent women he really cares about (Mercy being one of them); and Samuel, who is a strong-willed loner with some very old and very deep emotional wounds that are starting to kill him. The scene on the bed where Samuel talks about what happened in Texas with the woman he was living with was well-written and heart-breaking because of that; Mercy's subsequent call to Samuel's father Bran was also a conversation that was well-scripted, well-written, and almost painful to read because it's such a messy situation.
Overall, _Blood Bound_ is a much darker book than _Moon Called_, but it's also deeper and it's a good sequel. I am looking forward to book 3.
I would definitely suggest new readers pick up _Moon Called_ first; there are a lot of details that will be missed otherwise.
Book Review: I couldn't put it down
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the second of a new series by Patricia Briggs. I haven't read her other books. I really enjoyed it. It's a thriller. This is a very violent book. I was a little turned off by the violence of the werewolves and the blase evil of the vampires but it is different from the usual romaticization. This a romantic book without any sex or real romance. The characters have flaws but they remain likeable. This book is also pretty scary.