Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Meet Mercy Thompson, a shapeshifting no-nonsense female mechanic. Mercy’s a “walker”, a term that dates back to the original Native American’s that occupied this country. A walker can shift into the form of a coyote at will; their power isn’t linked to full moon cycles. No, she’s not a werewolf and she’s not as strong as one, but in the form of a coyote she’s much stronger and faster than any human.

The Story

Mercy is friends with Stefan, a hip, modern day vampire that’s a throwback to the 70’s. Stefan wants Mercy to renovate his VW van so it looks like the Scooby Doo vehicle. He also asks another favor of her: accompany him on a mission to deliver a message to a trespassing vampire. You see, before entering another vampire’s territory it’s proper etiquette to pay a visit to the local vampire leader to seek permission to “hunt” in the area. Apparently a vampire has ignored the rules and Stefan’s leader has ordered him to deliver the vampire a message of warning.

Mercy usually avoids getting involved in local vampire politics, primarily because a centuries old feud exists between vampires and werewolves. Although she’s not a werewolf, in the eyes of most vampires, her coyote-shifting status puts her in the same category.

Stefan wants Mercy to witness the delivery of the message. Why? Because he believe this particular vampire is very powerful and uses mind control over other vampires to make them do his bidding. Since Mercy, as a walker, is immune to the effects of magic she’s a good companion for a mission like this. Mercy reluctantly agrees to accompany Stefan.

Needless to say, the meeting with the vampire is a bloody disaster and Mercy and Stefan barely escape with their lives. They discover the source of this vampire’s power; he’s a hybrid - a vampire sorcerer. This presents a great concern for the other vampires in the area because it means even their strongest might not be able to defeat him.

The werewolves, who came “out of the closet” years ago and made their existence known to humans can’t afford to let this vampire’s work be blamed on them. The vampires, who aren’t known to humans yet, can’t afford to let this guy spoil their secrecy. Since the vampire in question is leaving a bloody path of dead bodies in the area and since the local police are now involved, the werewolves and the vampires decide to join forces to find and destroy the vampire. Let the fun begin!

As usual, Patricia Briggs weaves a captivating and engaging tale of adventure and romance. In this book she delves further into vampire society, their organizational structure, their rules, and their politics. She correctly makes no attempts to show empathy for their habits but instead emphasizes the fact that many of them have lost both their humanity and their emotional attachment to the human race.

Patricia Briggs also doesn’t glamorize the lifestyles of the werewolves. They may not be as calculating as the vampires but they’re equally as deadly if provoked. Note: this series contains male characters partly responsible for My Sexy Werewolf Obsession. Check it out.

As for Blood Bound, I can’t recommend this book enough. Patricia Briggs has developed a believable modern day world that just happens to be inhabited by witches, werewolves, vampires, and fae. This is the first Mercy Thompson series and I predict that after reading this book you’ll want to read Moon Called, the second book in the series.

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2 Comments »

Pingback by Female Werewolf Books to Howl About | bestfantasystories.com
2008-02-17 08:13:41

[...] Blood Bound [...]

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Pingback by Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs | bestfantasystories.com
2008-03-07 17:41:09

[...] action, and a little romance. Although I recommend that you read Book 1: Moon Called and Book 2: Blood Bound (simply because they’re good) it’s not necessary to do so in order to keep up with the story. [...]

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