Blood Bound

I really like these books so far. But I have gripes. Way too many typos and I’m going to assume that this is because of the transition to Kindle and not how the actual paper books were written. It’s jarring having to redo sentences in my head with the correct spellings and grammar. Throws me out of the story often. The main character and her really male identified upbringing is annoying. So she feels more sympathy for a pushy old werewolf who would risk a young ladies’ future just to have a baby over the actual young lady that had to make a tough decision to secure said future? I can’t stand a pick me and the main character is the definition of one. She makes way too many excuses for these brutes called werewolves. And she’s insufferable with this religion crap. I hate having to skip a page because of the long overdrawn and unnecessary diatribe she feels the need to share about her belief in diety. It’s useless, just skip it. All we need to know is that she’s a believer, we don’t need to be pounded over the head about it. And her ungrateful feelings towards Stefan when he saved her from getting annihilated by the vampires, man this MC is a piece of work. She was tolerable in the first book but this second one, she’s really showing how terrible she is. The book is great though but the MC, she’s the kind you love to hate.

Patricia Briggs is a brilliant writer! She has developed a world that is much like the one we live in but with magic all around. It makes me wish that I could meet a walker, werewolf and even the occasional vampire. Mercy is a strong heroine and makes me glad I found these books. Her alpha and omega series is on the same time line and has many of the same characters just different points of view. There are very few books that make me feel like I made a new friend after reading them but after all of Patricia Briggs books that’s how I feel and can’t wait to read their next adventures. I read on average 30-50 books a month and don’t usually reread too many but I have read mercy Thompson books twice now and cannot wait to see what she gets herself into. I would recommend both the mercy Thompson and alpha and omega series to anyone that likes strong heroines, funny banter and good adventure. There is romance in both series but it is not the main focus of the books, she tells the story of hardships that get overcome and friends that help you through it all.

Second in the Mercy Thompson paranormal fantasy series (fourth in the Mercyverse) and revolving around Mercedes Thompson, a VW mechanic. Based in the Tri-Cities, Washington state.

If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Mercyverse books on my website.

My Take
It’s not only the werewolves that get outed, so did Mercy as a walker hated by vampires. It’ll take quite a bit to keep her alive.

Especially with that demon-ridden vampire running around the Tri-Cities. This was a pip of a story with plenty of action and some really tense negative events. Had my heart in my mouth for a few of these. It doesn’t help with all the betrayals rampant in Blood Bound.

I do enjoy Adam’s “relationship” with Mercy. It’s all push and pull with Mercy getting her vengeance with that old Rabbit, half destroyed in a field with some excellent graffiti that greatly annoys the OCD Adam.

Briggs also gets some good bits in about bigotry, all those fears about “monsters” and gays. It’s the scary “monster under the bed” fears we all have to some extent. Of course, it doesn’t help when evil is prodding and poking at everyone’s self-control. It’s Kyle who pokes fun at people by emphasizing his gayness. Ya gotta love the guy, ROFL.

Briggs uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Mercy’s perspective, so everything we know is what Mercy experiences.

Ooh, one of those subplots is Andre’s taking of Daniel. Stefan is so ticked. Another subplot that keeps me so entertained is Adam insisting that Mercy needs bodyguards, lol. She so hates that. She’s also, um, found out that Adam declared her his mate. Oops…

Ooh, Mercy is getting herself in deep with the cops, the vampires, and the fae. Each has their own way of meting out justice. Of course, that sorcerous vampire is pretty nasty too…just take a look at Mercy’s trailer!

Whoa…turns out Warren’s been faking it all this time. It’s definitely an eye-opener! Another reveal is pretty nasty…if Stefan is dead, so are his sheep, according to what Naomi tells Mercy. We also find out where the vampires find their sheep. It is a practical choice. Especially Stefan’s since he’s realized that these more modern times require a more practical, world-serving choice.

Then there’s that snark for which I adore Mercy. That was some zinger she sent Andre’s way, lol. Of course, it’s not the same as that final zinger. It cracked me up, reading about Adam having to rescue that “dog” all the time.

A dominant theme in the series is, well, dominance. Adam is an alpha werewolf who had been in the army, so he can’t help being a control freak. It’s not an approach that appeals to Mercy, and Adam is struggling to compromise.

The Story
The Tri-Cities is awash in violence and blood, and everyone needs a Mercy who can tickle out the truth and take the culprit down.

The Characters
Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson owns a garage and works on German cars. She’s also a walker who turns into a coyote, sees ghosts, and is immune to some vampire magics. Medea is her Manx cat who loves anyone who will pet her. Gabriel Sandoval is her current part-time office manager and tool rustler.

The Werewolves
Dr Samuel Cornick is now Mercy’s roommate and a werewolf friend from her childhood. He’s finally licensed to practice medicine in Washington state and works in the ER at a Kennewick hospital. He’s also the oldest son of the Marrok, Bran Cornick, the Alpha of all Alphas in North America. Charles is Bran’s younger son. Bryan, a werewolf in the Marrok’s pack, and his human wife, Evelyn, had been Mercy’s foster parents.

The Columbia Basic pack is…
…the local werewolf pack led by Adam Hauptman, a former Ranger who now owns a security company. Jesse is his fifteen-year-old human daughter. Adam is divorced from Jesse’s selfish, irresponsible mother.

Dr Darryl Zao is Adam’s second and an engineer. His wife, Auriele, is a chemistry teacher at a high school. Warren, a real cowboy when he’d been turned, is Adam’s third and a good friend to him and Mercy. He’s also gay, which is quite an achievement for him to have survived this long…and to be accepted (at least by Adam) into a pack. He’s in a relationship with Kyle Brooks, a shark of a divorce lawyer for whom Warren now works as a private investigator. A computer geek who works at the Pacific Northwest Nation Laboratory, Ben is a recent import from England who sneers swear words and is not trusted around women. Mary Jo works for the Kennewick Fire Department. While Honey is a dominant wolf, she prefers her low rank due to her mate, Peter Jorgenson, a submissive and a plumber. Elliot. The nasty Paul who thinks he’s all that.

The Vampires
Stefan “Soldier” Ucello is a loyal vampire who loves Scooby Doo with his own Mystery Machine, and he’s Mercy’s friend. Daniel had been one of Stefan’s sheep. His other sheep include Naomi, a professor with leukemia, who acts as business manager; Rachel has been with him since she was twelve; Josephine “Joey” rides a motorcycle and scared too easily; Tommy; and, Ford, who is dang close to becoming a vampire. The Mistress of the local seethe is Signora Marsilia, a banished vampire. Lilly is a crazy vampire but one gifted as a pianist. Andre, the “Courtier” with a preference for pirate shirts, is one of Marsilia’s powerful vampires along with the crazy Wulfe the “Wizard”, Bernard, Estelle is the “Teacher”, and Stefan.

The Fae
The non-scary fae came out some thirty years ago on the orders of the Gray Lords, and the government put them on reservations to protect them and keep them where the feds could keep an eye on them.

Uncle Mike’s is a mostly fae bar in Pasco. It’s owned by, ta-dah, Uncle Mike, a powerful fae. Fergus is one of the bouncers who forgot about not killing the customers. Biddy is another bouncer.

Siebold “Zee” Adelbertsmiter calls himself a gremlin, able to handle metals of all kinds. He had employed Mercy as a mechanic and later sold the garage to her. He’s still her friend.

The Police
Sylvia Sandoval is a widow who works as a dispatcher for the Kennewick Police Department. Gabriel is her oldest and the rest are her vivacious girls. Tony Montenegro is an undercover detective who’s in love with Sylvia and is a friend of Mercy’s. Sergeant Owens is the watch commander.

Elizaveta Arkadyevna is an almost black witch who is under contract for clean-ups with the pack and the seethe.

Asmodeus, no wait, he’s Kurfel, nope, no, he’s Cory Littleton, a sorcerer from Chicago who is desiring great power.

The existence of werewolves was revealed to the world six months ago and scientists everywhere, including Johns Hopkins, are studying what virus or bacteria is involved. Mrs Marjorie Hanna is a ghost with a regular route that includes Mercy’s garage. Tom Black is a reporter after a story about Adam. Kim is an upholstery genius who collaborates with Mercy in restoring rusting hulks. Sensei Johanson is Mercy’s teacher in shisei kai kan as opposed to Adam’s aikido. Josef Riddlesback, a werewolf, is a friend of John Beckworth whose young daughter, Kara, was attacked. Jonie is a nurse at Kadlec Hospital.

The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily orange with that striped, deep orange sky forming most of the background. The frame of it is an open bay door with piles of tires on either side of the bottom. I reckon that bat hanging from the top and those flying in the sky represent the vampires. Mercy herself, with those tattooed sleeves, the “necklace”, and her coyote paw print all exposed (why does Briggs have this need to show off more tattoos than Mercy has??), wearing a black bra that gives her plenty of cleavage with a maroon button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and cinched in with a belt over her jeans, holds a wrench in her left hand, laying it up on her shoulder with her head tilted down and aside. Her brown hair is bound into a ponytail (did this cover artist even read the book?). The info blurb at the top is in a greenish yellow with the author’s name below it in white. A testimonial in white is immediately below that. At the bottom is the title, also in white.

The title is primarily about the vampires who are Blood Bound.

I really like this series of novels about Mercy Thompson a car mechanic who is also a shapeshifting coyote. She was brought up by werewolves and lives near to them and has become involved with the local vampire community. She is fiercely, but not stupidly, independent and incredibly loyal. She is an excellent urban fantasy heroine and all the novels are well plotted, full of action and often thought provoking.

In this story Mercy is asked to help Stefan the vampire and becomes embroiled in what is happening in the local vampire community. The author is clear about how evil the vampires are and what they have to do to maintain their existence. She is good too at outlining their mind games and manipulations. As Mercy becomes more and more involved the werewolves are dragged into the mess as well and Mercy has to face up to the attraction she feels for both the leader of the local werewolf pack and a visitor from out of town.

The author is good at conveying Mercy’s character and gives her some great lines whilst staying well on the right side of rude (some other heroines in the genre are not so fortunate). The politics is well done and the author really shows us evil and also the compromises that people make with evil. The book is an easy and quick read with plenty of action but it has a lot to say about evil and tolerance in a truly entertaining way.

I suggest that you read this as a second in the series as it is easier to grasp all teh characters after reading the first book. You will then be delighted to know that there are more to enjoy !

The story moves on with Mercedes & Adams potential relationship, although the book is mainly around the Vampires. A rouge vampire has arrived in the Tri-cities who is also possessed by a demon, giving it superior power over the vampires & werewolves. Mercedes owes Stephan ( 2nd in command vampire) for help in book 1, so she goes with him to find the rouge vampire Who is on a killing spree which could bring the vampires existence to the attention of the Humans. The werewolves become involved due to Mercedes. I have given this book 4 stars as the twists in this story are good and has you hoping for survivals, so I am now getting into the characters of the book, even though I have still not cried & I can cry at most things, so the emotion is still not there for me & it just doesn’t grip me the way some other authors books do. I can easily put the book down for a while if I wanted.

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