Spoiler-Free (rambling) Review: River Marked by Patricia Briggs

River Marked
~Patricia Briggs Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Ace Books
Publish Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 0441019730
ISBN-13: 978-0441019731

From Goodreads:
Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…

This is going to be another one of those rambling reviews where I just throw all my thoughts in the air and let them fall were they may. I can't seem to get them to form into any coherent form:

There are mysterious deaths and disappearances in the Columbia Gorge area, which is "coincidentally" where Mercy and Adam are going camping for 10 days. A few days after they get there, they find an injured man in a boat. His friends, who are Native American, show up to help get him to the hospital. They know Mercy is also Native American, and she gets a mysterious visitor who knows who and what she is. As they piece together what's going on in the water, Mercy also learns about her father - who and what he really was.

Thoughts: I love this series! Let me say up front that I don't think this book would make a good stand-alone. I think you could do it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I loved seeing Mercy and Adam interact in River Marked. The wolf/coyote nuances, signals, and feelings that they deal with, showing their feelings beyond just saying "I love you" or "I'm upset right now". I like that their bond doesn't just automatically make things perfect between them, that there are issues they'll have to work through, just like any other couple (okay, maybe not just like any other couple, lol).

I liked that Mercy got some insight into her heritage as a Native American and as a Walker. She doesn't see herself as such, but it was a fun twist that in River Marked, Mercy was more accepted and Adam was the outsider. The Native American lore was interesting, although I was frustrated that a running joke was that several of the stories supposedly had a naughtier version, and when Mercy was finally told the naughty versions, the reader was not privy to the stories. I felt like I was missing an inside joke. The scene in mini-Stonehenge was fascinating on so many different levels.

The villain was pretty bad. Like creepy bad. And cruel. The fact that the victims walked
complacently to their deaths made it worse. Mercy's tough decision regarding the girl and her brother was heartwrenching to read.

Confession: I've been fascinated with Mercy's "pimp stick" since the day it appeared. I love that it has been a constant through several books and am intrigued by the potential changes to the stick in River Marked.

I want more Stefan!!! I'm frustrated that we didn't see much of Stefan in this book or the last. The end of River Marked left me feeling hopeful about Stephan - both that we'll see more of him in the next book(s) and that things are going to work out for him.

I would have also liked to see more Warren/Kyle...I was glad she was able to work in the few scenes they did appear in.

All in all, I couldn't put it down. It will be a long, long wait until 2013 for the next book!

My Rating:

I am officially a book nerd: Notes from the Patricia Briggs/Kim Harrison signing

Well, I think I've cemented my booknerd-dom: I drove six hours (7 really after the stupid GPS drove me all over Houston at 2am!!) to see an author (okay, it was two - so really that's only three hours each, right?)

I can't remember how I came across it, but I saw that Patricia Briggs was going to be at Murder by the Book in Houston. That was the closest she would get to me for signings. My brother and his wife (my BFF) live in Houston....so I called and asked if I could come for a quickie visit.

This happens to be the big Mardi Gras weekend in New Orleans, so I knew hubs would be working the parades 24/7 all weekend, so my plan was to leave work, grab my daughters (age 10 and 4) and do the drive. My teenage son wanted to stay home (even after I said "no parties", lol). Then, since these things have a way of falling into place, my parents offered to keep the girls!!!

So, Friday night after work, I hopped into my car and drove to Houston to see Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison! My BFF has never read either of these author's books, but she was game for anything and came along to take pics and hang out.

Let me start by saying Murder by the Book was a very cool bookstore. I definitely want to go back when it's not so crowded - they had a large selection of books and their displays were ecclectic and quirky; the store had a very "film noir" ambiance and I wanted to spend time browsing and looking at the displays. The staff was super nice, which was pretty amazing considering they'd had five authors there over the course of the day.

Here's what I got from the Q&A:

Patricia Briggs:

• She doesn't have a definite ending to her Mercy Thompson series; as long as people are willing to buy them she'll keep writing them. She did say she's going to be slowing down on writing the series though.

• There are more Mercy graphic novels coming, as well as Alpha & Omega graphic novels. She says they're rescripting the 1st issue and bringing in a new artist (something about the men all looking the same?) and to save the ?Brett? cover if you have that one.

• The next Alpha & Omega book is coming out in Jan/Feb 2012 and has serial killers in Boston; it will involve Homeland Security.

• When asked if she'd write a story for Bran, she said maybe a short story. His character needs to be mysterious, and he wouldn't be if he got a whole book.

• Sam and Ariana will get a short story but she can't do it in one of Mercy's books; she says you can't write a romance about two characters if the story is told in someone else's POV.

• Warren is getting a short story in the anthology "In Red with Pearls"

• If I understood her correctly, she's under contract for a book of short stories set in Mercy's world. She says later she wants to give several of her Mercy characters short stories and will put them in an anthology.

• What does she do if she gets writer's block? She brings in Bran. :)

• She has movie news but can't tell us much - says Cam Jones has the Mercy rights but not Alpha & Omega. The first project will be from the Homecoming graphic novel. That's all she'll say for now.

• The cover tattoos: The tattoos on the cover are an inside joke between Patricia Briggs, her editor, and Daniel Dos Santos (the artist). The paw tattoo was suggested by DDS, and they liked the idea so she went back and wrote it into the story. Then, more tattoos were added to the cover art but she says the Tri-City area is very conservative and wouldn't go for that. Also, she couldn't go back and add more tats to the story. She said DDS adds the tattoos on the cover and they reflect the story in the book. Mercy has the paw tattoo and tribal rings around her biceps (those are not mentioned in the books).

• Ms. Briggs also said that Urban Fantasy offers hope to the reader, a solid happy ending. She personally hates cliffhangers :)

( Dana from Reading Amidst the Chaos saw Ms. Briggs in DC, and the Q&A there was different so you might be interested in her notes here)

Kim Harrison:

• Ms. Harrison plots her books, starting with a list of what she wants to happen. She does say Rachel's personality jumps around, so she can't plot the romantic parts in advance. She works ahead of the publishing schedule so she can make changes if she needs to.

• The series will end at 12 or 13 books. She wants to write a new story, darker, but can't do that until she's done with the Hollows. It will be Urban Fantasy, other than that she won't say.

• Why does she do Clint Eastwood titles? She loves his movies! Pale Rider and Heartbreak Ridge are her favorites. Also, she uses them because of marketability. She does not have movie rights but wants Clint Eastwood to direct them if she ever did (lots of laughter).

• In future books, Al will be a more principal player from here on out. She would love to write a book set entirely in the EverAfter and there will be more attention to demons in the future.

• She pronounced Al's name for us - said it's like "Al, a liar, a reptile".

• When asked about a diagram of the church, she said she's coming out with a reader's guide-type book in November. It will have diagrams, descriptions, personal information like driver's licences; hardcover, color pages, the works!

• Someone asked if Al loves Rachel. She said Al respects Rachel, which he's not used to doing, so he makes mistakes (she emphasises that he makes mistakes) but it's not love. Rachel will never reciprocate.

• She did not plan for Rachel to become friendly with Trent and Al. She didn't intend for them to become likable characters and says it makes it hard to write enemies for Rachel; they're more like "frenemies".

• Ms. Harrison is a fan of happy endings: Rachel will get a happy ending. However, her idea of a happy ending is when the main character is happy, confident, and knows what she wants. She also says Trent, Jenks, Al, and Ivy will get happy endings, although what those endings will be is still a mystery.

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All told, it was a wonderful night. Both authors were delighted to answer questions and very personable. I will definitely be going back to Murder by the Book in the future and bringing hubs because I think he'd like it too. Many thanks to Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison for going to Houston, Murder by the Book for hosting the signing, my brother and his wife for letting me stay with them, hubs for encouraging me to go and have fun, and my parents for keeping the kids!

Just out of curiosity, what's the furthest you've traveled to see an author?

Waiting on Wednesday: River Marked by Patricia Briggs

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series is one series I cannot get enough of! River Marked is the 6th book in the series and hubs and I both have been waiting impatiently since we finished the last book, Silver Borne. I'm excited we'll meet other coyote shifters; I've wondered why we haven't before. I'm looking forward to seeing how her relationship with Adam grows and changes, and I missed Stephan in Silver Borne so I'm hoping he'll have a role here. For some reason I thought it was going to be on the shelves in January, but no, it's not out until March 1 *sob*!!! March is too far away!!!

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From Goodreads:
Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…



Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Release date: March 1, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441019730
ISBN-13: 978-0441019731

Review: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Oh Mercy, Mercy, Mercy....

I've already seen several reviews about this book, so I'm going to skip the chit-chat and jump right in to why I loved this book:

Mercy and Adam: I loved how we got a bigger peek into their relationship; how Mercy was struggling with the new bond and Adam's continued understanding of her psychological reaction to certain events in previous books. His refusal to accept her apology had me smiling - he "gets" her. I absolutely LOVED the scene where Mercy finds the garland and rocks and rope. That scene completely melted my heart into a big ol' puddle of "awwwww!!!".

Samuel: I've always liked his character and enjoyed seeing a different side of him in Silver Borne. I thought it was a great showcase of how deep his feelings for pack and family (especially towards Mercy) are. Also a great view into the wolf/man relationship.

Bran: While Bran did not get a lot of page-time, that garland scene got me. I've always loved Bran's character, and this book is a perfect example of why I think he's so awesome.

The Pack: Although we didn't see a lot of the characters I've gotten familiar with , some of my favorites were here: Warren and Ben are probably my two favorite pack members and I enjoyed them immensely. I love that Ms. Briggs writes a gay werewolf whose definining characteristic is not that he's gay. He's a great friend to Mercy and a kick-ass werewolf. And Ben has done a lot of growing since the beginning of the series, I think. I really like him and hope we continue to see more of him in future books. It was also interesting to see the pack dynamic with reference to female status within the pack. I'm thinking there may be some changes a'comin.

The storyline: Ms. Briggs did a wonderful job hooking me in from the beginning. From the pack messing with Mercy to Samuel's accident to the mystery of the book, I devoured it all and read the whole book in a day.

I have only two niggles: 1: I missed Stefan. Honestly, I don't know what he could have added to this particular story, but I did miss him. And 2: I'm not sure how I feel about Samuel's friend. If you've already read the story you know to whom I am referring. I'm hoping Ms. Briggs can bring me around on that character in future books.

I wholeheartedly give Silver Borne 5 out of 5 stars!

Cover Alert - Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Sci-Fi Guy has posted the new Mercy Thompson cover. It's gorgeous!!! I love this series and her covers are fantastic! Silver Borne comes out March 30, 2010 - I can't wait!!

Can't Wait for Prey

Prey by Rachel Vincent comes out tomorrow...I can't wait!!! I'm re-reading the series now. I've decided to give it to J to let him read it. He liked the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. He said he thought the characters were pretty realistic and he liked it much better than Twilight.

The book I've had on my side-bar as "currently reading" I haven't even cracked open yet. Bad, bad me. But I will, soon. It's just that I'm re-acquainting myself with Ms. Vincent's amazing world of were-cats. Prey is getting terrific reviews, so I KNOW it's going to be good! One more day....

Patricia Brigg' Cry Wolf

As I mentioned previously, I've given J the first Mercy Thompson book to read. I really enjoyed this series and I think it's a good one for a guy (no sex). Once I'd given it to him, however, I wanted to read it again myself. Instead, I decided to read her Alpha & Omega book, Cry Wolf.

Let me start by saying that I love Mercy's world, and her werewolf and vampire friends. I enjoyed the glimpses of Bran (the Marrok of North America's werewolves) and his family in Mercy's story and felt like I would know what was going on in the Alpha & Omega story, which I did. Cry Wolf is the story of Bran's son, Charles, and his new mate, Anna. Apparently Anna is a relatively new wolf who was abused by her pack and rescued by Charles. Upon returning to Charles' home, trouble comes up and Bran sends Charles and Anna to handle it. There's a powerful witch involved and the future of not only the pack but all the North American werewolves is in jeopardy.

While I enjoyed the story, I prefer Mercy's story to Charles and Anna's story. The Mercy series is definately a keeper, but I probably will not keep this book. I will, of course, read the 2nd installment of the series when it comes out in August (I think it's August), but didn't feel the connection to the characters like I did with Mercy's books; which is sort of weird considering some of the characters are the same. Bran was actually my favorite character in this story, even though he's not the main character.