Review: River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Title: River Marked
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 6 (Mercy Thompson World, Book 9)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: 1 March 2011

Coyote shifter Mercy Thompson knows that life with her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will never be boring, but even their wedding doesn't go as planned. Nevertheless, a ten-day honeymoon camping on the banks of the Columbia River, alone, just the two of them, should make up for it. But the trip - and the pimped-out trailer they're using - is courtesy of the fae. And nothing from the fae comes without strings attached...

Being a different breed of shapeshifter - a walker - Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River - and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence know to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil...

Mercy's going crazy. And it's not the fae, wolves, or vampires that are scaring her this time.

It's her wedding. More specifically, planning it with her mother. Who apparently thinks doves, pigeons, and butterflies would be a wonderful addition to the day. She's ready to elope. The honeymoon should make up for it all though, and be just what she needs. Just her, Adam, a camper and no one for miles for ten days. Bliss.

Unfortunately things don't go quite as planned and when they find a person with his foot bit off, Mercy's suddenly thrust into a mystery that brings her into much closer contact with her own personal history.

I loved this book. Loved it. I think that most fans will either love it, or not like it and be bored by it. It takes us away from all the secondary characters that we love in the Tri-Cities for most of the book, and focuses on Adam and Mercy, and Mercy's roots.

For 5 books I've been waiting to get some more in-depth alone time with Mercy and Adam. I think that this book really solidifies what they are to and for each other and I love that they fit so perfectly.

We meet some new characters, and one, in particular, is a favorite. He's fabulous, funny, smart, and just a little bit crazy. And learning more about Mercy's past - things she didn't even know - is fun and extremely entertaining. Especially watching Mercy try to assimilate this knowledge into herself, and come to terms with things that are a complete surprise to her.

There is a thing with these books that bugs me a bit. It doesn't bug me until I'm finished, but it does bother me. Near the end, when Mercy and Adam are getting ready to fight the "big bad" Adam's always, ALWAYS, knocked out of the fight somehow. There's something that prevents him from being there to help - and mostly this is probably because he'd wipe the floor with anything that was trying to hurt Mercy and Mercy needs to be the one that saves the day/herself/others etc. I get that, and I like that Mercy saves the day, but I wish this could be handled a bit differently so that it didn't feel like Adam was incapacitated every single book. A good example is Kate and Curran - Curran (Magic Bites) is obviously stronger, but Kate's essential and strong too. They work together to get what needs to be done, done. Anyway. Like I said, a minor bother, but I did want to bring it up.

Great book though. Strong interpersonal relationships, strong mystery story-line (with some great emotionally charged moments) and fantastic characters. This continues to be one of my favorite series, and Patricia Briggs a favorite author.

Grade: A-

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