River Marked by Patricia Briggs – review

Recently I read on an author’s blog that the reviews that are most helpful, according to her and the many comments on her post, aren’t the ones that just give the plot and whether the reader liked the book or not.  Constructive criticisms are good, she said, but otherwise what she looks for in a review is what to expect from the book.  She wants enough information to know if this is a book worth going out and purchasing.

In honor of that author and readers everywhere who just want to know what to expect, I’ve prepared this quick and easy review of Patricia Briggs’ River Marked, the sixth in the Mercy Thompson series.

I’ve been a fan of the Mercy Thompson series since the beginning. The first couple of books were great–we got to meet the major characters and see what they were made of, and follow along as they solved problems and created new ones.  The last two books seemed to stall a bit, with less fun and adventure and a touch more seriousness than many readers were looking for.  When it comes to books in a series, we tend to expect certain things from the story.  We also tend to expect the recipe to stay relatively similar each time; in other words, if there were two parts of fun, one part of harrowing adventure and one part romance in the first, readers will expect that those ratios will stay pretty close to the original recipe without going stale and boring.

When it comes to Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, in my opinion, here is what a fan generally expects: werewolves with their various idiosyncrasies, vampires that are both frightening and helpful to know, a shapeshifting coyote who finds trouble without even trying, faeries and their sly ways, fights between any two or more of the previous list, loyalty, touches of humor, romance, near death experiences, and a bit of judicious detecting to track down whatever the culprit du jour may be.

What you get in River Marked: All of the above and more.  Briggs gave us a bonus this time around by adding in quite a bit of American Indian history and anthropology, some juicy new information on Mercy’s past, a new-to-Mercy fae creature, family surprises, a little bit of horror movie trivia, and the tricky Coyote of lore.

I found the story to be thoroughly engaging, and I zipped through it with lots of pleasure.  I’ve read the whole series so far, and while there have been a couple of bits I didn’t like as much as others and some places where I felt the story had ranged too far from its main themes, this time around I think Patricia Briggs hit the ball out of the park.  Anyone who had hesitated about continuing the series can rest assured that River Marked is full of the good stuff you are looking for.