Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Audio)

Format: Audio (download)
Narrator: Lorelei King
Length: 9 hrs
FTC: Purchased myself

The Blurb:

Mercy Thompson's life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn't exactly normal herself.

I admit it. I was one of the few holdouts who hadn't read the Mercy Thompson series. But after downloading the first few books based on recommendations I received from Twitter, I am thinking I will pick up print versions (or maybe ebooks) of the entire series so far.

I bought the first book for my husband, the avid audiobook fan. We've listened to Lorelei King's narration before with the Stephanie Plum series and decided to take a chance on the books. He really enjoyed them, and the Mercy series has now become one of his favorite audiobook series. At his urging, I decided to move the first book, Moon Called, up on my audiobook TBR.

There's nothing all that original about this book. There is no groundbreaking, genre twisting innovation. But  I really like the characters. And the sassy sense of humor. My husband was chortling with laughter when he discovered what field Mercy's college degree was in. Because mine is the same. With the same lack of marketability. *sigh*



The story is told in first person, but I enjoy first person stories in audio format because it's just like the person is relating the story to you in person. It has that storyteller aspect. I also think first person allows the attitude of the characters to shine through a little better. You get their opinions about themselves and the other characters.

I  liked the fact that there isn't all that much time spent pointing out the obvious play against stereotype in Mercy's choice of career. It's not made into this huge deal. She's a woman mechanic. So what? It's almost treated as unremarkable, when in reality, there's quite often that small moment of incredulity when women work in a predominantly male industry.

Lorelei King does a fine job with the narration, using different voices for each character. It took me a bit of time to disconnect her voice with Stephanie Plum, though.

I've definitely found another series with great characters. It may not be groundbreaking, but it is oddly addictive.

My grade: B