Review - River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson #6

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Age Group: Adult

Hardcover - 326 pgs

Source: Purchased Used

Published: March 2011
Ace Books

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Rating: 3.5/5

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. 

Overall, I'm really enjoying this series. Unfortunately just like Silver Borne most of the impact and thrill of this story has faded over time. The details have also disappeared from my memory banks. None of that takes away from the fact I enjoyed this story and am enjoying the overall series. This series hasn't wowed me quite like the Kate Daniels series did and, even though it is unfair, I've been comparing them as I read. This book took a hit because the larger story made zero progress. While exploring Mercy's heritage was interesting and provided some answers I had, this removed us from the set of characters we know and love to tackle a side plot.

While reading it I remember enjoying the story and being amused Mercy is so easily thrown into trouble. Honestly, Adam should be used to it and expect Mercy to sniff out trouble or for it to find her. I like both of their characters. Adam grows on me the further into the series we go and, while he is a bit overbearing, he and Mercy are balancing each other out nicely.

I wasn't able to find an own voices review about this book unfortunately. While I enjoyed the story, I would be interested to see what a Native American reader thought of Brigg's use of the lore as she dives deep into it in this book.

My thoughts on the next book will follow soon as I've broken my rule and continued on with the series without a review of the previous book. 

My Last Review --> The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove