River Marked: Mercy Thompson, Book 6

Mercy was a little overwhelmed by the prospect of planning her wedding to local pack alpha Adam, so she let her mother take over. And then there were multiple trips looking for dresses and phone calls about doves, pigeons, butterflies, and 200 gold balloons. While this sounds like a disturbing combination, Mercy and Adam manage to get married and run off on their honeymoon.While honeymooning at a campground near portland, Mercy comes to the attention of the River Devil. It was something that used to just be a Native American legend, but it seems to suddenly be real enough to start eating people. In a failed attempt to get Mercy, the River Devil marks her, creating a connection between the two. Mercy dreams the monster's hunts - including the hunts that take children. This brings her and Adam to the attention of some locals native tribes, people who just might be able to explain why she's suddenly seeing the ghost of her father.River Marked kept me up late at night and had me missing it when I was at work. I alternated between laughs, "Aww", and "OMG!" so much that my husband asked me to go read in another room. We meet Mercy's family who obviously love and accept her, even though she is reluctant to bring their perfect and normal lives into her more dangerous one. The wedding part was just wonderful, sweet, and funny and Mercy is so in love with Adam that you just can't help but grin. As the story progresses we see Adam and Mercy not just as a couple, but as a great team with a wonderful dynamic. They fought habits created over years of being alone and tried hard to work as partners. This was especially hard for Adam who had to fight his instincts to lock his wife up in order to keep her safe. It was great getting to see the more personal side of Adam as well as his kick butt werewolf side.Briggs' use of Native American legends and ideas was excellent. We get fantastic new characters, some great action, and not a few revelations about Mercy's father. I hope we get to see more of this part of her life in future books. While Mercy has always been matter-of-fact about her father's death, we really see the toll that not knowing anything about him, her heritage, and the loss of identity has taken on her.River Marked is quite a departure from the other books in the series, but just as wonderful. While the book isn't all action, there was never a dull moment. The normal urban setting was traded for scenic camp grounds and had a smaller cast of characters. It was a much more intimate story since it was mostly Mercy and Adam vs. The Big Bad (with some helpful new allies thrown in). The action and the humor which just as fast and sharp as previous books and one more reason why I love this series. This is definitely a book that will be read over and over again.I loved, loved, LOVED this book! It was an action packed, fun, humorous, sexy, and wonderful nail biter of a book. You have got to read this book, but it must be read in order with the series. 6 stars, this one will never get old.

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.

I can't find a better word to describe this book series. This one concludes it - I think all though I hope that I'm wrong and there are more stories about this stubborn coyote shifter and her handsome werewolf mate. I will read the whole series again because it's so good.

So full of emotion and surprises. This series is very good. I was on vacationd and couldn't read as much as i wanted but i would read all my spare time.We get to know more of native american characters and some other walkers. Enjoyed it so much!C. C.

The storytelling in this book is wonderful, as is the love and trust between Adam and Mercy. What lengths would you go to to save strangers?

A great addition to the series, it has all the strong points - great characters, a decent plotline, enough action without drowning in it, and a glimpse into Mercy's roots. Not one thing about this book rubbed me the wrong way, and my concerns that the plot lines would become slim and improbable was totally unjustified. The story tied together well, we spend time with characters we love, and the story moves at a measured pace that was beautiful to read.

J'ai adoré ce sixième volume de la série des Mercy Thompson. Patricia Briggs parvient à nous étonner - et à nous apprendre plus sur Mercy.Le début du livre nous fait suivre une Mercy heureuse et sereine : Adam et elle partent en lune de Miel, à bord d'une immense caravane et les dix jours de vacances se présentent bien. Seulement, Adam aurait dû se méfier lorsque Uncle Mike lui a proposé lui prêter cette caravane - on n'emprunte pas aux faes, même pas pour "services déjà rendus" !Quand Adam et Mercy sauvent un homme blessé au bord de la rivière, les ennuis commencent : à cette occasion Mercy est "marquée" par la rivière et désormais le démon de la rivière la veut! Il s'agit d'une créature ancienne qui s'éveille, plus ancienne encore que tout ce que Mercy a croisé jusqu'ici, et cette créature n'est que Faim !Mercy et Adam devront s'allier à la magie indienne pour parvenir à vaincre cet ennemie.J'ai dévoré ce roman : déjà, suivre Mercy dans sa vie quotidienne, c'était vraiment bien, et grâce à l'humour de l'auteur j'ai éclaté de rire plus d'une fois.Ensuite le suspense monte rapidement, le danger s'approche, devient de plus en plus oppressant. Le démon de la rivière semble invincible et Mercy devra faire des choix terribles !Comme à son habitude, si elle a des doutes, elle n'en affronte pas moins les menaces avec toute son énergie.Le plus de ce tome, c'est que nous apprenons beaucoup sur les origines de Mercy et sa double nature humain/coyote.Le moins, c'est que certains aspects de la magie indienne sont un peu exagérés (mais c'est un tout petit bémol).Bref, River Marked ne peut que plaire aux fans de la série (comme moi) !