Audible Book Review: River Marked, Mercy Thompson Book 6, by Patricia Briggs

This is a full and fast paced story.

River Marked Mercy Thompson Book 6

• UNABRIDGED
• by Patricia Briggs
• Narrated by Lorelei King
•  Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 6

Available in print and eBook as well as Audio.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Blurb from Audible.com: Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She's never known any others of her kind. Until now.
An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River - one that her father's people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help....

Review: This is Book 6 in this enjoyable series and if you haven’t read them I highly recommend that you do! I have listened to all of them through Audible library and I really like the narration as well as the characters, plot and action.

Mercy Thompson is a  “walker” who shape shifts as a coyote. Her gifts include a resistance to most magic, like mesmerizing Vampires, and seeing ghosts.  Mercy has never met others like herself but she was raised in one of the strongest werewolf packs in North America. In this world, werewolves and some fae have been revealed to the public although Vampires are not yet exposed as “real.” Mercy has made Vampire and Fae friends and enemies. There are many wonderful characters in the series who are less visible in this story which gives time to Mercy and Adam.


Adam is the sexy, Alpha leader of the local werewolf pack and Mercy’s neighbor. Adam is divorced and raising his bright and outgoing teenage daughter, Jesse. Adam has been wooing, and at times he and his pack have been rescuing, Mercy through the stories.

Book 6 starts off with a delightful and beautifully choreographed elopement/wedding for Adam and Mercy. (Their marriage is not a spoiler since it is disclosed in the book blurb.)  Adam and Mercy head off for private honeymoon time.  They set up their borrowed motor coach at a park along the Columbia River.  Unfortunately it soon becomes apparent that Adam and Mercy have been directed to this spot for reasons beyond a simple honeymoon. 

Their romantic time together is interrupted by an injured man and a trail of dead and missing people.  Mercy gets to meet a very nasty  River Demon and some Fae otters up close and more personally than she would like.  The River Demon threatens to continue luring and eating anyone who nears the river unless it can be defeated.  It looks like Mercy, being immune to the magic, may be the only one who has a chance of killing the beast.  She and Adam team up with some other “walkers”, including Old Man Coyote, who knew or may be her father. Even with all of these skilled warriors the battle is far from certain and many expect to die.

Like the other books, this is full of action, magic and warm emotion in the relationships of the characters.  The narrator does a great job with the character voices and emotions. Although I have to say that I tend to get caught up with the story so that I barely notice the narrator...and isn’t that the way a good audio book should be?

The author manages to give enough backstory to fill in the important elements in case a reader has not read/listened to prior books but I recommend enjoying them all in order! I am looking forward to the next installment and only sorry that it isn’t scheduled until 2013.

 I read this from my own TBR Audible Library.

This is set in Washington for my Where are Your Reading challenge. This is a Just For Fun book this month and I will also add it to my TBR and Audio challenges.