River Marked - Review

Title:  River Marked
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher:  Orbit

Goodreads Summary:

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…

My thoughts:

I think these books are getting better and better!! So many times you start a series, and then after a few books, the magic wanes, the story feels boring been there-done that, or goes the other extreme of way off the deep end.  River Marked keeps the same tone and feeling that the others in the series have, but takes the story to a different level.  Mercy has grown from the first book, but still is essentially the same Mercy.  Her marriage to Adam changes her for the better, and while I was always rooting for Samuel, I like Adam more after reading this book.  This book focuses only on Mercy and Adam and the evil they are battling on their honeymoon, so you get to know them better, as well as seeing how they relate to each other in a relationship as well.

This book has a more mystical feel to it, and heavily involves Mercy's Native American heritage. At first I didn't care for all the legends, but then I became more and more interested in them, and then loved them as part of this book.  The big bad in this book was very big and very bad, and will make me think twice before I set foot in a river or lake.   The only drawback to this book was that Sam was not in it - I missed him.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this book - it kept the series fresh and different, and I learned more about the characters.