Blood Bound

Overall score:

We first met Mercedes in Moon Called, where she gets mixed up with the local werewolf pack, even becoming romantically involved with its Alpha. She’s friends with a vampire named Stephan, and in Blood Bound he asks her for a favor while he does business for the local vampire queen.

It turns out to be a really big favor. Stephan has to check out a lone vampire in his queen’s territory, only to discover that the recently turned was a sorcerer—and he comes with a demon attached. This causes big trouble in the paranormal community of the tri-cities area of Washington because not only does he wreak havoc on everything around him, but he negatively influences the behavior of supernatural beings just by being in proximity.

Some of Mercy’s werewolf friends try to help the vampires, but everyone who sniffs out the trail of the sorcerer-vampire go missing—and Mercy is determined to help despite her fears that the sorcerer-vampire would realize what she is and take care of her permanently.

In Moon Called the plot was a little convoluted, but in Blood Bound the mystery is much more straightforward, and also quite compelling as Mercy deals with the troubles the sorcerer-demon causes and tries to figure out her own role in this mess.

Briggs’ writing is also more taut in this book, the pace never lags, the story flows well from one scene to the next without frustrating the reader. The tri-cities setting does have a place in this book, but it doesn’t feel as pronounced as in the first book, which is too bad because I lost some of the feel for the setting. She writes some truly anxiety-inducing scenes in which Mercy is in real danger. Briggs also is great with lore (vampire, werewolf, fae) and the political maneuverings involved between all non-human beings.

The characters develop a little more slowly in this book, there isn’t the push to characterization as like in Moon Called, but Briggs is consistent and they do see some progress. Mercy is interesting in how she handles having to become involved with the vampires. Perhaps most interesting is Stephan, her vampire friend with the van painted like the Mystery Machine, who takes for granted her acceptance of his un-dead state—their relationship is fascinating to watch.

If you’ve read the Stephanie Meyer books and were fascinated by the vampire/werewolf lore, but annoyed by a weak heroine and plotline, you would like this series because the main character is a woman who is intelligent, independent, gutsy, and will do what’s necessary to save those she loves, even risking her life.

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Written by Nessa on January 08th, 2008