River Marked – Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman are finally married (a surprise arranged by Adam’s daughter and Mercy’s mother when it became clear that Mercy was going to freak out if she had to plan the wedding herself). So they’re off to their honeymoon – all by themselves in a campsite on the Columbia River Gorge.

Of course, this is Mercy and Adam we’re talking about, so trouble manages to find them. They find a badly injured man out on a boat – and while getting him back to shore, run into his friends, all members of the local Native American tribe. It’s from them they find out that something terrible is happening in the river, and people are dying. And the very next morning, Mercy, who has always been able to see ghosts, sees one that she has never seen before – her father.

This story is about Mercy finding out a lot more about her heritage (which has a very interesting twist). The monster they face is firmly routed in native traditions, and the allies they must call on are also routed in that tradition. I really enjoyed how that was done – the author has so far done a great job about working the more European models of supernatural beings into the world of the series, and the native traditions blend right in there, but also maintain some uniqueness.

I also really liked the progression of Mercy and Adam’s relationship – it’s a very realistic relationship, even when you throw in the complications of one half of the couple being the alpha of a werewolf pack. (Side note: the great Wolf spirit reacting to werewolves is a hoot.)