River Marked (Patricia Briggs)

I still love this series of contemporary fantasies, featuring Mercy Thompson, who is tough, brave, sexy, and compassionate. In this story, the focus is firmly on Mercy's relationship with Adam, and on coming to terms with her Native-American culture and with Coyote, as they band together to fight an abomination of a river monster that's been returned from the dead to prey on people. Her mechanic shop, the vampires, fae, and even the rest of the wolf pack are secondary. The action is intense, the stakes are high, and Adam and Mercy are put through the wringer in every possible way, but they manage to come through in the end. I will definitely keep reading these as long as she keep writing them.

Moon Called (Patricia Briggs)

I enjoyed this first book in a fantasy series. Mercy Thompson lives in our modern world with the addition of werewolves, vampires, witches, and fae, but she is not one of them. She's not human, either; she's a walker, one of the few remaining descendants of Native American magic, who can turn at will into a coyote. She's generally maintains good relationships with the supernaturals in her area, but when a young, untrained werewolf in human form appears on the doorstep of her garage, things go bad quickly. Mercy has to negotiate two different werewolf packs and a nest of vampires in her search for a kidnapped child. I liked Mercy; she's tough and smart, but realistically limited in her abilities.The story was engaging and kept me turning pages. I will definitely read more of this series.

The Round House (Louise Erdrich)

This story begins with one tragedy, and moves inexorably through several greater and lesser tragedies to end with another. Joe is a Native American boy, 13 years old, living on a reservation in South Dakota, when his mother is brutally raped. The search for her attacker is complicated by her unwillingness to talk about what happened and by the uncertainty about whether the attack took place on tribal land, Federal land, private land, or state land. The legal issues are especially important because Joe's father is a tribal judge, determined to make the best justice he can within the arcane and discriminatory laws governing the tenuous relationship between Indians and Whites. Joe's relationship with his parents, his friends, and his self grow and change in that pivotal summer. The book is alternately touching, funny, and devastating. Joe's experiences are drawn with unflinching and tender realism. Highly recommended.

Shadow Woman (Thomas Perry)

A worthy third novel in the Jane Whitefield series. Jane has decided to quit her occupation of making people disappear, but there is one last job she has to do. Pete Hatcher is a hapless middle manager in a Las Vegas casino who has suddenly become the target of some very scary professional assassins, and he has turned to Jane for a way out. As usual, it winds up being more difficult than she ever expected, and nearly costs not only her life but the lives of people she cares about. She is victorious, though, because she is tough and smart and uses the opportunities offered to her. I hope her future life goes well.

Dance for the Dead (Thomas Perry)

This second book in the Jane Whitefield series is even better than the first. The story begins with Jane helping to protect a little boy against the forces that want him dead for unknown reasons. As Jane keeps fighting for him, she gets involved with a second client, who needs to get away from men who want to kidnap her, also for unknown reasons. As she peels away the layers of deception and greed, she gets to a central enemy whose stunning brutality is threatening them both and, eventually, Jane herself. My only disappointment in this story is that the climactic scene is not shown from Jane's perspective. This heightens the suspense, but I did miss the chance to watch her mind work. She is an amazingly smart, principled, kick-ass woman, a hero for everyone of any gender.

Vanishing Act (Thomas Perry)

It's interesting to read a novel where some scenes take place here in Rochester, on streets I often drive! The story centers on a woman, native to the Seneca tribe, who works as a guide - helping people disappear. Her clients include woman escaping abusive spouses and small-time criminals who run afoul of big-time ones. In this story, she helps an ex-policeman who is being framed for embezzlement, but as events unfold we find that not everything is what it seems. She is smart and committed and resourceful and skilled, and I enjoyed the book very much.