Be careful walking along the Columbia River on a clear, moonlit night.
There just might be a werewolf, a vampire, a witch or even a river monster lurking nearby.
But for those occasions when the supernatural creeps into the homes and onto the streets of Kennewick or Richland, the Tri-Cities also has its very own version of a superheroine -- Mercedes Thompson, the tough, sexy, tattooed, shapeshifting Volkswagen mechanic featured by novelist Patricia Briggs in her best-selling book series.
Thompson, known as "Mercy" to her friends and family, has battled her way through hordes of the undead, the magical and the things that go bump in the night in five novels since 2006, two of which hit No. 1 on the New York Times fiction bestseller list.
The character takes on a few new challenges -- not the least of which is marriage to the Tri-City werewolf pack leader -- in Briggs' sixth novel in the series, which hits shelves Tuesday.
Fans have bought more than a half-million of the Mercy Thompson books. And around 300,000 of her 11 other novels published since 1993 have been sold.
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/02/27/1561915/tri-cities-in-best-selling-urban.html#ixzz1FBiQ8ite