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Friday, October 14, 2011

Mercury Rises by Robert Kroese

Mercury Rises, by author Robert Kroese, is the sequel to the first book of his series: Mercury Falls. Snarktastic Angels, end of the world drama, science and adventure fill the pages of this delightful story. It was a pleasant surprise and change up from my typical type of reading material. (But don't worry vamps, I still love you!) I was to say the least, impressed.

Plot info:
The sequel to Kroese’s debut, Mercury Falls, finds the irreverent angel Mercury and his reporter pal, Christine Temetri, again facing the end of the world. The U.S. government is still trying to puzzle out the explosion that took out Anaheim Stadium and sends dozens of experts to comb the area for clues. Now out of a job, Christine decides to put some distance between herself and Los Angeles by traveling to Africa to volunteer for an aid organization. She finds two things she doesn’t expect in Kenya: wealthy entrepreneur Horace Finch, whose under-the-radar biosphere masks a secret project, and an antibomb like the one that destroyed Anaheim Stadium. The discoveries brin
g her back together with Mercury as the two battle human and angel foes to prevent the antibomb from imploding the world.

Mercury Rises takes place after a large explosion wipes out a big chunk of the So Cal area. The aftermath follows the folks in the city as they try to make some sense of it all while Bible pushers swear it's a sign from the heavens. And maybe it is. Getting back to the story itself the book follows several different characters all on different paths yet connecting at the same time with a timeline reaching back to 2000 BC all the way up to present date. This story takes place in an alternate reality, similar to our own but very different in certain ways.

The best parts about this story for me are the snark. There's so much of it I would need a very heavy stick to shake at this book but I loved it. When you have Angels working on Babylon talking about throwing workers off the pyramid if they don't get back to work, then you have a book I want to read! Pure entertainment in the dialog factor. Now let's also throw in the fact that these angels talk in current pop culture vernacular and you have yourself a pretty awesome set of off beat guys who are leading the way for us mere mortals.

To quote a few of my favorite lines from the book this one in regards to a groups first meeting with Noah and his Ark:

"Shoo!" Noah barked at the bird, waving it off with his hand. "Get back on the boat, you stupid bird! Man, if I ever have to do this again, I'm leaving the damn ravens off the boat."
"You think think something like this could happen again?" asked Mercury.
The raven, circling in the air above them, cawed at them in response.
"Shut up!" yelled Noah, waving his arms wildly. "Back. On. The. Boat!".

I promise this is the last one. lol When asking Noah if he could spare some food for the starving men:

"Sorry, man" said Noah. "Brought just enough for the animals. I finally increased our rations the other day when the rain stopped. My kids have literally been at each others throats".
As if on cue, there was a scream from the boat. "Dad!" called a shrill voice from somewhere below deck. "Shem is trying to cut me with a carving knife again!"

It's an eccentric story in parts which you can't help but love, I get the humor because I love that off the wall kind of thing. Not over the top but done in enough proportions that it's funny and fresh. Also set to the pace of some real life issues that many of us are facing today. A nice mix of biblical lore, action and adventure with some fresh takes on hot topics and a few Star Trek shout outs to round it all out. Not to mention a "sheep" reference which I personally can't help but love. Give this one a chance, it's worth the time and money. :)

Getting 4 Zigguart building Sheep
KD

3 comments:

  1. sounds like my kind of read too! Great review Katie :)

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  2. Oh YOU would really get a kick out of this book too! For realz, add it to your TBR. :)

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  3. Sounds wonderful, thanks for sharing Katie :)

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