*I received a free copy of Mercury Striking from Zebra via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Mercury Striking by Rebecca Zanetti Series: The Scorpius Syndrome #1
Published by Zebra on 26 January 2016
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
With nothing but rumors to lead her, Lynne Harmony has trekked across a nightmare landscape to find one man—a mysterious, damaged legend who protects the weak and leads the strong. He's more than muscle and firepower—and in post-plague L.A., he's her only hope. As the one woman who could cure the disease, Lynne is the single most volatile—and vulnerable—creature in this new and ruthless world. But face to face with Jax Mercury…
Danger has never looked quite so delicious…
Mercury Striking is a very powerful dystopia suspense novel, where most technology is down, and what is left of humanity is fighting against a horrible bacteria for survival.
Fast paced, filled with suspense and distrust, Mercury Striking is among the best dystopia novels I have ever had the pleasure to read! Zanetti managed her world building by sharing the characters’ knowledge little by little, and in this bleak universe, only the very strong and courageous will be able to keep on going. Lynne Harmony has been on the run for a few months, with only one goal in mind – find a way to help people live with the virus without becoming senseless Rippers in the process. And to do so, she needs to enter the territory of Jax Mercury in what used to be Los Angeles.
The suspense is the main ingredient in Mercury Striking, the romance truly takes the back-seat, and serves as a way to help Jax and Lynne keep hope. And boy, do they need hope! Not only is the bacteria still ravaging what’s left of humanity, they also have to deal with looters, gangs, and the Rippers. These Rippers are those infected by the bacteria and who transform into senseless killers, ripping people apart, with no emotion. Even within Jax’s camp, not everyone is safe, and not everyone is trustworthy, either. One of the reasons for this is that the government really want Lynne to come back and help them find a cure for Scorpius, and to entice the population to give her up, they not only have a big bounty on her head, they have also said that the bacteria she has fought is a different, stronger strain.
The cards definitely seemed to be stacked against them, and I loved the way Jax planned raids, the lengths he went to in order to protect the people who had become a part of his community, and how smart Lynne was when it came to fighting with both her brain and her gun when necessary. An amazing start to Zanetti’s new series, Mercury Striking kept me up most of the night, because it was impossible to find a place in the story that permitted me to put it down to get some much needed sleep. If you are a fan of dystopia novels, you should pick this one up!
Written in third person point of view, past tense, the story flows in a fast pace that makes the excitement and suspense palpable. I loved that most of the characters were adults, and even side characters were well fleshed out and felt realistic. There are physical fights, emotional turmoil and outsmarting on almost each page, so when there was a tiny speck of romance, it helped bring my heart rate back to normal.
Her months of hiding had taught her stealth. Prey needed stealth, as did the hunter. She was both.
“Like I said, I won’t force you. You want the couch? It’s yours.”
She eyed the cold-looking, rather worn pleather. It was a freakin’ luxury compared to sleeping on the hard ground, but even so, now she’d had a taste of a real bed again… “A gentleman would give me the bed.”
He scratched the stubble next to his scar. “All the gentlemen are dead, baby. Soldiers and survivors are what we have now.”
Tears prickled her eyes. How silly. What the hell did she care about some crazy woman who didn’t like her? Nobody liked her, and she’d always be alone. She placed the soup on the table, no longer hungry.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
It sounds great. I saw a few really good reviews and I confess that with yours too I’m curious, I’m just a bit anxious about the post apocalyptic part, I’m not that much into this kind of books now.
I loved how there was a bacteria behind what happened here, Melliane, it was quite realistic, and scary. If you’re not into post apocalyptic stories right now, you should wait until you are, and pick up Mercury Striking then 🙂
oh I am so excited for this one!! I love Zanetti and this sounds pretty thrilling!!
It was amazing, Renee, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!
I already schedule a DNF review for this Sunday which kills me because I’m her number one fan. Now your review is making me reconsider! 🙂
That sucks, Daniela! I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one.
This one sounds great! I need to read some of her other books that I have before I can read any of the new ones so I hadn’t looked at this book too closely. Now that I have read your review, I am thinking that I may just skip ahead to this book. I love the whole idea of a dystopian setting where the real enemy is disease. Great review!
That’s one of the things I loved so much about it, Carole, we’re all equal when it comes to new diseases, and it felt very realistic that there could be a new bacteria that could wipe out big parts of humanity.
Twitter: kbaby81
I added this one to my list a few weeks ago. Can’t wait to read it!
I really hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did, Lekeisha!
I am holding out hope it comes to audiobook. I really enjoy her books on audio 🙂
I hope you’ll find the audio version really soon, Felicia!
Oh man! This sounds absolutely amazing, Lexxie!! I do happen to be a fan of dystopian and Mercury Striking sounds like a great blend of suspense with a little helping of romance. The premise – the idea that bacteria could essentially destroy our world – is so scary because it *could* happen. I’m glad this was such a great read even if you did lose sleep for it. 😉 It’s on my tbr – and I really need to make some time for Zanetti!
I hope you’re having a wonderful Wednesday! **BIG HUGS**
I think the fact that it *could* happen is why I enjoyed this so much, Brandee. I can’t imagine living after so many people have perished, however, I can totally see that those who survived would go to extreme lengths to continue moving forward in any way they can.
I hope you’ll enjoy Mercury Striking as much as I did, my dear. *BIG HUGS*
Twitter: Mlsimmons
Five stars. Lexxie you’re killing me. I’m not supposed to be starting new series, but you’re making it really hard. I’ve read some good reviews, but you’re really pushing me over the edge. I wonder if it will be put on audio. So far, I don’t see it listed anywhere. If not, I’ll have to read it. This looks great. 🙂
Sorry not sorry, Melanie. I’m sure it will come out on audio eventually, and I think it would be excellent in that format as well. There’s a lot of tension, and the right narrator could do something amazing with an already great story.
I love this genre. I get a kick out of the group dynamics when it comes to survival. I’ve seen some good ratings and been curious. I’ll probably grab it now.
I love reading about group dynamics and what lengths the characters will go to for survival, Laura. I hope you’ll enjoy Mercury Striking as much as I did.
Twitter: kimbacaffeinate
You cannot see me *which is good* Because I am dancing in my chair like an idiot. I agree with everything and had such a good time with this story and characters.
LOL Kim! I loved everything about this story, and I’m very happy you did as well! I am already impatient to get my hands on the next in this series… there are so many things that can happen!
It’s so crazy to see how different people view a book. I really loved the characters but the pace was like a snail to me. It took my rating down a lot since it dragged so much. I’ve seen people on both sides of that and not sure what it is on this one. It’s just so strange the very different reactions.
I’m glad to see you loved it so much, though! I freaking love her books in general and am still pretty curious about this series and what she’ll do next with it.
I’ve seen very different reactions to this one, too, I loved the bleak world it all happened in, and I enjoyed the characters, so for me it was a truly great read 🙂
I’m also very curious as to what will happen in the next book in this series…
Twitter: Mollykatie112
I keep seeing this one around, I wish I had seen it on Net Galley because your review has made me want to read it! Great review 🙂
Too bad you didn’t see it when it was still on Netgalley, Lorna. I hope you’ll be able to read it anyway.
Great review, Lexxie! I loved this one too 🙂
I’m so happy we both loved it, Danielle 🙂