Mercury Striking by Rebecca Zanetti

Scorpius left few survivors. One of them is a gorgeous ex-gang member turned army man, turned post-plague leader named Jax Mercury.

Whenever I read a book that is themed with a post-apocalypse or plague setting, I find

myself wondering how well I would do at survival. If I’ve learned anything from all the books I’ve read, it’s that in a crisis like this you first scrounge for weapons and food sources, then start setting up your barricade to keep protected. These guys managed to round up boxes of condoms too.

Jax Mercury is the leader of a group of random survivors in downtown LA following the outbreak of Scorpius. Scorpius wiped out most of the population. Those who survived either evolved into sociopaths or completely mindless people who can be treated like animals to bite others, thus spreading Scorpius. However, if you’re kept up-to-date on treatments of Vitamin B through the recovery process, you can come out ok. Enhanced mentally, but ok.

Lynne Harmony travels on foot into Jax Mercury’s territory. She is at great risk there because of her known status as one of the first survivors of Scorpius. Many people believe she created it, and many more think that she contains a new strand which is even more deadly than the original. Lynne needs help and protection from Jax. Jax allows her to stay in his territory because he hopes she will find a cure, but of course their professional relationship turns into something much more personal very quickly.

Despite how Jax is depicted on the cover of Mercury Striking, I think he looks more like this guy

(Theo James). I tend to envision characters naturally on my own when I read their names rather than how an author describes them to me. When Rebecca Zanetti introduced us to an ex-gang member turned military leader of a surviving community post Scorpius, this gentleman came right to mind. Imagine that.

This book was a great introduction into the battle against Scorpius. We’ve grown attached to certain characters, several of them are harboring secrets and hidden agendas. Naturally these will be revealed in future books. I couldn’t stop “turning” the page of this book (kindle user) because of the suspense. There is more than one enemy coming at Jax and Lynne. The odds are so highly stacked against them. Can Lynne really find a cure? Where is the mysterious bunker that everyone thinks contains Government resources as well as the cure?

Rebecca Zanetti has released the prequel novella, originally only published in another anthology and unbeknownst to me. So excuse me, I need to go devour the novella right now.

Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline

Who is donor 3319?

Christine and her husband Marcus utilize the sperm donation of a man known as donor 3319 after a long struggle with fertility. Christine was already worried about her husband moving past his insecurities surrounding his inability to produce sperm. She fully believes that Marcus will be a great father and is their baby's true father. Imagine Christine's emotions when she sees a serial killer's arrest on TV who looks just like donor 3319. She becomes obsessed with identifying her anonymous donor 3319. Is he the serial killer on TV? Will her child have violent tendencies?

Naturally, this causes a rift between Christine and her husband. The baby is all they've wanted for so many years and now they disagree about what is important and how to proceed. This story brings up the nature vs. nurture debate. One side thinks that violence is learned in their environment while others believe in the "warrior gene" and that people can be predisposed to violence.

What can be done?

Is the sperm bank responsible for not screening a potential sociopath? Lisa Scottoline did some serious research regarding sperm banks for this book. I hope that the actual banks are more careful with screening their donors than the banks in this story. According to Most Wanted, egg donors are more carefully screened than the sperm donors. Imagine that.

It is tough to imagine being placed in this kind of position. I found myself angry at Marcus and thinking he was a total jerk, and then later I was mad at Christine and thought she was acting crazy. I couldn't keep to one side of their marriage. That was part of what kept this story interesting. Of course I was interested in whether or not Zachary (arrested serial killer) was actually donor 3319 but I also was worried about whether their marriage would survive all of these hurdles. Then of course I was embarrassed for Christine as she became a self-made detective/paralegal. I was curious like she was but I couldn't relate to her. I couldn't picture myself behaving the same way in this situation.

All in all, there was just enough suspense to keep you entertained.