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.