Mercury Striking

The Scorpius Syndrome

By: Rebecca Zanetti

Narrated by: Michael Pauley

Named as one of the best romances of 2016 by Amazon.

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 LA, 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.

©2016 Rebecca Zanetti (P)2017 Rebecca Zanetti

Great start to the series!

I had a great time with this book! After reading the prequel novella, Scorpius Rising, I was eager to dive into the first full book in the series. All of the action, adventure, and romance that I have come to expect from Rebecca Zanetti with an end of the world setting? Yes, please! I had high hopes and I was not disappointed. I was entertained by this story from beginning to end and couldn’t wait to see Jax and Lynn make things work.

Lynn has people looking for her everywhere and she knows that she needs help so she seeks out Jax. Jax is the leader of a group in the Los Angeles area. Lynn is easy to identify because she now has a blue heart as a result of surviving the bacteria that is now plaguing the world. Lynn was part of a group of scientists working to cure the bacteria when she contracted the disease and may now be the key to fighting the infection.

I liked Jax and Lynn as a pair. I thought that they had great chemistry together and their personalities matched up well. While Lynn had a lot to prove to the rest of the community, Jax seemed to know that she could be trusted right away and he took his promise to protect her seriously. There were some pretty serious situations within the community and I liked seeing how they were able to work things out.

I believe that this was the first time that I have listened to Michael Pauley’s narration and I thought that he did a good job with the story. I thought that the voices that he used for both the male and female characters were well done. I thought that he had a nice voice and I am looking forward to listening to him narrate the rest of the series.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I was glued to my headphones while listening to this book and was invested in seeing things work out for Jax, Lynn, and the other members of their community. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book!

Not what I was expecting, but couldn't put it down

I love this series by Rebecca Zanetti, she never disappoints me and the stories she comes up with are indeed page turning.

This is book one in the new series where a deadly plague has hit the earth, with different outcomes for those who are infected. It can either kill you, turn you into a crazy serial killer, enhance your strength or may even give you a strange new power. And the one woman who might be able to save the world is the same person some believe caused the plaque, Lynn Harmony- AKA 'Blue heart'.

Lynn is the head of the CDC, an infectious disease department. She is unwilling infected with the plaque and needs the help of one man, Jax Mercury, to help her find the cure. Jax is a former gang member, a former military man and now is the leader of a group called Vanguards. He's basically trying to keep himself and those he can save alive until what he feels is a hopeless cure comes to light.

Jax and Lynn are both strong characters who have secrets, enemies and trust issues. What starts out as pure lust for one another develops into much more at a nice pace throughout the book. We learn a lot about both these characters strengths and weakness as well as other secondary characters who are sure to get their own books. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

great series!

I love this author! I wonder what she's like in real life... 🤔 🥰

A good start to a new series

What a suspenseful start to a new series. This series is set in LA after a devestating infection killed over 90% of the population. One group of survivors and doing all they can to defend the compound they have claimed in downtown LA. There are great .characters. There are many heros. This group dimistrates the best of humanity and the strength of humans determined to survive. There is a lot of gory violence, so if that bothers you, choose something else. There is a romance that develops between two survivors but, I would say that this is secondary to the struggle for survival by this group of people. I'm downloading book 2 right now.
-V from Kansas

Pleasant Surprise

Most times I tend to judge a book by the cover which is what I did with this book. Even though I overlooked it several times something kept bringing me back. So I bought it and boy am I glad I did. I absolutely LOVED this story. The main characters, Jax & Lynn were HOT together. The story was also amazing and I wanted to just listen in one sitting but I had to sleep😴 sometime. I can't wait to get the second book to see what happens. I will not tell anything about the story ; you will just have to get it. You will not be disappointed😁🙌🙌

Great start to new series.

Mercury Striking was a terrific end of days type book and romance book that is the first in what I hope will be a long series. I immediately read the 2nd book and wait with baited breath for the 3rd book. This series would be enjoyed, I think, by people who normally like science fiction, war and fighting type books or books with strategy that would be used during war or war like situations. In these books 90% of the population has been wiped out due to a bacterial infection which is absolutely something that is possible in this day and age. A group of survivors and their leader in LA makes up one of the factions and their are 2 other factions. One of those is led by a man who says he's the acting president of the United States. The different scenarios that happen really made me think about how I would react in those situations. Many of the survivors in the different groups have lost everything and everyone. Some are stronger and more determined to survive but still maintain their humanity. Others would walk over their own child to survive. The author is good about fleshing out the main characters deeper personalities and some of the background characters as well. She does a great job describing the environment. I could visualize it so clearly in my mind. These books were so different from all the other Rebecca Zanetti books I had read.

Awesome start to a new series!!!

This is actually the second book of the series (first is Scorpius Rising.) Not sure why audible does this so much. This can be a stand alone and does give background on the plague. Hopefully audible will add book one!!!!! This book has so many side characters that I can't wait for their story. Jax has so many scars both physical and mental from childhood and the war..very protective of his survivors told Lynne he will end her if she means them harm. Lynne was trying to find cure in book one when she was infected and given the trial cure which mutates her body in book one. Dont want to give anything away but wow this is an awesome book!!!!!!

This was so much better than I expected!!

I'm a fan of romance but I HATE a story with no STORY. This book has it all!! In fact the romance part of the book is very secondary to the plot and I really really enjoyed that. I had flashbacks to King's 'The Stand' and I enjoyed this book almost as much. That's really really hard to say and expect ppl to believe. But wow!! Read this book. Even if ur not a huge fan of romance. This isn't a love story. And it makes you think.... what if the world ended.... tomorrow.

Great story!

I loved this book from the 1st page. It has everything I love about reading. I couldn't put it down until done. It's definitely a page turner.

VT. FAN

What did you love best about Mercury Striking?

I have all of Ms.Zanettis' books and audiobooks..I love the world's that she builds, the action and the romance. The H is always ALPHA and the h always sarcastic and feisty. Just the way I like them..Every one of her audio books have great narrators. I usually don't go for the male narrators because they don't do female characters as well as female narrators do male characters. This is a great book with a very good narrators and I hope the do the whole series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mercury Striking?

The first chapter..It had you hooked right off the bat.

Which character – as performed by Michael Pauley – was your favorite?

He did great job with male, female and child voices. Each character was distinctive.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YUP!!

Any additional comments?

Rebecca Zanetti is an auto buy for both kindle and audio books. Can't say that to often and I have 5,500 audio books and 10,000 kindle books.