4.5 
 Originally posted at Vampire Book Club 
 In the not too distant future, civilization has nearly been wiped out by a bacteria called Scorpius. Affecting the brain, some people die, some turn into psychotic maniacs (known as Rippers) and others survive the disease, but develop as yet unknown enhanced abilities that seem to differ person to person. One thing for certain, if you've survived-regardless whether or not you're mentally stable-you can transmit Scorpius. 
 Lynne Harmony was the head of the CDC's Infectious Disease department. She contracted Scorpius at its early stages, and in an effort to save herself, injected herself with one of the experimental cures. While this risk proves successful, it also leaves her with a blue heart. Yep, that's right, glowing blue from her chest. Now viewed as a pariah, there are those who fear Lynne may be more dangerous than Scorpius and so she becomes hunted. On the run from those in pursuit, Lynne knows her destination: Jax Mercury. 
 When the outbreak hit, former army legend Jax Mercury wasn't going out without a fight. In trying to survive he formed Vanguard, a community of nearly 500, where Jax is the leader and helps those under his protection learn how to live in this new world. He's just as surprised as anyone when the notorious Blue Heart shows up with a bargain: If Jax helps with one of her problems, she'll lead him to a secret lab with untapped supplies that just may include a cure to Scorpius. 
 Hands down, Jax Mercury is who I want to go through the apocalypse with. The whole apocalypse scenario is nothing new, but what really made Mercury Striking for me, was the man himself. Rebecca Zanetti wrote his character just right. The right amount of alpha maleness, mixed well with vulnerabilities that, even though he tries to suppress them, don't come off feeling forced in order to make him a more relatable character. He doesn't want to get too close to people because, like everyone else, he's known loss in this world, yet he can't help feeling a responsibility towards everyone in Vanguard. 
 When Lynne Harmony shows up she really throws him for a spin because he starts to admit he actually cares for her in a way that goes beyond her just being another responsibility. I think it's the fact that both Jax and Lynne are so determined to keep people at a distance that they are so drawn towards each other. 
 As a caveat to my love for this book, there is a prequel novella in the On the Hunt anthology titled Scorpius Rising. It deals with the extremely early stages of Scorpius and gives us a lot of Lynne's backstory (although she is not the main character). It is by no means required reading, but I did find the comparison between the world in the prequel and where things are in Mercury Striking to be quite interesting. 
 I loved where things leave off in this book. I think it's safe to say that not everything is a hundred percent figured out by the end. There's no way, with all the delicious characters introduced here, to have everything be done. No way. This is fine by me because I look forward to seeing how things with Scorpius develop given that its full effects on people are still unknown as well as many of the secondary characters' true motivations.