Mercury Falls

Nov 23, 2009 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, kindle, humor

A brilliantly silly novel that examines the idea of free will, man's relationship with the divine and the wisdom of redoing your linoleum floor just before the apocalypse. Some readers have compared this hilarious book to Christopher Moore but I think Kroese's writing style screams of Douglas Adams. Witness this little paragraph...

"The bullet, having thoroughly enjoyed this hole-punching business, proceeded to punch holes in the windows of four nearby cars, finally coming to rest on page 328 of...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Katy by: Amazon vine program

Shelves: vine-book

Please note: I read this in September 2010 from a copy provided by Amazon Vine. Once I finish my current book, I'll be reading the rest of the series.

Genre: Humorous literary fiction
Reading Level: Adults
Trigger warnings: some religious people might find this book offensive

My Reactions (and a quick compare & contrast to Dogma: Mercury Falls is a breath of fresh air blowing out the stagnant dogma of way too many churches and throws a few punches at bureaucracy in general while it's at it. It h...more

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May 23, 2010 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fforde-pickup, fantasy, 2006-2010, angels-demons-heaven-hell, humor-and-satire

3.5 stars. Funny, light-hearted take on the coming of the apocalypse. Not as good as the classic Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, but if you enjoyed that book and the humor and tone of Douglas Adams, it is a safe bet that you will enjoy this. There were some genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud moments (the periodic debate between "pawn" or "prawn" is one that jumps to mind). There were also some clever concepts incorporated into the story. A few examples are (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD): (1)...more

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Nov 06, 2010 Medeia Sharif rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Christine Temetri is a journalist who reports on cults and religious nuts. Fed up and almost ready to abandon her career, her boss sends her in the midst of warfare, which leads her to the angel Mercury. Mercury is flaky and well-intentioned as he tries to steer the world into the apocalypse. The Antichrist is Karl Grissom, a dim-witted fellow who's more interested in fast food than world affairs. Christine shuttles through portals, going on different planes of existence to handle angels and dem...more

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Mar 30, 2013 C rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who loved Good Omens and Christopher Moore's "Stupidest Angel."

Recommended to C by: Doomey via Shuu

I started reading this thinking I'd "just start it" and get a few pages before going to sleep. I have to make myself put it down and go to bed.

Chapter 3 or so, the scene where the angel-now-demon vandalizes the main character's apartment had me laughing so hard I cried. My husband finally gave up on his own book, looked over and, exasperated - but amused - said "...what?" I.E. "I see you've finally snapped, you might as well share what did it." (he did find it funny, even though I completely but...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: california, fantasy, funny-as-hell, this-is-the-way-the-world-ends, religious-commentary

"The Apocalypse has a way of fouling up one's plans."

I loved this book. Hence the five stars. It's very much like the 1999 Damon-Affleck film "Dogma," where Heaven and Hell are not so much forces of Good and Evil as competing bureaucracies with their own myriad sets of rules and regulations, policies and procedures. It also reminded me of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, which is a send-up of both Nostradamus and The Omen.

Christine is a reporter assigned to cover the end of the wor...more

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Nov 09, 2009 Harmonicaman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book cracked me up. Diesel is a master at delivering deliciously snarkastic dialog and this book is chock full of it. Anyone who is looking for a twisted interpretation of how the Apocalypse is going down will love this story.

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Oct 10, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

It's a bit too manic and twee to really be effective. One mention of linoleum is funny, constantly repeating it? Not so much.

Christine reports on endtimes cults for a Christian newspaper. One day she demands for something more, and gets sent to Israel. One stray bomb later she's off to deliver a briefcase to an eccentric cult leader named Mercury, and just her luck, she might be involved in Armageddon too.

The book reminds me of some roleplayers I used to encounter when roleplaying online. They w...more It's a bit too manic and twee to really be effective. One mention of linoleum is funny, constantly repeating it? Not so much.

Christine reports on endtimes cults for a Christian newspaper. One day she demands for something more, and gets sent to Israel. One stray bomb later she's off to deliver a briefcase to an eccentric cult leader named Mercury, and just her luck, she might be involved in Armageddon too.

The book reminds me of some roleplayers I used to encounter when roleplaying online. They would play characters who I'm sure they thought were being quirky and different, but were instead such collections of manic tics and oddities that they wore on you after awhile. Same with this book. The jokes can be really funny, but they are held way too long for comfort. You see this the most in Mercury himself, who tends to go on rambling digressions which can be funny at start but after a while you get tired of the difference between prawn and pawn. Or a cherub introducing helpful tips in every line of dialogue. It's a shame because the humor at times can be very good, but he goes to the well a bit too much.

The satire, hmm. Going from the highlights in my Kindle version, it's pretty apparent the readers view it in the line of Douglas Adams's style satire on religion. Hell and Heaven aren't particularly bad, just mismanaged and following instructions that are unclear and not many angels or demons know much about. They don't even seem to know things like where humans go when they die or how God exists. There's some pretty harsh jabs at organized believers too.

Yet the author self-identifies as a Christian on his blog, and you could take it as the angels being a parody not of religion, but of us-humans who follow a plan we can't fully understand, or reject it without getting it either. I almost want to see the book's ending in these lines too: (view spoiler) I think whether intentional or not, most people won't see it that way, and more as Tom Holtish satire on religion and religious believers. I'd like to ask him what he sees his book as, though.

Still, I didn't like the book as much as I should. I kept expecting Mercury to channel Ellen Page and start singing the praises of delicious Sunny D, and the humor goes a bit too long for its own good.

(less)

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Sep 02, 2012 Zach Hoskins rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw a comparison of this to 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' and that is fair but a closer comparison can be made to 'Job: A comedy of Justice' by Robert Heinlein. It is a tongue-in-cheek look at the apocalypse, or rather one woman's attempt to put it on hold.

Christine Temetri pairs up with an unlikely cherub named Mercury (yes he is also THAT Mercury, funny story really). As a PAI (person of apocalyptic interest) Christine is mixed up inways that she and nobody else (angelic, demonic or...more

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May 17, 2012 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The apocalypse is coming. To Christine, a journalist who spends her whole time interviewing people predicting the apocalypse, this is no surprise. Except this time it really is happening. Mercury is an apathetic angel who just wants to watch what's going on and doesn't want to choose a side.

Lucifer and his gang of fallen angels are up to their usual tricks and planning to change the apocalypse plans by making the apocalypse accord agreement void. Christine has to convince Mercury to help her st...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Joseph K rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those wanting light-hearted Christian fiction.

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary:
The main premise is that the the Apocalypse is about to start and angels are attempting to implement a millenniums-old accord between Heaven and Hell. The main characters are a rogue, but apathetic angel, and a not-quite-made-it religion reporter. The apocalypse is about to happen, Lucifer is up to his old tricks, and Mercury, the rogue Angel is trying to make sure that nothing happens... nothing at all.

Plot:
The plot is good, but not great. The concept is unique, but honestly I felt like...more Summary:
The main premise is that the the Apocalypse is about to start and angels are attempting to implement a millenniums-old accord between Heaven and Hell. The main characters are a rogue, but apathetic angel, and a not-quite-made-it religion reporter. The apocalypse is about to happen, Lucifer is up to his old tricks, and Mercury, the rogue Angel is trying to make sure that nothing happens... nothing at all.

Plot:
The plot is good, but not great. The concept is unique, but honestly I felt like the story was too hard of a juxtaposition between reality and fantasy. There was almost too much mundanity to believe it was fictional, and it was too far fetched to believe it was real. Yet, it did do a good job of pulling you into the plight of the situation. The idea that the world ending was more important than humanity seemed to make you root for people, even if you didn't want to. I felt like this was written as a disaffected version of the book of revelation. If it is ever made into a movie I am sure the soundtrack will be full of Indie bands.

Characters:
The angels for the most part made sense, except for the main character. You never got enough about him to love him or hate him. He was just there, but not in a compelling-bored sort of way... The main human, Christine, reminded me of the female lead from the movie "Dogma." In fact... I feel like Christine was patterned off of her almost exactly. I guess this is good in that I could relate the character to someone, except the person I related her to was fictional. Aside from that, the characters were quirky, but never developed enough for an epic tale. I really wanted to connect with Mercury, or to feel something for him as a character. I wanted a glimpse of something worth hanging on to. In the end there were a few flashes of that, but they didn't come from the plot, but instead an understanding of what heroes (or maybe anti-heroes) represent... I just wanted something...

Theology:
As a Catholic, this book had very little loyalty to Catholic teaching. Not that I expected much loyalty from a Protestant writer, I was still hoping to hang a theological hat on something... that wasn't to happen. I couldn't tell if this was satire or mockery... that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall:
Generally, the book was OK, but not super compelling. You saw how it was going to end early on, but even with twists and turns, you weren't scooting out to the edge of your seat at any point. Too much emphasis was placed on the wrong things, and I felt like the characters only got to about 2 3/4 dimension. As a Catholic, I felt that there was a strain of anti-Catholicism in the book, especially in the "anti-moral." I dont know exactly what the authors intent was, but there were bits that made me a little squeamish. In the end, I am glad I read it, but it took me longer than I thought to get through it.

It isn't up there with a Dekker or Peretti in terms of "Christian Fiction" but it is worth the read. There is a follow up, "Mercury Rising" and something tells me that it will bet better than this one... hopefully the coincidental altruism of Mercury will blossom into some virtue driven heroic trait. (less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Joseph rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those looking for a light-hearted Christian Fiction

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Summary:
The main premise is that the the Apocalypse is about to start and angels are attempting to implement a millenniums-old accord between Heaven and Hell. The main characters are a rogue, but apathetic angel, and a not-quite-made-it religion reporter. The apocalypse is about to happen, Lucifer is up to his old tricks, and Mercury, the rogue Angel is trying to make sure that nothing happens... nothing at all.

Plot:
The plot is good, but not great. The concept is unique, but honestly I felt like...more Summary:
The main premise is that the the Apocalypse is about to start and angels are attempting to implement a millenniums-old accord between Heaven and Hell. The main characters are a rogue, but apathetic angel, and a not-quite-made-it religion reporter. The apocalypse is about to happen, Lucifer is up to his old tricks, and Mercury, the rogue Angel is trying to make sure that nothing happens... nothing at all.

Plot:
The plot is good, but not great. The concept is unique, but honestly I felt like the story was too hard of a juxtaposition between reality and fantasy. There was almost too much mundanity to believe it was fictional, and it was too far fetched to believe it was real. Yet, it did do a good job of pulling you into the plight of the situation. The idea that the world ending was more important than humanity seemed to make you root for people, even if you didn't want to. I felt like this was written as a disaffected version of the book of revelation. If it is ever made into a movie I am sure the soundtrack will be full of Indie bands.

Characters:
The angels for the most part made sense, except for the main character. You never got enough about him to love him or hate him. He was just there, but not in a compelling-bored sort of way... The main human, Christine, reminded me of the female lead from the movie "Dogma." In fact... I feel like Christine was patterned off of her almost exactly. I guess this is good in that I could relate the character to someone, except the person I related her to was fictional. Aside from that, the characters were quirky, but never developed enough for an epic tale. I really wanted to connect with Mercury, or to feel something for him as a character. I wanted a glimpse of something worth hanging on to. In the end there were a few flashes of that, but they didn't come from the plot, but instead an understanding of what heroes (or maybe anti-heroes) represent... I just wanted something...

Theology:
As a Catholic, this book had very little loyalty to Catholic teaching. Not that I expected much loyalty from a Protestant writer, I was still hoping to hang a theological hat on something... that wasn't to happen. I couldn't tell if this was satire or mockery... that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall:
Generally, the book was OK, but not super compelling. You saw how it was going to end early on, but even with twists and turns, you weren't scooting out to the edge of your seat at any point. Too much emphasis was placed on the wrong things, and I felt like the characters only got to about 2 3/4 dimension. As a Catholic, I felt that there was a strain of anti-Catholicism in the book, especially in the "anti-moral." I dont know exactly what the authors intent was, but there were bits that made me a little squeamish. In the end, I am glad I read it, but it took me longer than I thought to get through it.

It isn't up there with a Dekker or Peretti in terms of "Christian Fiction" but it is worth the read. There is a follow up, "Mercury Rising" and something tells me that it will bet better than this one... hopefully the coincidental altruism of Mercury will blossom into some virtue driven heroic trait. (less)

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Aug 11, 2011 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Suspend your disbelief, and you can have some fun with this book. A warning though: if having religion satirized is upsetting to you, it'd be best to skip this one.

Take one journalist, one newspaper owner who believes that he has always received messages from God, throw in some angels and demons, and a military general, shake them all together, and if you're Kroese, you get "Mercury Falls." The journalist reports on every "end time" revelation at its appointed time, interviewing believers, waiti...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Wolfechu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: available

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Despite me knowing the author is American, the humour (at least to me) seems very British. This is probably down to the self-admitted influence of Douglas Adams on the author, though a lot of the time I'm reminded more of Tom Holt at his best, probably because of the mythological bent of the book... Anyway, I expect it's traditional to review the book, not the author, but I tend to get sidetracked a little.

I liked this. A lot. But then I was sold when I found out it was...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Manda rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of absurd humor and satire, especially fans of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett

I first picked up this book because the premise sounded very interesting, and the promise of Pratchett/Adams style humor intrigued me. After the recent failed Harold Camping apocalypse prediction, I felt it would be perfect for the occasion. The first half of the book was mildly interesting, enough to keep my attention, but I didn't think it was going to be anything special. The book picks up in the second half with the introduction of Mercury. It's in this second half that the book becomes heav...more I first picked up this book because the premise sounded very interesting, and the promise of Pratchett/Adams style humor intrigued me. After the recent failed Harold Camping apocalypse prediction, I felt it would be perfect for the occasion. The first half of the book was mildly interesting, enough to keep my attention, but I didn't think it was going to be anything special. The book picks up in the second half with the introduction of Mercury. It's in this second half that the book becomes heavily philosophically centered with long stretches of dialogue and Bible verses. I personally didn't have much of a problem with that, but it does come across as overbearing at times and changes the entire tone of the book. It only takes once - the first time Christine expresses her opinion on the matter of angels, the apocalypse, and the Divine Plan - for me to understand what he is trying to say, but he repeats, and repeats, and repeats until you start to wonder if he questions his audience's attention span (or level of reading comprehension). It feels like the author in trying to express his opinions by beating you over the head with them...at every chance he gets.

I do admit, the way in which it's presented is reminiscent of The Hitchhiker's Guide, and that was somewhat the appeal for me. The characters seem to be based on archetypes from that book. Christine vaguely reminds me of Arthur, Mercury vaguely reminds me of Zaphod...Karl of Marvin. I like the way it's written and the style. The way the words are strung together is often clever. There aren't tons of glaring grammatical or spelling errors, which is a breath of fresh air for an indie author. Needless to say, if you like the way HHGG is written, you'll probably enjoy this as well.

The humor is witty, dry, sarcastic and cynical..all my favorite things. The problem is that the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The jokes were amusing, but never laugh out loud worthy. In most cases, it felt a little too forced - not organic enough to be convincing. The plot and all the angels' schemes change constantly and there are more "twists" than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. And by "twists" I mean the double crosses and backstabbing gets really predictable and ridiculous after a while.

What I really didn't like is that there is too much unnecessary snarky social commentary that centered around a certain author (named Katie Midford in the book) who writes a young adult series about a teenage warlock (read: Harry Potter). I was turned off at the obvious and constant bashing of the series, author, and its fanbase NOT because I'm an obsessive and easily offended fan, which I am not, but because it had the potential to be extremely funny but instead came across as a rage-fueled rant. There's almost no attempt to hide it, either (Charlie Nix and the Flaming Cup!), so to me, it seemed like the author needed to make it painfully clear that he had opinions there were tinged with jealousy ("While Christine was struggling to survive as a journalist, a talentless hack like Katie Midford was making millions from fabricated garbage about troglodytes and vampires."). Thankfully, Katie becomes a somewhat important character at the last minute to somewhat justify all the non-related bashing throughout the book. I enjoy social commentary as much as the next cynical person, but I think it could have been presented a lot better.

Also, I noticed that the characters seem to overuse the phrase "That is." As in, "Blah blah blah. That is, blah blah blah." I did a search within the book and it came up 19 times. A weird nitpick, to be sure, but the fact that I noticed it shows that it was enough to be slightly irritating.

I enjoyed this book. It was indeed a fun read, and I'm glad that I decided to pick this one up. I think my biggest complaint is the over-exertion of personal opinion, but that might just be me. Perhaps a little more subtlety would have worked wonders.(less)

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Mar 16, 2011 John Eddy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: series

While Heaven and Hell, and, of course, Earth, are rushing headlong towards the contractually agreed upon Armageddon but one renegade (yet not yet fallen) angel, along with one road weary reporter on the End of the World beat, have worked out just what is going wrong and decided to try and stop it, at least for now.

The short version: Good book, I recommend giving it a reading.

The (likely to be) longer version:
I don't know when I started following the author, Rob Kroese, on twitter. Or why, for...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Patrick Gibson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humorous, science-fiction

Never again will I feel bad for not being able to understand the Book of Revelations. As it turns out, according to Robert Kroese's "Mercury Falls", nobody in Heaven or Hell totally understands it either.

Not since Christopher Moore's "Lamb" have Sunday School stories been so hilarious. Nothing funny about Bible stories? Think again! I dare even the staunchest of conservative Christians to try reading this book without laughing out loud at least once a chapter!

Kroese has developed characters th...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've never been on any "plane" except the Mundane nor have I traveled through portals or seen the world on the brink of the apocalypse but novelist Robert Kroese brought me there and I am thankful for the trip!

Christine is a journalist who is tired of covering stories about the end of the world. Mercury is an angel who is supposed to be a coordinator for the apocalypse. These two meet, along with the anti-christ and all hell breaks loose... almost. Angels and demons are planning and blundering...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Weston Locher rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humor, 2010-reads

Rob "Diesel" Kroese can make anything funny. If you read his blog, Mattress Police, then you already know this. For those unfamiliar with his past and first experiencing him through Mercury Falls, then you are seeing a man at the top of his writing game.

There's a reason that people are ranting, raving, and leaving 5 star reviews for this book all over the web: It's so entertaining that you can't put it down, and once you finish the final chapter, you head right to Google to find out when the mov...more

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Nov 23, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocolypse, fantasy, humor

You all know I love apocalypses, if that is indeed the correct pluralization. There's just something about the end of the world that really gets me going, and if it can be done with some sense of humor and insight, that's even better.

Mercury Falls has the distinction of being the first full-length book I've read on my Kindle, and let me say that it was a good christening. While I'm not writing a Kindle review, I have to admit that the device works very well. It's easy to read, easy to make notes...more

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Nov 17, 2009 Jennifer (JC-S) rated it 4 of 5 stars

‘The Apocalypse has a way of fouling up one’s plans.’

Ah yes, it’s the end of the world. Again. Agreements have been reached and the associated paperwork has been completed. The Four Attache cases of the Apocalypse are out there, as is the Antichrist.

What can prevent the Apocalypse?

Enter Christine Temetri, a journalist who covers the antics of ‘End of the World’ cults for a religious magazine. Christine is thinking about a career change, and is seeking some new floor-covering. Hmm: one out of two...more

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Nov 16, 2009 Adam Avitable rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mercury Falls is the first book by blogger, cat fancier, and penis mightier Robert "Diddletits" Kroese. I originally bought this book directly from Amazon out of pity. Here was this blogger with a sometimes marginally amusing, sometimes hilarious, and always anal retentive and didactic blog who had managed to string together 300-rough pages of words and self-publish it, and he was pushing it and offering blowjobs, teen Thai hookers, and giant-sized chocolate bars for anyone who would even consi...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Liske rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Witty and entertaining, with a great plot line and many laugh-out-loud moments (though I can only speak for myself, of course). The book is easy to read and draws you in with it's conversational tone/style... if I may call it that... no, wait: let's go with flowing. The whole book just keeps flowing and moves you along perfectly with it, almost forcing you to continue reading (though I suspect "compelling" is probably a better word choice).

If you're highly religious and don't like people talking...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Shawn Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first thing I told someone who asked me about Mercury Falls was, "It is a lot like Good Omens. The humor is much the same, and the humor is even more central to the book than the plot."

The plot is interesting, however. Much like Good Omens, Mercury Falls is centered on the event of the Apocalypse. Not just a boring, by-the-book apocalypse, however. No, in this apocalypse, Heaven and Hell are perennial adversaries bound by the bureaucratic creep of an over-active legal system.

Apocalypse will...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Danielle Young rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love angels and I love sarcasm. So when you put the two together you literally make my day. And that is exactly what this book does. It gives me angels and all their glory and lots of sarcasm, and even better than that, it gives me a sarcastic angel who would much rather build snowmen then do his actual job, which is helping to bring about Armageddon. But really Mercury would rather do anything but his job seeing himself as something of a rebel. But when he meets Christine, the religious repor...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mercury Falls is about as close as it gets to a perfect book for me. As someone who grew up with traditional religion and spent many hours in philosophy classes throughout college learning to question and re-evaluate that religion, finally finding a "faith" that was my own, the book was bound to be fascinating to me from the start as the author eschews much of the what is considered traditional "Christianity" in this story and presents some interesting perspectives for one to consider. By itself...more Mercury Falls is about as close as it gets to a perfect book for me. As someone who grew up with traditional religion and spent many hours in philosophy classes throughout college learning to question and re-evaluate that religion, finally finding a "faith" that was my own, the book was bound to be fascinating to me from the start as the author eschews much of the what is considered traditional "Christianity" in this story and presents some interesting perspectives for one to consider. By itself, that would generally yield some interesting material, however, throw in a Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett sensibility into the narrative add some very clever, intelligent writing with some great twists and turns throughout, and you have just about perfection. Finally, beyond all of that, we're already given to enjoy, the book is genuinely, bitingly funny. I sincerely can't remember the last time I laughed aloud reading a book as I did this one.

While the book is primarily a satire at it's core, it often asks thought provoking questions or uses discussions between characters to prompt the reader to reflect on some very interesting thoughts that may cause them to reconsider beliefs they may have held for quite some time without too much examination. Other times, he's a bit more subtle and uses some seemingly random activity happening off to the left of the main narrative to make his point, usually very effectively.

This certainly may not "comfortable" reading for those who consider themselves a traditional mainstream "American" Christians as the satire certainly does not paint a picture of an orderly and morally unambiguous Heaven and Hell, God and Lucifer and a black and white, literal Bible. (Though it certainly doesn't go so far as to be what I consider heretical). However, if you're not too caught up in a strict, King James version of God, Jesus, et al, then you'll probably be just great with the book. Overall, I can't recommend this book highly enough, it's got something for everyone whether your a fan of satire, religion, philosophy, humor or just a well told story.....this story's got it all and more. This was my first book by Kroese and it certainly won't be my last.(less)

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Feb 17, 2013 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, library

Really more of a 3.5, in that it was exactly the sort of book I needed to read right now, so my enjoyment of the book was a bit higher than the actual quality.

Because of the subject matter, humor, and footnotes, there will inevitably be comparisons drawn between Mercury Falls and Good Omens. I haven't read any reviews here on GR for this book, but I suspect a number of them make that parallel. MF is a book about the Apocalypse, an unexpected human AntiChrist who doesn't know his role, an averag...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Jaylia3 rated it 4 of 5 stars

This cleverly funny apocalyptic romp is filled with angels, fallen and faithful, and humans, determined and clueless. The angels, both heaven’s and Satan’s, are great at seeing the big picture but sometimes careless about details, and they are so used to following orders and doing as they are told, even if they don’t understand why, that they have very little ability to stand back and ask themselves if their actions are accomplishing something good or bad. The exception is Mercury, a whimsical f...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I loved this. Loved it. Humorous, sharp and clever - unabashedly picking apart the idea of free will, destiny, religion and divine intervention with fantastic action and dialogue. One of my favorites:

"The bullet, having thoroughly enjoyed this hole-punching business, proceeded to punch holes in the windows of four nearby cars, finally coming to rest on page 328 of a dog-eared copy of Gravity's Rainbow, which is 186 pages further than anyone else had ever gotten."

It begins with a reporter who's...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Russell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mercury Falls tells the story of Christine, a journalist who is growing tired of her job writing in apocalyptic cults who ultimately don't seem to really know what they're talking about. But things change when she meets cult leader Mercury, a rogue angel and Karl the newly appointed Antichrist and she realizes that the trip must work together to stop the impending apocalypse.

Mercury Falls is a father fun and interesting read, portraying both heaven and hell as a mass of hopelessly complicated b...more Mercury Falls tells the story of Christine, a journalist who is growing tired of her job writing in apocalyptic cults who ultimately don't seem to really know what they're talking about. But things change when she meets cult leader Mercury, a rogue angel and Karl the newly appointed Antichrist and she realizes that the trip must work together to stop the impending apocalypse.

Mercury Falls is a father fun and interesting read, portraying both heaven and hell as a mass of hopelessly complicated bureaucracy in which the apocalypse is an agreed upon battle between heaven and earth that was finally agreed to after thousands of years of legal fighting. It's easy to read and I found myself breezing through it and enjoying various parts of the book that I found to be inspired especially when it actually examined the idea of free will and independent thought.

But the problem I had is that the book is that it can feel a bit too pleased with itself at times, forcing some humor that feels like the author trying to be funny as opposed to creating humor that stems from the situation itself which results in a lot of forced snarkiness and pop culture references that fall a bit flat. Another problem I had is that the characters are somewhat flat, Christine is a bit bland and Karl is one of those character who is so dumb that you can't imagine how they're still alive. The author clearly has a great deal of love for the character Mercury, and since I didn't really find him as interesting as the author did, it can feel a bit much. He's essentially supposed to be a funny, charming, clever slacker who is also brilliant at doing the right thing at the right time to save the situation when needed, which felt just too "perfect" in a sense.

I also felt that the entire concept of the apocalypse never felt as if it were an immediate danger, which sound stupid I know. But the characters seemed rather removed from the whole situation, and the book lacked a real sense of danger and urgency.

But as I said, it was an enjoyable, albeit flawed read. For this with a particular sense of humor, I'm sure they would love it, but I never found myself laughing out loud. But I'd still recommend it for those who are interested.(less)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6931171-mercury-falls?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368753041l/6931171.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6931171-mercury-falls?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Mercury Falls by Robert Kroese[/url]

Mercury Falls (Mercury Series #1)

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