Mercury Rests

Mercury #3

by Robert Kroese

Mercury Rests: The epic conclusion to the Mercury trilogy!

After foiling an attempt to destroy the universe, Mercury has gone missing. And with the devil already putting the final fiendish touches on his next scheme to bring about the apocalypse, all that stands between Lucifer and his dreams of a hellfire holocaust are two misfit humans: jaded religion reporter Christine Temetri and mild-mannered forensic analyst Jacob Slater.

But the pair soon realize that the Prince of Darkness has set his sights higher than they can reach; he’s planning to bring his battle for domination straight to the pearly gates. They’ll need the wisecracking, ping-pong loving, apathetic angel Mercury to help save the day, the world, and heaven before the clock ticks down to the End Times…if they can find him.

By turns epic and explosive, Mercury Rests concludes the trilogy that Booklist describes as a “hilarious romp” that has “cult favorite written all over it.”

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Angels, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Comedy

346 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2012

About the author

Robert Kroese's sense of irony was honed growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan - home of the Amway Corporation and the Gerald R. Ford Museum, and the first city in the United States to fluoridate its water supply. In second grade, he wrote his first novel, the saga of Captain Bill and his spaceship Thee Eagle. This turned out to be the high point of his academic career. After barely graduating from Calvin College in 1992 with a philosophy degree, he was fired from a variety of jobs before moving to California, where he stumbled into software development. As this job required neither punctuality nor a sense of direction, he excelled at it. In 2009, he called upon his extensive knowledge of useless information and love of explosions to write his first novel, Mercury Falls. Since then, he has written 18 more books.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercury Rests
By Robert Kroese
This book is even better than the last one! I had lots of giggles going on! Mercury is so funny! I'll have to save up for the last books. This book is genius in the humor and wit department. Terrific fun, banter situations, and unpredictability. Loved it.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please note: I will not change my rating or review, as my reviews are based upon the book, but I will warn other bloggers that this author has recently treated a fellow blogger very badly and abusively when she politely declined his review request and advised him to follow submission guidelines in the future when requesting a review. I have removed myself as a fan of this author and will no longer support him through purchasing his books.

Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy/Humorous
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of the series, those who enjoy a humorous story and aren't too serious about religion.

My Thoughts: I must say, this book is worth the price if for no other reason than to see Lucifer's resumé. Then there were the aspects of the earliest attempts at religion.

“The best the wise men could do was to come to a general agreement that everybody would be better off if people weren't such assholes all the time. Even this modest principle was undermined by the fact that the gods themselves seemed to be mostly assholes, doing assholish things like dismembering each other and scattering each other's limbs along the Nile.”

Then, of course, you have wonderful dialogue like: “Unusual” repeated Christine. “You mean like someone flying into outer space and imploding the moon with a glass apple?”

“That was an atypical scenario,” said Jacob, in what Christine thought was a solid candidate for Biggest Understatement of All Time.

While not quite as funny as the first two books, this one definitely had its share of laugh-out-loud-funny moments. I was absolutely delighted to notice that two of Tiamat's demons were called Konrath and Scalzi! Anyway, this entire series is just absolutely delightful and I highly recommend it for people who enjoy a laugh and aren't too serious about religion. Definitely check out these highly readable and fun books.

Series Information: Mercury Rests is the third novel in the Mercury series.
Prequel One: Mercury Begins, review linked here where formatting allowed
Prequel Two: Mercury Swings, review linked here where formatting allowed
Book 1: Mercury Falls, read in September 2010, review linked here where formatting allowed
Book 2: Mercury Rises, review linked here where formatting allowed

Disclosure: I received a paperback ARC from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: After foiling an attempt to destroy the universe, Mercury has gone missing. And with the devil already putting the final fiendish touches on his next scheme to bring about the apocalypse, all that stands between Lucifer and his dreams of a hellfire holocaust are two misfit humans: jaded religion reporter Christine Temetri and mild-mannered forensic analyst Jacob Slater.

But the pair soon realize that the Prince of Darkness has set his sights higher than they can reach; he’s planning to bring his battle for domination straight to the pearly gates. They’ll need the wisecracking, Ping-Pong loving, apathetic angel Mercury to help save the day, the world, and heaven before the clock ticks down to the End Times… if they can find him.

[Uli Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had my problems with Kroese's style and plots but am gradually getting into liking his endless dialogues and hunts down corridors on several planes of reality.

[David Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever read the Bible just for fun, then this is the book just for you.
It adds a lot of humor and a whole new meaning to the old testiment writings like Genesis, Job, Jonah, etc and borrows some ancient knowlege from Apocryphal texts, like the book of Enoch which draws angelic, demonic and human characters together into a fast paced comedy drama, being the third instalment to the initial Mercury falls, followed by Mercury rises. It's important to read them in the right order.
It gets a bit Scooby Dooish, which greatly adds to it's comedic charm and even a tiny bit of romance, enough for me anyway.
Will those meddling kids1 avert the apocylipse, or will the demons destroy all of us? You'll get no spoilers from me!
1 By kids I mean FBI agents, billionaires and religious reporters, all of whom are quite diminutive compared to angels and demons.

[Sho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the Mercury books seems more mad than the last. I probably would have been better off if I'd read this right after the last one because I kept thinking "eh? what?"

Even so, the writing is brilliant and it was worth its cover price for the Genesis and Roger Daltry jokes.

I've now bought the fourth book, and the prequel, and I won't be waiting too long before I will be reviewing those.

Oh and - in the absence of The Wonder That Was Douglas Adams, these are a very very good substitute.

[Kimberly Souder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one as well and enjoyed the ending. There was some time travel, which was done surprisingly well in terms of consistency. I could see it being a bit confusing for some, though, because it does jump around between past and present and future a fair amount. Overall, it was a pretty decent plot and I enjoyed the writing.

[Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could be funnier than the Apocalypse? Not much when Kroese writes about it. Laugh out loud funny. Imagining Angels as subject to the same bureaucracies and politics as the rest of us, Kroese provides an entertaining, suspenseful and ultimately very human account of beings trying to end all existence.

[Eric Folley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much, especially the ending, which I must say I didn't see coming. Not that you would see it coming; it's a bit of a deus ex machina, but then it is a story about heaven, so that's OK. In the context of the series, this one comes in a close second before the first book.

[Rek21 · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read and series, mercury is one of those character who you want to slap as they are so annoying but still have an endering quality that you want to see how all the charatcers develop.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly, this series is just what the doctor ordered after having already enjoyed Good Omens, both times, and having gone through a binge of both seasons of GO and Supernantural.

Mercury, our snide, human-loving Cherubim who doesn't really like ANY of the angels or demons in any plane of existence, still manages to do ALL their jobs for them, complaining about getting head-shotted all the while.

And let's not forget the friendly rivalry between Jobe and Cain on the ping-pong table.

Good stuff. Lots of Apocalypse-breaking, time travel, Queens of Darkness, plan-full Satan, and failed book writing.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel as if this was the weakest of the Mercury books. A fun read still.

[Laura Pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was afraid I would be disappointed in the ending, but was VERY pleasantly surprised. Well worth the read!

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this series. The dialogue is a funny -- not groundbreaking, but funny. I love a good apocalypse comedy. I am looking forward to the last 2 in the series.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still enjoying the wit and humor of Mercury in this series. All told, a better book than #2 even though there is a lot of recap in this one.

[Morgan Trias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very satsifying conclusion thought this book was generally better, connected with the characters and plot more, more interesting.

[Allen Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story continues with familiar characters and some new villains.

[Kelly Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot isn't driving but always an amusing journey. My favorite parts are the retelling of biblical stories from Mercury's point of view.

[Graham Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More entertaining than #2

[Jevgenij · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time loop, yay! Unfortunately the third installment in the series felt like a proper direction was lacking. And unsatisfying ending was a proof of that.

[Chad Kovac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercury is a card.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars


Wow, what an awesome conclusion to the Mercury Trilogy. Robert Kroese made the pieces of the obvious and for gone conclusion come together in such a way that will leave you laughing out loud. There are countless one liners and funny situations that will leave you wanting more.



I enjoyed all three novels but found that the more I read about Mercury, Christine, Eddie, Lucifer…and more, the more I began to appreciate what I had already read. This is a satire Urban Fantasy series that is incredibly funny. Our main hero is a rogue angel named Mercury who is by his nature a real pain in the ass. He has a real soft spot for humanity, and lives to be the wrench in the machine. A cool fact about him is that he loves ping pong as do other characters in this series (I am obsessed with table tennis!)



This book takes deep philosophical subjects, pokes fun at them, tears them up, and maybe even puts them back together again. You can definitely get a lot out of the themes from this series, or you can simply enjoy the ride:



““I don’t think there’s any such thing as supernatural forces,” answered Jacob. “More precisely, I don’t think supernatural is a useful term. When you say something is supernatural, what you’re really saying is that it’s unnatural, which is a negative definition. It’s basically saying that there is a class of phenomena that we understand, which we callnatural phenomena, and then there’s a class of stuff that we don’t understand, which we call supernatural. So when you say something is supernatural, all you’re really saying is that you don’t understand it. And that’s not a property of the phenomenon; it’s a property of the observer of the phenomenon. In other words, a television set would be supernatural to a Neanderthal, because television falls outside of the Neanderthal’s understanding of what is natural. “



A hilarious scene unfolds at the end of this book and Mercury has to explain how stupid people can be in their disbelief:



““Satan? The devil himself? Yep.”
“Bullshit,” said one of the men.
“You’re right,” said Mercury. “He’s not the devil. He’s just some random guy delivering American-made nuclear weapons to other dimensions. And you’re helping him because that’s just the kind of unquestioning dumbfuck you are. Feel better now?””



The ending of this novel uses the unique aspect of the book regarding, time, alternate planes of reality, and alternate dimensions, to pull all the strings together in way that would be impossible without these aspects. I was laughing out loud and rereading things out loud that I found to be so damn clever, and funny. I have to give credit to Kroese, he really made it all work out. I was waiting for the end scene where two old men(maybe Jesus and God), where Jesus would open up his wallet and pay off $1 to God .



I loved this book and will definitely reread this series. More importantly, I want to tell all of you that enjoy a good satire in the vein of Terry Pratchett that you need to read these books….My highest recommendations…

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So we've come to the end. Not just the end of the Mercury trilogy, the hysterical fantasy series by author Rob Kroese, but the end of the world if the characters running loose in Mercury Rests have anything to do with it. You've got a rogue demoness trying to take over the world (but mostly just blowing up large chunks of it), the Devil himself trying for a bigger prize, Job and Cain (yes, the ones from the Bible) playing ping pong at the end of the world, and as usual one wise-cracking angel named Mercury neck deep in the whole mess.

I'm not going to spend much time summarizing the plot of Mercury Rests, because chances are if you're reading this you've already read Mercury Falls and Mercury Rises (bonus points if you grabbed the Mercury Swings and Mercury Begins short stories) and want to know if the series ends well and if Kroese continues to deliver the goods. The answer to both is a resounding yes.

As good as Mercury Rises was, it didn't quite have the same momentum the first book had, and I got the impression that a sequel was never in the original plan. With Mercury Rests though, Kroese makes a smooth transition from the second book and ties the whole trilogy together in one grand apocalyptic epic. You see the big picture as well as the subplots. As usual, the book is loaded with sarcasm, wry commentary and geek culture in-jokes, and was enough to make me laugh out loud on several occasions. There's also some depth here, especially in the title character. You get used to his jokes and the way he stumbles through various crises, but in this book we get a glimpse at the weight Mercury has been carrying on his shoulders throughout the centuries, and his dedication to doing the right thing. Well, it made an impression on me at least. Aside from that, Mercury Rests has great supporting characters, sinister plots, angels, demons and nuclear weapons galore.

This is a completely satisfying and completely entertaining end to one of the best series to come along in quite some time. If you enjoyed the first two books in the series, you will not be disappointed with Mercury Rests, aside from some general sadness that the series is over. If you haven't yet tried the series but enjoy humorous fantasy epics along the lines of Christopher Moore, Kevin Smith and Terry Pratchett, you owe it to yourself to check out Rob Kroese's books. Give Mercury Falls a try. You'll be back here before you know it.

[Lanae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now where were we... Oh yes, so the moon had been just a little bite taken out of it by an apple bomb that the angel Mercury had thrown at it. Right, well, Mercury finds himself a little lost after that but never fear a chance meeting with Cain and Job -- nah that clears up nothing, still all foggy. But hey, there's always Lucifer - we learn what cable news show he loves, not to mention what reality show he is a fan of. Somehow, whilst being a couch potato he does manage to make evil plans, oh and maybe convinces a hardened government agent to to say that he's accepted Jesus - evil Lucifer. Then there's always Christine - Now she can get us out of any mess, no? I mean it's not like we find her re-living the moment on the volcano or trapped in a bus with religious folk almost jealous their family members died in that implosion incident. At least we have a president who has his numbered smiles and "I'm Just a Bill" memorized". On second thought, humanity is doomed. The angels and demons can't figure out what they're doing - not even in fighting one another, the humans are just goofballs.

If that sounds crazy to you, then you probably haven't been reading this series and you should not be starting here, but instead go back to book one (Mercury Falls). I had loved the first book, thought the second book had slipped a little (but hey, follow-ups usually do). So where does that leave this, the third and presumably final book? It exceeded my expectations. It did jump from time and place nearly as often as book two (Mercury Rises) but it did a much better job of keeping us engaged in every location and character - sorry but in Rises my mind had started drifting at times vs in this book where I was always wanting to just keep reading. Definitely a well written conclusion that fans of the first two should be more than happy with.

[Francis S. Poesy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read either of the first two Mercury books you are lucky because now you can buy all three and glue them together and pretend they are one whole book. Kind of like I did with the Lord of the Rings and like my weird cousin did with his collection of OUI magazines back in the day.

Anyway, I enjoyed this final book in the trilogy as much as the other two but I'm thinking of re-reading all three in quick succession to really get the full effect. I told myself I would do that before I got Mercury Rests but I couldn't control myself and just holed up in my room and started reading it as soon as it hit my mailbox. Kind of like that cousin I was telling you about would do when the latest issue of OUI magazine would come out.

So, if you want to know more about what the story line is all about you can read the reviews of those who seem to think they can write a back cover blurb better than the publishing professional who got paid to do it. Me, I'll just tell you I liked it. I enjoy Rob's humor and the way he weaves philosophical ideas into the story along with some very funny pop culture references. So, I like it and I recommend you go out and buy it or borrow it and read it. You can buy it at Amazon or if you're lucky you can borrow a copy from a friend. You can't borrow it from me though because I don't lend books anymore. I learned my lesson a long time ago after letting that weird cousin of mine borrow my Alberto Vargas Pinup Poster Book.

[Calli · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mercury Rests" brings Robert Kroese's beloved 'Mercury' series to a tremendously satisfying conclusion. Although the first book of the trilogy, "Mercury Falls," remains a completely subjective favorite, I dare say that this is the best. The unique voice of series is as clear as ever here throughout action that spans not only the globe but space, Heaven, and time as well. Quirky, witty, thoughtful, and fun, this fast-paced offering managed to simultaneously draw the series to a worthy close and compel me to go back and begin reading the series anew. That's a rarity for me.

Kroese's diverse influences (literary, philosophical, and theological) are delightfully evident, but his work is truly singular. Attempts to fully describe it to the uninitiated typically begin with, "It will remind you of 'Hitchhiker's Guide,' 'Dogma,' Mel Brooks, or Monty Python," and always end with an exclamation of, "You just need to read it!" These are books you want to talk about and share. Don't let Kroese's "indie cred" make you skeptical---he is most assuredly the real deal. Fortunately for his ever-growing network of devoted readers, he is also quite prolific.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third part of the trilogy featuring the angel Mercury and probably the best of the bunch. This time round Mercury, Christine and Jacob have a double threat to deal with. Lucifer tries to use a secret military weapon to destroy heaven whilst Tiamat tries to get the chroton collider working again in order to take control over time and space. It's not going to be easy at all.

The book starts really oddly but once it gets going it turns into a proper romp. Mercury as usual gets all the best lines but Lucifer really becomes one of those likeable villains in this book. As with previous stories it is very witty but still makes you think about all sorts of theological questions. A big point in this is the idea that even though humans have evidence that angels and God exist they still refuse to believe it which I think is an interesting and a likely idea.

All in all Kroese has delivered a satisfying end to the series full of a range of ideas that blend together to make a madcap adventure which reminds me of authors like Douglas Adams. Very enjoyable.

[astaliegurec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Kroese's "Mercury Rests" theoretically ends his "Mercury" trilogy ( Mercury Falls , Mercury Rises , and now Mercury Rests ). The book reads just about like the previous two books in the series (light, humorous, irreverent), so the consistency is good. But, on the other hand, a fairly large part of the book is a re-hashing of the 2nd book from a different point of view. Regarding the pacing, there's a bit of a dragging point with Job and Cain fairly early in the book, but, in general, it's good. My biggest complaint with the book is the ending: Kroese ties up the stuff that needed tying up from the previous books, but he introduces points right at the end which throw things up in the air again. So, from what I can see, he's leaving himself room for another book at the expense of this book's ending. It's not the end of the world (ha ha), but it's enough for me to drop the book one star down to a merely OK 3 stars out of 5. If you've read the previous two books and enjoyed them, go ahead and read this one. It's an enjoyable couple of hours and you'll know what to expect.

[Courtney Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercury Rests is the 3rd installment in our Mercury trilogy... series.. thing. In any case, if you liked the first two books, you will likely enjoy this one as well. I actually liked the storyline better in this book than in the second. Things are completely messed up for Mercury and Christine - they and everyone else are about to be blinked out of existence, so on and so forth. The usual.

Mercury Rests picks up where Mercury Rises leaves off, but the author does a good job of reminding you what happened as you go along if it's been a while. There aren't many new characters introduced, which is nice and keeps everything manageable. This book does skip around a bit between characters, so having too many characters would make it confusing to remember who is doing what.

This book has all my favorite things: witty dialogue, silly situations, the end of the world, bumbling henchmen, and changes of heart. I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to the other side stories.

[Medeia Sharif · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book begins where the 2nd novel, MERCURY RISES, ends. There have been zany brushes with the apocalypse in this series—obviously, since there have been three books, Mercury, Christine, and Jacob have been doing a good job saving the day, although they are tested again in this novel. In MERCURY RESTS, Lucifer and Tiamat plot to gain power, there are engaging scenes between Mercury and biblical characters, and Christine is as dedicated as ever getting to the bottom of things. Mercury and company are racing to save the planet.

Although I enjoyed the first two books, I thought this was the strongest, but perhaps I’m being sentimental at the end of this trilogy. With a fantastic cast of characters and religious, political, and pop culture references, this was a fun read. The battle of good versus evil is brought to new, bizarre, and hilarious heights.

[Bobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a good example of why sometimes it's best to resist the temptation to stretch things out into a trilogy. The first book in the series was a sprightly satire, wittily riffing on the foibles of bureaucracy. By the second installment, the theme was beginning to get tedious. By the third, the proverbial horse was well flagellated. The author seems to have had a random collection of scenes he thought were too cool to ditch ("Hey, let's retell the story of Job...how about a fight scene between Mercury and Gamaliel...what if Cain met Job...let's give one of the characters Tourette's and have him make odd noises and claim that being off meds gives him superhuman speed...) so he loosely strung the whole thing together. Maybe it would have worked had the ending been at all satisfying, but I didn't think it was.