Mercury Striking
Series: The Scorpius Syndrome #1
Genre: Post-Apocolyptic Romance
Author: Rebecca Zanetti
Release Date: January 26, 2015

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 L.A., 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…

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She was everything he didn’t deserve, everything good, and he’d make sure she stayed safe for the rest of her life, no matter what he had to do.

Rebecca Zanetti’s Sin Brothers series was easily my favorite that I read by her…until I read this book. I’m hooked and there’s no looking back. Now admittedly I’m not a reader that enjoys the post-apocalyptic world in my books. But Rebecca is one of the few authors I was willing to make an exception for because I truly love her work, and boy was I glad that I did because I loved the absolute hell out of this book. It’s not your typical post-apocalyptic zombie story. It’s so much more than that and with an intriguing twist to boot. The world building is rich and captivating, the romance is sizzling hot, and the set up is so enticing that you’ll be hooked from the very first chapter!

Were you like this before Scorpius, Jax?”
“Like what?” he whispered.
“A killer without remorse. A survivor at all costs. So…. cold.
“Yes. I’ve always been like this.”

When a deadly bacterium struck and killed off 99% of the population, it left the survivors…different. If they managed to survive the Scorpius induced fever, their brain was forever altered either heightening their intelligence but turning half of the infected into Rippers. These Rippers coming in two kinds; highly organized and intelligent serial killers or just plain crazy. Lynn Harmony was the former head of infectious diseases at the CDC until she got infected and an experiment for a cure on herself went wrong and gave her a very distinct blue heart. Now with people believing she’s the carrier for a much deadlier strand of the bacterium, she’s forced to go on the run. Desperate for a cure she believes may be out there, she’s going on nothing but the rumor of the existence of the one man that may be able to help her; Jax Mercury.

Jax is an ex gang member turned army special ops that is now the leader of a vigilante group of Scorpius survivors. When Lynn “Blue Heart” Harmony shows up on his door with the promise of a cure in exchange for a favor she won’t name yet, he’s intrigued and suspicious. There’s an instant spark of attraction between them, even though they couldn’t be more different. The chemistry sparks up right away and only intensifies with each new day that Lynn spends at his camp.

Any chance you could get lost in the moment?”
“Green eyes, if I got lost in the moment, you’d be bent over the bed, face in the pillows, begging to come with every fiber of your being. I’d make you promise everything.

There is a novella that sets up the series that I haven’t read yet; On the Hunt. That being said, I had no problems falling right into the set up of the world building. The chemistry between Jax and Lynne was easily my favorite part, but I highly enjoyed this new world that Rebecca Zanetti has written. Think Mad Max meet I Am Legend. The story itself is action packed with not a dull moment to be found. There’s twists at every turn that are enough to keep you on your toes and eagerly turning the pages. And did I mention the romance? Because oh my ovaries was it hot!

Sweet, you could’ve handled. Sure, there would’ve been emotion, and that’s tough. But this way? My way?
This way, I’ll own you.”

Lynn was a fantastic heroine with just enough backbone to make her the right sort of kick ass but also with a vulnerability to endear her as well. Jax was everything I love in a hero; damaged with a hidden vulnerable side with a dash of dirty talker. He was absolute perfection. There’s a slew of secondary characters introduced as well, that caught my attention right away. The main one being Raze. Lucky for me, his story will be next and the set up for it? Shiver inducing.

I have a feeling that fans of Rebecca Zanetti will be eating up this series with the same fervor I had. Filled with action and suspense, captivating characters and super sexy romance, this book managed to hit every single one of my checkboxes.

He dropped his forehead to hers, his hand encircling her nape. Then he slid out and back in, the feeling as close to heaven as a killer like he would ever find.

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