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Mercury Rapids makes a good beach read for a short vacation. Author Steven Johnson has a witty, unique voice, which plays well with his irreverent protagonist, astronomer Bill Lewis. The prose flows fast and easy with a consistent cadence and enough action and mystery to keep the pages turning. Lewis's comebacks elicit chuckles at a one-per-page rate. This is almost a space comedy.
And it's a good thing that Johnson wrote a funny book, because Isaac Asimov this is not. The plot--alien Greys are abducting humans for experimentation and eventual extinction, with a few embellishments--covers no new ground. Rod Serling was doing this stuff fifty years ago.
The tale starts out strong. Lewis is a UFO skeptic who likes to have fun debunking believers--at the expense of his ufologist ex-wife. But then he himself is abducted, incised, and later visited by the ubiquitous Men in Black, who warn him to keep his mouth shut. Nothing new, but so far so good. Unfortunately, suspension of disbelief collapses as the MIB conspiracy expands to include virtually everyone in British and American government and military. Then, oddly, the protagonist and his now-friendly-again ex-wife get all sentimental and decide to help some captured aliens (who've vowed to destroy Earth) escape. This nice gesture alone seems to change the minds of the Greys who have traversed millions of light years of space in their black triangles to carry out God's will: destroy their errant genetic experiment, mankind. This is "Can't we all just get along?" on a galactic scale.
If you can get past the lukewarm plot and any expectations of mind-bending conspiracies, Mercury Rapids is a fun and worthwhile read. Steven Johnson is a writer with tons of potential. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead

This book may sound like just another 'alien abductee, conspiracy, aliens taking over the world' story. But its not. It is light and humorous yet thought provoking. I found this book well written and well thought out with-yes the aliens are trying to wipe out mankind and yes there are mysterious 'men in black' but why they want to wipe us all out is well out of the ordinary not your usual we need your planet for water, food etc.
The setting of this book is wonderful, old rural England with quaint locations and very English characters, the main character is brilliant, a man who may seem slightly gutless but when the chips are down...
All in all MERCURY RAPIDS is a fine read from begining to end and definitely a must for SCI-FI fans.
I look forward to more from a talented author with much promise.
SIMON MURPHY AUTHOR OF THE VALENTINE ROSE.