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 Mercury's
War by Lora Leigh
review by Shar
Mercury's War by Lora Leigh came out September of
08. It is chronologically book 16 in her popular Breed
series. Mercury’s War is the fourth book published by
Berkley. The books before that were published in e-book
format by Ellora's Cave and had more of an erotica bend. The
books do NOT need to be read in order. I have only read the
four books published by Berkley and none of the e-books
(yet). The recent Berkley books are more paranormal romance
or urban fantasy with a strong romance element to it.
Mercury's War doesn't just focus on the lead
couple, but also various issues going on with the Breed and
human society. It is set in a contemporary setting which
makes it easier to relate to the events and wonder how our
world would react to the knowledge of genetically designed
"soldiers/assassins with Feline DNA.
The Breeds were designed and created to serve their
designers (and whoever they would be sold to), but were
finally "rescued" and their past revealed to the
unsuspecting public. Now new laws are being written to
accommodate having a new "species" on the planet. Some
humans are horrified while others see the Breeds as nothing
but soulless animals that should be destroyed (or worse).
As the Breeds learn more about themselves they discover new
secrets that are capable of causing their death or worse if
the humans find out. Mercury's War addresses this issue big
time as the lead character, Mercury Warrant, becomes a
possible danger to his own people.
Mercury is one of the few trusted enforcers of Sanctuary. He
is one of the "Lion Breeds" (a human mixed with lion DNA)
and is rare even among his own people as his beast was
designed "closer" to the surface than most Breeds. He is
the Breed other Breeds are scared of (for good reason).
After his future mate was killed, he was punished for the
blood bath that followed. He was finally freed after being
caged and drugged up till the dangerous inner beast aspect
was no longer a concern. Mercury is more alone than most not
only because of what he is, but because he will never have
that special mating bond his kind desires and expects, as
Breeds only have ONE mate in their lifetime.
Enter Ria Rodriguez. Someone has been slipping secrets from
Sanctuary to a pharmaceutical company. It is up to Ria to
pose as a clerk and discover who or what is the leak and
stop it. Unfortunately, her assignment won't be so simple as
she inspires an unexpected desire in one of the most
dangerous Breeds ever created. And added to that problem is
that Ria isn't his mate and when Mercury's future mate
show's up alive and ready to mate with Mercury, what will
happen to Ria?
One of the aspects of Leigh's Breeds series that I enjoy is
the world building. She has built up a nice mythos and
background for her Breeds. I really enjoy the overall story
arc to the series dealing with the ongoing discoveries and
battles that the Breeds and humans are going through. The
Breeds are trying to find their "niche" in this world they
were originally designed to serve as nothing better as
soulless slaves. They are now using the talents for
themselves. And for every strength they have, a weakness or
potential problem is shown. I like they aren't the perfect
"being". It is interesting to see how the world is
responding to them. Hell, it is interesting to see how they
respond to each other and their own "secrets".
Normally, when a book is labeled as paranormal romance I
don't expect some of the more interesting speculative
ethical issues that are brought up to appear as they did in
this book. The series has come a long way since being e-book
as the books have grown beyond just having spicey sex scenes
(which admittedly are still strongly in evidence here and
are VERY explicit), but it is the unique problems the Breeds
face that keeps me coming back for more. It seems as if each
Breed has it's own unique problems and not all can be dealt
with in a simple fashion as the breeds themselves are not
sure how they will or will not respond. In a way, I wish
Ms. Leigh would focus more on the world she has built than
on the romance angle as it is fascinating to see
architecture of the society in her books.
As for the romance angle, I enjoyed it as I did like the two
characters, Mercury and Ria. The chemistry between them was
believable. And I liked the heroine, Ria, as much as I
liked Dawn in the previous book. I also liked how Ria was
shown as being willing to get in the face of dangerous
authority figures when she knew she had to. She wasn't a
push-over at all which was awesome. She gave as good as she
got. I also liked the new twist by questioning what happens
to a Breed who loses his mate as they are known to mate with
only one person and if they lose that mate, then there is no
hope of family or that special bond of "love" that they all
desire. Since Mercury has lost his mate, where does that put
him and Ria? What becomes of their romance when the mate he
thought he lost comes back? Will biological DNA imperative
win or will Ria? And what will the consequences be?
I think the only disappointment I had in the book is that
the author didn't go far enough in answering the questions
she raised. It made sense what she wrote, but I wish she had
not when in what I would term the "easy way" because it
would've been interesting to see what happened if she went
the other route. I was a tad unsatisfied with the ending
because of that, but excited to see what comes next for the
Breeds. So I will be reading more in this series which
surprises me as I wasn't as hooked with the first two books
in the Berkley Breed series. But after Dawn's Awakening and
Mercury's War, I must have more.
I recommend at to those who don't mind the strong romance
element or aren't offended by frequent or explicit sex but
interested in some of the questions raised above as it is a
bit thought provoking on what would happen today if that
scenario happened. While it is a paranormal romance, it
could qualify on some aspects as urban fantasy as it brings
up many ideas that I hope the genres continue with. There is
suspense in trying to find out who is releasing the secret
and then there is the danger of what Mercury is and whether
he should caged and studied or let free which touches on
that ethical issue that I so enjoy. Is someone is possibly a
danger to your society whether he is a good person or not,
what do you do? Do you let him be free and risk a "time
bomb" to go off with the possibility of "infecting" others?
Or do you sacrifice that one for the knowledge that is
needed and the safety of the many? These aspects are why I
qualify it as urban fantasy and even a touches of science
fiction fantasy thrown in. Not for the weak at heart.
Overall rating: B with TONS of potential possible for the
series as the author continues.
About Shar
Shar is one of those rare readers who doesn't want to
write books. She just wants to read everyone else's instead.
Her dream is to own the most massive book library on the
planet. She lives somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains
where she can be found harassing the local bookstores for
more books. Her favorite genre lately is adult or young
adult
dark fantasy,
urban fantasy, and
paranormal romance. You can read more of her
ramblings at her
shartyrant.livejournal blog where she tries to corrupt
others into joining her on her quest to find more books to
read. |
