Mercury Rises

Mercury Rises - Robert Kroese While not the equal of Mercury Falls, Mercury Rises is still ample evidence that Robert Kroese is the best humorist on the south side of Christopher Moore and one of the best social satirists since Douglas Adams. There is certainly a lot of influence from both writers. Kroese has a singular wit and a talent for lambasting both mythical warhorses and pop culture silliness in the same paragraph...
"Bigger than the Attache Cases of the Apocalypse?" asked Uzziel. "Like what? I've looked into the reports of M. Night Shymalian remaking The Greatest Story Ever Told and it's baseless.

As the series continues, the cherub Mercury is in the Babylonian Empire of 2000 BC (I now know what a ziggurat is) These are some of the funniest moments in the novel and there are some clever exchanges between Mercury and Noah. Look for a bad pun about eating Ham. In the meantime, Christine is still in the now and is discovering her attempt to prevent the apocalypse is not yet complete.

But here is where problems occur. Mercury and Christine do not reunite until well in the second half of the novel. I relish their exchanges as much as I relish a Hepburn/Tracy movie. (Did I lose the reader under 30 with that sentence?) Also, there are quite a few other plots going on and the swift changeovers from chapter to chapter tended to bother me. But I suspect that will not bother a lot of readers. Overall, this is a very funny novel that mixes social satire, pop culture and metaphysical philosophy well. It is highly recommended with one warning. The author and some reviewer have implied that this is a stand-alone novel. It isn't. Read Mercury Falls first unless you enjoy being confused.