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catherinehaines

catherinehaines

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A Spy in the House
Y.S. Lee
Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization
Alex Irvine
Mercy  - Rebecca Lim Pitched to me as "Quantum Leap with angels" ((Laugh all you like, it's actually a very apt description, and the perfect shorthand for describing it)), Mercy is the great start to a fresh new series from Australian author Rebecca Lim.

One of the most appealing things about Mercy was the voice of the titular character. As an angel Mercy's voice is (for the most part) wise beyond her years; there is a sense about her, in her choice and words and way she describes things, that is more mature than the age of her current host; there's also the weariness behind her words, and the knowledge and experiences of the lives she has passed through adds to that. But this is nicely contrasted with Mercy's limited memory, limited knowledge of what it really means to be (and act) human and most difficult at all - at least with regards to the immediate problem at hand - the fact that she does not know anything about the body she has surfed into... save the fact that there is a problem that she must fix. And even that's not made perfectly clear. Overall Mercy's voice makes it an interesting read as I tried to discern where each part of Mercy actually was, and where her limits of knowledge and understanding actually were. Although she is a little distant at times, it was fascinating to see where Mercy thought her own limits were.

The other thing that I really enjoyed was the emphasis on the mystery plot. It was there right from the start and even when it was not at the forefront (which was not exactly that often) it was still bubbling underneath, pushing things forward even when it was not exactly seen. It was actually great to see a paranormal novel where the entire plot isn't just "OMG [CREATURE/BEING]" (or "OMG THE HOT GUY IS A [CREATURE/BEING]") - in Mercy the paranormal aspect is a means of helping heal/solve the (disturbingly) human problem - in this case a family that's been torn apart by a missing daughter, and the son who is convinced that he can find his sister, if only he just had the next clue. And here Rebecca Lim deftly combines both aspects, two separate things that are great on their own, and makes it into something that I couldn't put down until I knew what had happened. And if that time happened to be after midnight, then so be it.

Whether you're a fan of angels, mysteries or even Quantum Leap mixed with a bit of fantasy, then I suggest you give Mercy a go.