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Overview
Tom Blake is a likeable but shy high school student, who fantasizes about adventure, romance, and discovering "portholes" to the past. Little does he know that all are about to come his way. Tom discovers that a local computer company is conditioning his fellow students for what he suspects is some evil purpose. He soon finds himself up against a corrupt organization with an agenda of genetic experimentation. Mercury Man evokes all the excitement of the best scifi, fantasy, and hero myths while never losing touch with ordinary urban contemporary reality.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"This is non-stop action.""What happens when an ordinary teenager discovers his friends are being brainwashed by a huge computer company? Action and suspense, with some super-heroics thrown in. With Tom Blake, Tom Henighan has created a character that teens will identify with."
Aha Blume, 701.com
VOYA
Who could refuse to read a novel that includes an evil corporation bent on domination of the world's teenagers, comic book superheroes, romance, family problems, a foxy grandpa, and a reluctant savior of his country? What more could a book need to make it a surefire grabber? Canadian Henighan's novel meets all criteria to be an authentic page-turner. Tom Blake, teenaged nobody, notices that all his friends, suddenly recruited to work for local computer company Fabricon, are behaving strangely. After sneaking into the building, Tom learns that his friends are being brainwashed to assist in the sinister genetic experiments of mad scientist Dr. Tarn. With the assistance of his comic-book collector grandfather, a mysterious father and daughter ruined by Fabricon, and a couple of golden-age superhero costumes, Tom joins the plot to bring down Tarn and foil his nefarious schemes. Although certainly not a work that will stand up to much analysis of plot and character development, this book offers as much entertainment value as an action movie. The plot creaks slightly, coincidences pile up thick and fast, unnecessary subplots about Tom's mother and his estranged father distract the reader, Grandpa Jack is almost too cute to be tolerated, and Tom's super-sized teen angst is occasionally exasperating. Flaws aside, the book is sheer reading fun-a natural choice for all who love stories in which good triumphs over evil, an unlikely hero gets the girl, and superheroes are real. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Dundurn Press, 253p., Trade pb. Ages12 to 18.—Jamie S. Hansen