I am not going to spoil the plot, so will just wish Merc, Seraphina, Kyra and the others the best of luck!

Seriously ( or not) this book had more than a little Terry Pratchett about it, especially in the characters and the humour. For me, it was a very humorous read. At times I found myself laughing out loud ... but that’s my particular sense of the ridiculous!

The brilliance is in its ordinariness. It is a place we recognise, three dimensional characters we relate to, it is our world ... just slightly off tilt. Merc tries to save the world, and also combat a '‘errorist’ group. But everyone is popping pills and drinking alcohol. The world as we know it has become the world it possibly could be ... but no one cares.

The book explores the humour in all tragedy. It is possible to converse with impossible people and beings, who appear to think sensibly, or at least use ‘normal’ language. It becomes a thriller plus a detective mystery which has clues and red herrings. I found myself enthralled by the writing, and couldn’t put it down, staying awake very late to finish it.

I think Gerry McCullough could become the successor to Terry Pratchett, as she combines a fantasy world with the mores of the real one, using humour, great characterisation, and truisms. Underlying all her writing are messages to the reader about ‘what is really important’ just as the great TP used to do.

This is, however not ‘Disc World’ but ‘This World’ with all its problems magnified into the ‘future’, I hope to see Merc and the rest of the gang in more books, trying to help whoever needs them.

Excellent ... highly recommended.