I'm not sure if I enjoyed this book or not, at times it was full of promise and others I found myself loosing interest.
Interesting characterisation but on the whole I found it a little confusing.

As usual in my reviews I will not rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews doing just that!).

To begin with I was totally gripped by this book - it seemed really promising as the pace was good, the plot seemed intriguing, and the characters were interesting. However, as the book progressed, I became confused - there were just too many strands and I couldn't see where some of them were coming from/going (I can't say too much or it would give away the plot!).

There were just so many ideas going on at once - various threads featured an ancient Oriental and his loyal followers, Zoroastrian ideas, the Medicis and Botticelli, the Pope, references to ancient Greek and Roman mysticism, time shifts, and not one but several love stories (ancient and modern).

I still enjoyed the book, but when I reached the end, it seemed to finish rather abruptly. However, for a first novel it's an entertaining read, and I will happily read other offerings by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

As a concept, Transit of Mercury sounds like a great read - combining the action and adventure of a Dan Brown novel with the mysticism and fantasy those books so often seem to be lacking. Unfortunately, Simon Jones' debut novel doesn't live up to its promises. The prose is overflowing, with details thrown at the reader in abundance and exuberance, Jones seems to expect that everyone has the same level of knowledge of renaissance Italian history and mysticism that he does. Additionally, the characters seem to be shoehorned together, immediately changing their attitudes and motivations seeming at whim. Transit of Mercury feels like a book that could be great if an editor would take a fine-tooth comb to it and clean it up.

Whilst trying to describe this book to a friend I ended up saying that it was a mixture of mysticism, history, science fiction (including time travel) and adventure - which pretty much sums it up. The term ‘genre defying’ is often used though rarely accurately but this novel really is impossible to catagorise.
The author’s scholarly background is obvious as his tale takes us from the time of the birth of Christ to the tragic history of the Medici family in Florence and on to the present day. It is very hard to describe the plot without spoilers but suffice to say the lead character, Tom, starts the novel as a banker with a cosy well paid job and all he could really wish for and, within a few pages, finds his life changed permanently.
The story involves the interplay of several factions and, to the author’s credit, it is by no means clear which, if any, are the ‘goodies’ as they all see themselves as serving the greater good. That said, Count Scala, is wonderfully, almost comically, presented as the archetypal moustache twirling, lady charming bad guy and yet, although we look forward to his inevitable defeat, he develops into a more sympathetic character as we realise how much he is driven by his history to be the person that he is and to do the deeds that he feels compelled to do.
The novel is a page turner though, as one would expect from a Oxford Graduate, the plot is complex and attention must be paid by the reader at all times or the labyrinthine twists and turns will soon leave one as lost as the Athenian sacrifices thrown into the Minotaur’s lair. My only criticism is that there is so much going on in the story that it can feel rushed, and, would, I think, have been even more compelling had it been a series of three (or more) novels where the Rinpoche’s life before his transcendence, the Gifts of the Magi, Tom’s story and Miranda’s adventures could all have time to breathe before they intertwined in the climatic finale. I wonder if some sections were edited out for length as one character certainly promised Tom that they would meet again before fading into the background. Perhaps though, this is a hook for a future story – who knows?
I recommend this to those looking for an intelligent and thought provoking novel and look forward to Simon Jones’ next story. In the meanwhile I plan to watch the TV series ‘The Medicis’ as my interest in the tragic yet historic story has been well and truly piqued.
My thanks to Troubador Publishing for a review copy.

I really enjoyed SImon's book. It was obviously well researched, lively and full of history about the Medici family in Rome. I had just read the first few books of the Assassin's Creed series which are also based on the Medicis so this did affect my reading of this book however, I look forward to reading the next in this series.

Thanks for Troubador Publishing and NetGalley for this free copy in return for an honest review.
I wish I could have given this a good rating, but it is a total mashup of way too many things. From New Age Spiritualism, to Zororastrianism, to Medici family and a love story this book suffered from too much, and lost me at many times. I am familiar with all the separate parts involved in this book, but when you put them all together it just failed miserably for me. Sorry to the author for being honest, but you ruined a potentially good plot by overdoing it. First 33% was a 4* for me, next 33% saw it drop to a 3*, and that final third was just too much and only was worth a 1*. It pulled the entire book down for me.

This book is weird. While this book is SO good, it's sometimes hard to follow. I will probably read it again in the next couple months, just to try to make sense of it.

I loved the development of the characters, even when I wasn't quite sure what was really going on. I also, really bad, want to know why the author named the book Transit of Mercury. I never could really figure that out.

This book takes astronomical signs, mystical secret societies, and reincarnation (to a point) to get its message across. The author's use of language makes this book interesting, without overwhelming it with big words.

One thing I didn't really like is the use of single quote marks for everything: conversations, quotes, or the like. This sometimes made it hard to distinguish when someone was talking and when they weren't. I've ran into this in books before, and for some reason it confuses me, and sometimes affects my enjoyment of the book.

Luckily, for this book, I was able to get used to that part soon enough in the story that it didn't affect my overall enjoyment. I will still likely read the book again. This is the author's first book, so I wasn't able to find much information on him. I do hope to see more of his work. His imagination, and way of putting a story together really appeals to me. While this book has some idiosyncrasies that I don't really enjoy, my dislike of them isn't specific to this book. They are just things I don't like in anything I read.

Would I recommend this book?

Absolutely I would! If you enjoy paranormal books, or books about secret societies, you will likely really enjoy this book. I know I did! Normally, I try to find a small excerpt to include in my review, but I couldn't find one that wouldn't completely spoil the story. This book is convoluted, but in a way that eventually makes sense. I like that. I enjoy things I can't figure out right away, and this book definitely did that for me.

My Final Rating

This book gets 4.5 stars out of 5. I really enjoyed the story, and will definitely read the book again. I only took off half a star for the punctuation quirks, because while I was able to get used to them, I think they would be confusing to some readers. I really enjoyed this book, and will keep it as part of my collection for a re-read at a later time. I want to congratulate this author on a debut that kept me on the edge of my seat! I couldn't wait to figure out what happened next! 

Conclusion

I usually have trouble with books that are told in multiple points of view, but I didn't have an issue with this book. It was really good, kept me guessing through the whole story, and is definitely one I will read again.

We all love a bit of hokum and this is hokum riper than the richest French cheese. A fast paced story in the Dan Brown genre I have to commend the story for its ingenuity and pace, The author throws everything but the kitchen sink of magnificent and spooky Italian religious locations, weird secret societies, treasure, violent action and romance into the tale but in the end I couldn't help thinking that it was a bit over the top. It was the demons in the guise of aliens that did it for me. Who cares? One man's over the top is another man's total excitement and the rich diet of imagination will be catnip for fans of unadulterated thrills.

It's a captivating book. I enjoyed all the places described in the book, particularily Florence. The characters were fastinating. I found the plot interesting and look forward to Jones next novel.