Mercury Man

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Rooted in the H.G. Wells tradition of science fiction about the impact
of new technologies on society, Mercury Man involves a “mad
scientist,” Dr. Willis Tarn, who is clandestinely constructing an
intelligent supercomputer whose “workings” will consist of genetic
brain material taken from young people. When high-schooler Tom Blake
observes that his fellow students—who have all accepted jobs with the
computer company Fabricon—are acting strangely, he sneaks into
Fabricon and confirms his brainwashing suspicions, but he is discovered
and identified. Trying to avoid the clutches of Dr. Tarn, Tom discovers
an ally in Paul Daniel, a former Fabricon psychologist who uncovered
Tarn’s malevolent intent before being framed, disgraced, and jailed.
Paul knows the location of the computer files that will reveal the
truth. So he and Tom—disguised, respectively, as Mercury Man (a
comic-book character who was created during World War II to combat the
Nazi evil then attempting to enslave the world) and his young sidekick,
Tom Strong—penetrate Fabricon, ostensibly as children’s party
performers. Despite Tom’s being initially caught, the duo ultimately
retrieve the needed evidence, thereby thwarting Tarn.

While the principal plot line is engaging, Henighan creates a number of
subplots that unnecessarily slow down the action. One involves Tom’s
father, who had deserted his family years before, but who suddenly
appears near the book’s conclusion. Another concerns a romance that
too quickly develops between Tom and Paul’s daughter, Miranda, who had
been left mute after being a Tarn guinea pig. Recommended with
reservations.