I gifted myself The Vital Question in 2015 December. While Lane writes effectively without any mind-numbing jargon, the book still has quite a bit of technical chemistry (understandably). After the excellent first 80 pages, it took me a lot more will power to plough through. (I paused at page 112 to get back later.)
Once when I was reading the book on a plane, a seasoned biologist happened to be sitting next to me. When I told that it's the first book of Nick Lane that I picked up, he said: "I'd rather suggest you to pick up Laine's other book, Life Ascending, and only then get back to The Vital Question."
