Customer Reviews

Medusa's Child (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A former disgruntled U.S. nuclear scientist wills his ex-wife the unthinkable, a thermonuclear bomb. The scientist, before his death, con's his ex-wife into taking a so-called 'model' of a Medusa device to the Pentagon for analysis. A working Medusa bomb, the theory goes, would knock out all of the working computers in North America, while killing a few million people at the same time. For the purposes of national security, the former Machiavellian husband argues that this information belongs in the hands of our military to study and defend against. But in transit to the Nation's Capitol, the model comes alive in the belly of a Boeing 727 air cargo jet, and its inventor speaks from the grave.

MEDUSA's CHILD maybe author John Nance's finest aviation thriller. The heroes of this novel not only have to battle a bomb to survive, they have to battle horrendous weather, fuel limitations, a screwed up military, a paranoid FBI, and the limitations of their own aging 727. One adversarial situation after another, they just keep coming. And one after another, the pilots keep on flying.

Suspense thrillers just don't get much better than this.

John J. Nance knows how to keep a reader in suspense. This book goes up there with Pandora's Clock as enjoyable novels.

The story is about a mad scientist who creates a bomb in order to get even with government and torture his wife. This bomb is one-of-a-kind in that it can knock out all electronics and destroy the economy. That's one problem, but there's another. It is also a thermonuclear device that is being transported by a 727. On top of that the crew is flying in probably the worst hurricane storms in the country. Those are the major problems, but as known by Nance, he adds more complications for the 727 crew to handle and it will be their decision that decides the outcomes.

Medusa's Child is a page turner with on-going twists and turns. You don't know what will happen next. Unfortunately, the book loses a star from me to become the best because the ending seems so implausible, you are asking yourself, is that possible?

Anyhow, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book just because it is a exciting read and a great alternative to movies!!...

The book was different from the movie but both were thrillers. I watched the movie eight times, then made a tape so I could watch it with all my friends. Then I bought the book and could not put it down until I had read the last page. It now ranks up there as the number one fiction book in my library. My first novel recently published. al-Qaeda Strikes Again I have ordered most of John Nance's books to pick up some of his techniques for making the pages come to life with drama and excitement. It is truly a fantastic and exciting book.

Author of al-Qaeda Strikes Again

I was drawn to this book entirely because of how much I enjoyed 'Pandora's Clock'. I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not I would enjoy it as much, but I assure you, for MY dollar, 'Medusa's Child' more than surpassed 'Pandora's Clock'. The premise is sorta improbable at best...however just suspend your belief for a little while and suddenly the story kicks into overdrive--turbo-charged, too.

'Medua's Child' has all of the elements of a classic adventure story, with a few others thrown in for good measure. We have a slightly mad scientist--YEARS ahead of anyone else, who develops a fully working nuclear weapon that can (in theory) literally cripple pretty much the entire United States. It all has to do with the electromagnetic pulse which is a secondary effect of a nuclear detonation. As you may know, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) fuses practically EVERYTHING with a computer chip, from car engines, computers to sophisticated toaster ovens and even more dangerous, nuclear power plants, dams and well as you can imagine, the results would be catastrophic to say the least. But how could one single nuclear weapon damage such a large area? Good question, this is where Mr. Nance asks us to suspend our belief a bit. He proposes that the 'Medusa Wave' in theory is a weapon that dramatically increases the size of the EMP...so much that it could almost reach from coast-to-coast. The story flies with the speed of an F-14 being launched from a carrier at sea. Never once does it lag once it gets going--which doesn't take too long. Nance has given us a fantastic 'what if' scenario that plays out nicely, and like I said, even though the premise is improbable at best, it sure was FUN and ENTERTAINING. Give Nance a go and I think you'll be back for more really soon.

I'm not the biggest Nance fan, so I was surprised when I enjoyed "Medusa's Child". Medusa is a bomb designed and built by a truly mad scientist. Powered by a 20 megaton nuclear warhead, Medusa uses EMP to knock out virtually every microchip within a huge range of fire, and corrupt any data written near the time of the blast. The former defense researcher/would be destroyer-of-worlds even programs the machine to heap abuse on his poor wife. Completing his mysterious device before dying, he manages to cajole his poor former wife into delivering it (the unfortunate ex not knowing of its purpose) to the Pentagon. Strapped into a 727 freighter flown by a former fighter driver named Scott Mackay, the device arms too quickly (flown over the Pentagon, Medusa's GPS sensors can't distinguish between being in the cellar of the Pentagon, from being 20,000 feet above it) triggering a computer which (having been programmed by a certifiably evil genius) details exactly what it will do. Among other things, the computer also warns about a special safeguards meant to insure that his hated wife accompany the machine to its final debut (one of the device's sensors is keyed to her pacemaker). Mackay now battles a freak hurricane and his own dwindling fuel supply to deep-six the bomb over the mid-Atlantic, setting off the sort of crisis response that insures that we'll see plenty of fighter jets, generals and powerful politicians in settings where they will be surrounded by high-tech. But, at its heart "Medusa" excels because it's a very character driven book - the occupants of Mackay's stricken 727 form relationships that transcend what would otherwise be a straight-to-cable movie like "Pandora's Clock" or the one made of "Glass Cockpit". I've only read "Final Approach" and "Phoenix Rising" - this is the most human of the three.

This book by Nance ranks right up there with Pandora's Clock. When I was in a bookstore a few years ago, I bought Pandora's Clock and Medusa's Child together, and read them in that order. Never had I read back-to-back books that were so thrilling and suspenseful. Medusa's Child has a plot that may be a little farfetched, but if you can get that out of your mind, then this book's supercharged plot will easily grip you, keeping you turning the pages until the last page. If you havent' read this book yet, read it now.

After you read this book get a copy of "Venom Virus" by Richard Parry from 1992. Compare the endings. Suspiciously similar.

The book is well written, and reads easily. The plot is simple: a live nuke is flying around the East coast aboard an old 727. As if that wasn't enough, add: the worst hurricane in the history of the US, a "Medusa Effect", and possibily EVERYTHING that could go wrong. You read the book until you say: "OK, now I don't buy this anymore". And I am not referring to the final landing of the 727 which is rather fun; but all the little details that have to go wrong. It's like Murphy's law squared, and you start thinking "give them a break, will you?". But actually, because the plot is so simple, it's the only thing John Nance could come up with to spice up the story.

A retired nuclear physicist with an ax to grind against the world, especially his ex-wife, builds a nuclear bomb that will also create a massive EMP wave, knocking out phones, computers and all communications for thousands of miles. He then wills possession of the device to his ex-wife making it a provision of her receiving a large sum of money that she has to deliver it to the Pentagon. However, she doesn't know it is a live bomb, she thinks its only a prototype. She ends up with the device on a small transport plane with a crew of 3 and a research scientist. While they're in the air they fly over top of Washington D.C. and the bomb becomes confused and activates thinking its in the pentagon. It also has a mechanism that can tell if the ex-wife is within 15 feet of it and if she isn't it will detonate automatically. The occupants of the plane now have to deal with the FBI, the Navy and the president to figure out where to land and who is going to try and disarm the bomb before it goes off. To add to their problems the east coast is in the midst of a huge hurricane.

Medusa's Child is thriller writing 101. The story is exciting from the very first page, the characters have some depth but not overmuch and the plot gets more ridiculous with each turn of the page culminating with an over-the-top impossible ending. Nance concocted an interesting story and kept the action coming from every angle. If you like a quick-read thriller that keeps the story moving at a fast pace Medusa's Child is good one.

My husband and I saw the 2-part miniseries on TV 3 times - where can we buy the DVD? We want to buy it for our collection of great movies. After reading the reviews, we will buy the book, but as seniors (we are both in our early 70's), we would like the DVD to see Medusa's Child movie over and over. Please give us the direction as we have exhausted our sources!