Medusa's Child [Mass Market Paperback]

John J. Nance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1997

He took you on a collision course with disaster in Pandora's Clock

In the high-flying tradition of his extraordinary New York Times bestseller Pandora's Clock, author and aviator John J. Nance launches Medusa's Child, an explosive new thriller that takes to the skies-and takes you to the height of terror.

Now he brings you to the brink of nuclear catastrophe

At 10,000 feet, Captain Scott McKay gets the nerve-shattering news: aboard his Boeing 727 is a ticking time bomb-and not just any bomb. It's the Medusa Project, a thermonuclear monster that could wipe out every computer chip on the continent, obliterating any and all traces of modern technology. Now Scott is flying blind, with nowhere to land and nothing to rely on but his own instincts. And one wrong move could ignite a worldwide apocalypse by unleashing...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you miss the great airborne adventures of writers like the late Ernest K. Gann, John Nance might help take up some of the slack. His Pandora's Clock--it became a TV movie--featured a nasty virus rampant at 35,000 feet. His latest has the widow of a world-class scientist trying to deliver to the Pentagon an invention that could shut down computers everywhere, thus ending civilization (and online bookselling) as we know it. Lots of hairy, if somewhat implausible, action--sure to be exploited in another TV movie. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA?From the intriguing jacket cover to the final page, suspense abounds in this thrilling novel. When Scott McKay, captain of his private cargo plane, takes on two passengers and their cargo crates, he and his crew discover that they are in for the flight of their lives. While over Washington, DC, a strange noise comes from deep inside the crate owned by Vivian Henry. It is the voice of her husband, a nuclear scientist who was believed dead. The people onboard are informed that the shipment that they are carrying is a fully armed Medusa device, a thermonuclear bomb that will not only kill millions of people, but can also destroy every computer chip on the continent, blasting the country back into the Stone Age. It is set to go off within hours. Panic erupts in the world of nuclear scientists who used to work for Dr. Henry, for they realize that this threat is a real possibility. Fear spreads through the White House and the general public, as a group of rogue military officers conspire to secure the bomb at any cost. Captain McKay and his crew soon discover that they are being deceived, and that everyone's life is in danger. Mistrust, deceit, and spine-chilling action flow from every page of this story.?Anita Short, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312962452
• ISBN-13: 978-0312962456
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John J. Nance, aviation analyst for ABC News and a familiar face on Good Morning America, is the author of several bestselling novels including Fire Flight, Skyhook, Turbulence, and Orbit. Two of his novels, Pandora's Clock and Medusa's Child, have been made into highly successful television miniseries. A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Nance is a decorated pilot veteran of Vietnam and Operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield. He lives in Washington State.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MEDUSA'S CHILD - A thrilling nuclear countdown, November 29, 2000

By 

Dean Redfern (Indian River Shores, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medusa's Child (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced story!!!, December 17, 2002

By 

F. Seara (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medusa's Child (Mass Market Paperback)

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!!...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should have six stars, March 7, 2006

By 

Reads Thrillers (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medusa's Child (Mass Market Paperback)

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