Rating: 
Summary: MEDUSA'S CHILD - A thrilling nuclear countdown
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: MEDUSA'S CHILD - A thrilling nuclear countdown
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: MGM, WARNER-BROS ARE YOU SLEEPING??????
Review: After reading Pandora's Clock I thought a book could not be better! THAT WAS WRONG. This is the best book that's ever written. It's great from the first to the last page. Nance does understand what people want to read. Some writers are boring you with details which don't have anything to do with the story. But Nance won't. I hope that there will be a new Nance book soon. Because on this moment he's the best 'Techno-Thriller' writer. GO READ THIS BOOK
Rating: 
Summary: Compare the ending to 'Venom Virus'
Review: After you read this book get a copy of "Venom Virus" by Richard Parry from 1992. Compare the endings. Suspiciously similar.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ BOOK
Review: Excellent reading! This book is great from the get go. It is a captivating story with really good characters. In my opinion, John J. Nance wrote an outstanding book
Rating:
Summary: A good read, especially for adventure/aviation buffs.
Review: I have found you can't go wrong with a John J. Nance thriller. Medusa's Child is a first rate aviation and adventure thriller. Nance always brings realism and "yes, it could happen" urgency to his writings. Three of Nance's novels read, plenty more to go, I hope
Rating:
Summary: you'll like it
Review: I think this was an awesome novel filled with top-notch suspense. You will not be able to put it down once you start.
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Summary: Improbable...sure--FUN & ENTERTAINING? You BET!!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Improbable...sure--FUN & ENTERTAINING? You BET!!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Nance book I've read
Review: 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.
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