It took me all of January but I managed to read one physical book off of my shelves: a beaten up copy of Medusa’s Child by John J. Nance!
P.S. I’m not only sick but I had to speak to my brother, which means I’m pretty well intoxicated too, so this is going to be the shortest book review / book thoughts post EVER
Long story short, a crazy & genius scientist wanted to simultaneously blow up DC and torment his already psychologically abused ex wife. If you want Speed but on an airplane, and with some aviation lingo, Medusa’s Child is great for you. Nance was a pilot and obviously knows his shit, so there’s that. There’s lots of 90s nostalgia too like AOL chat rooms and I’m sure some outdated military technology.
The fictional president is such a bad ass in this book.
The whole plot takes place on a plane, except the novel also bounces around to Air Force One and a few other people & places in real time, but man he managed to stretch one ticking thermonuclear bomb (a few hours) into a long ass book. Also the ‘terrorist’ is white so y’all can’t bitch about brown terrorists like, that Falling book that came out recently. Is that the name of it?
Overall: fast ish pace, good writing. Nance had McKay and McCoy as two main characters. A tad confusing and he droned on with aircraft lingo at times. I can’t really find anything too bad to complain about. It was terse and fun to read, although not great enough that I’m going to read the other Nance that I have, they can.both go in the ‘unhaul’ box.
Who doesn’t love a good beaten up 90s paperback though?
P.s. I have no idea if this ever became a mini series or not (see the cover) if it did, did you see it? How was it?
Bookish quick facts:
- Title: Medusa’s Child
- Author: John J. Nance
- Publisher & Release: St Martin’s Paperbacks, 1997
- Length: 464 pages
- Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of 90s or aviation thrillers
Here’s the GoodReads synopsis:
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…
OneReadingNurse.com 