Medusa

Venus Diamond #6

by Skye Kathleen Moody

Medusa by Skye Kathleen Moody released on Jul 23, 2004 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Mystery

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 5, 2003

Reviews

[Watchdogg · Rating 2 out of 5]

At my age, every moment is precious, so I don't want to waste much of my time writing about this disappointing book. All I'll say is that characters are dropping like flies - good guys, bad guys, children, law enforcement - you get the picture. And, to put an end to this onslaught of death, the good people of Washington and the City of Seattle essentially team up a Fish & Wildlife officer and a detective. In response to all these deaths, I would expect the government would enlist the help of several agencies and dozens of investigators to help put a stop to the carnage. Does this happen? No. Unbelievable!

[Terry Pride · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was overall disappointed -
Not in the murder mystery, but the claimed "ecology" theme that's supposed to run thru books written by this former African-bush guide.
If what she told safari guests was as wildly inaccurate as statements made in this book, they heard some WHOPPERS.

It starts in the 1st chapter - Venus is diving in Hawai'i, & is supposedly attacked by a "giant manta ray" (can we just say oceanic, or even pelagic? - either is accurate, & preferable to "giant").
He's going to EAT her - or at least, kill her. She "feels his tail whipping her flipper", & kicks it off; feels "his jaw nudge the other ", & kicks that off, too.
How does a manta in hot pursuit manage to get their TAIL ahead of their body? - it's anatomically impossible.
Yet even flipperless & weighted by scuba gear, she still manages to beat the ray to the surface. (How? Does she have a siphon jet?)
He BITES the straps holding her scuba tank; she drops it. He swoops in for the kill; she fires her trusty speargun. He's dead; she goes ashore.

Later, in Seattle, a local cop tells her, "You're a wildlife agent. You KNOW jellyfish don't grab people."
Well, a wildlife agent who knew about pelagic rays would also know they CANNOT eat a human, & CANNOT "bite" the nylon harness of a scuba tank.
That vacuum-cleaner maw is for filter feeding, & mantas are virtually toothless - they have a band of tiny teeth in the lower jaw, that looks like a strip of sandpaper. It's used to hang onto a partner while they mate, as rays are smooth & coated (like other fish) with mucus. Trying to keep 2 moving bodies engaged, while suspended in the water column, is very difficult. Grasping the partner's fin, helps.
Manta rays, whether reef or oceanic, lack anything remotely resembling biting teeth, molars, or fangs.

She also misspells words used in colloquial phrases - it's free REIN, not "reign", when referring to someone allowed free choice.
It's got sod-all to do with royalty; in situations where the horse's keener senses or excellent directional skills can save both (or all) their lives, savvy horse folk let the horse choose their own way.
They give the horse FREE REIN - the rider (if the horse is saddled) or the driver (if the horse is harnessed) no longer tells the horse which way to go, via pressure on the reins (which connect to the bridle's bit, or to a hackamore's noseband). Today, horses aren't everyday transport & draft animals, but FREE REIN is still the apropos phrase for giving someone free choice.

[Dale Zweibohmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast moving book that has lots going on. There is child pornography, black market trading & biotoxins to fight over, murders and explosions. Not everyone survives. It drew me in and I couldn't put it down. Some parts are hard to read and so sad, but this stuff happens even in real life, So sad...

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so mad! People die in this that shouldn't. I have one more book to read in this series and I'm afraid to read it and find out who she lets live! Oh oh oh! Venus Diamond is recovering from a gun shot wound to her face. Surgery went well, but mentally she is struggling. Then she gets a message from home. Tim, her adopted younger brother has been put under house arrest because his friend Pearl fell into the bay and they presume she's dead. But they think he pushed her. Lady Bella, Venus's movie star, self centered Mother has told Tim he can't leave his bedroom and Bella goes to hers and stays there practically through the whole book. She leaves Tim to suffer alone. Venus and Tim are very close and she comes home to help him. Well, it just gets worse. Every chapter something else bad goes down and someone else is knocked off and Venus has too many people and bad things happening.
I got frustrated with the whole Russian situation. There are these bad people that Venus is trying to get information out of. They are constantly talking in Russian, so Venus is always behind in any situation. You know that all it takes is a voice recorder and someone to explain what they said. But no, through the whole book, until the last couple of chapters, they never question the language barrier. And they know how bad these people are, but they always show up to the gun fight with a BB gun, when the bad guys have an arsenal and twice as many men! Then when good people in the series start dying, I wondered why the author has chosen to kill off the good guys???????
I was disappointed in the ending because nothing is resolved. No one talks about their loss of friends and family. No family member connects. It's like left in limbo and you are left wondering and hoping that the next book brings some closure to all of these people, who seem like they are not winning. Winning at the fight with poachers, the fight with family, the fight for lovers. No closure here.
I love this series, totally love it, and this book is really good. And it is the author's story, so this is how she see's it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! lol
I know there is only one book left and I wish there were 20 more to read. I just hope that all these people that I've grown to know, find closure and happiness of a sort by the time I read the last book!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I was pretty excited about this book - I received it in a box of hodgepodge from my parents, and I haven't read any of the others in this series. I thought, "Hey, a crime thriller about a U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer? That's different!" The story takes place in Seattle, which is a nice change from the usual New York and L.A. backdrops. Unfortunately from my point of view, there were far too many things happening in this story. I had a difficult time keeping straight who was involved with what scheme, and after a bit just gave up trying to figure it out and rolled with it as I read it. Multiple crimes perpetrated by multiple syndicates created some confusion, and the deaths of characters who we'd seen as central to the plot were treated rather cavalierly. This book might have been better split into two separate stories.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not as good as others in this series; the story seems to daag at times, and at other times the author seems to be racing to try to pull all the loose ends together. Especially toward the end, it felt like the story was just jumping around , with a not very cohesive feel.
That being said, I have liked the others in this series, and hope the author continues to write about the Pacific Northwest.

[Daisy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t like this one at all. Far too violent. Four children were murdered, two that you got to know! Child porn. Very high yuck factor.

[Alyssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a trashy novel for people who want to read a book that takes place in Seattle. Not worth your time.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good Pacific Northwest mystery

[Rose Zamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable. Or it could be me. . .I have trouble with chidren being taken advantage of. Plus I found the medusa in size large a bit on the science fiction side.