The Medusa Stone (Philip Mercer)

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On your mark, get set, GO!

Action Packed

Excellent!!!

What the hell is all the fuss about....

Among the Best

The Medusa Stone (Philip Mercer)
Jack Du Brul
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Pandora's Curse (Philip Mercer)

River of Ruin (Philip Mercer)

Deep Fire Rising

Vulcan's Forge (Onyx Novel)

Charon's Landing

ASIN: 0451409221
Release Date: 2000-04-03

Book Description

Ten years ago, the American spy satellite Medusa malfunctioned and crashed--but not before its sensors revealed a secret buried deep in the Earth, hidden for thousands of years from the eyes of man. A priceless discovery that some would die to find--and kill to possess....

Praise for Jack Du Brul's novels:
"Cliffhangers more wonderfully outrageous than you'll find in Clive Cussler or Ian Fleming...strong, fresh writing."--Kirkus Reviews

"Will have Clive Cussler fans taking note of the new kid on the block."--William Heffernan, author of The Dinosaur Club

"Bond-like, bloody, and action-packed."--Publishers Weekly

"An intricate tale filled with action and intrigue...an upcoming new talent in the spy thriller genre."--The Cape Coral Breeze

"High-tempo action."--The Mystery Review
"Romance, violence, and technology are superbly blended by a master storyteller. Du Brul creates a fast-moving odyssey that is second to none."--Clive Cussler

Customer Reviews:

On your mark, get set, GO!.......2006-08-18

To say this book is action packed is an understatement. DuBrul gets things moving and doesn't slow down. If there is a fault about this book, it's that some of the scenes are too over the top. DuBrul's work with Cussler obviously shows, but if you like action, adventure novels, give this book a try.

Action Packed.......2006-05-13

The Medusa spy satellte was part of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. Before it met with a fatal accident it snapped some pictures of a long lost diamond mine in Eritrea. Years later the pictures surfaced. Geologist Philip Mercer was recruited to ascertain whether the mine was really there. Some rogue Israeli's and an Italian business tycoon where also looking. Plenty of excitement along the way as they search for King Solomon's Mine and the long lost Ark of the Covenant.

Excellent!!!.......2005-03-17

Philip Mercer is hired under mysterious circumstances to find his best friend, who has been kidnapped by Israeli terrorists. Once on the job, he travels to Africa, where he is forced to find a legendary diamond mine. Once there, even more danger awaits him and a secret with biblical background, deep in the mines. A secret which neither Philip nor anyone else thought was real. A secret searched throughout centuries with the power of God. Fast, full of action, great characters, and a mystery of religious proportions, this is an excellent adventure novel.

What the hell is all the fuss about...........2004-08-13

If you like reading two thirds of a book with no idea why people are dying left and right then this is the book for you.

While it starts stong and grabs your interest it lags through the middle as you slog through pages of near death experiences with no clue as to why these things are happening. You just end up confused.

If you stick with it (which i did because I am genetically incapable of not finishing a book), it will pick up in the last couple chapters. The ultimate ending however was pitiful, predictable and left you wishing for at least a glimpse of the prize.

If you must read this book check out from your local library and save your $$ for something better.

Among the Best.......2003-09-05

I orginally became familiar with Jack B. Du Brul's writing through his first novel, "Vulcan's Forge". It was a fast moving, globe-trotting epic that kept me in suspense right on up to the end. His second book, "Charon's Landing", simply didn't deliver the same punch for me as did his first. While it was well written, I almost decided not to bother with another "Phillip Mercer" installment. But I did... and boy, I'm glad I did.

"The Medusa Stone" is as well written as "Vulcan's Forge", has a very good plot, and moves like a good novel should. While this adventure does not take you to every corner of the globe the way "Vulcan's Forge" does, it is full of intricate little plot twists that kept me turning the pages. The characters that have survived from Du Brul's earlier novels have grown to the point that I can almost see their features and hear the inflections in their voices. Not many novelist have been able to bring me to that point.

For what it's worth, I would recommend this book. I would also recomend reading the first two books from this author (yes, even "Charon's Landing") before reading this one just to get the total historical perspective.

Book Description

This hilarious and informative story presents a modern-day spin on the ancient Greek myth of Medusa as well as an insightful look into school life and student/teacher relations. Fellow students Perce and Andy are instantly suspicious when Ms. Dusa, a woman sporting a large turban that covers her hair, shows up to teach at their school. Their suspicions quickly turn to concern as they witness several of their classmates getting turned to stone, and when none of their teachers seem to notice, the duo decides to take action and stop the 21st-century Medusa.

The show that made us street savvy.(the Tube: Television ... that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night--Ray Bradbury)(Cops)(Television ... An article from: The American Enterprise

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The show that made us street savvy.(the Tube: Television ... that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night--Ray Bradbury)(Cops)(Television ... An article from: The American Enterprise
James Lileks
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The American Enterprise, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2006. The length of the article is 781 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The show that made us street savvy.(the Tube: Television ... that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night--Ray Bradbury)(Cops)(Television program review)
Author: James Lileks
Publication: The American Enterprise (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Page: 49(1)

Article Type: Television program review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

4 Titles in Philip Mercer Series - 2. Charon's Landing 3. The Medusa Stone 4. Pandora's Curse 5. River of Ruin

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4 Titles in Philip Mercer Series - 2. Charon's Landing 3. The Medusa Stone 4. Pandora's Curse 5. River of Ruin
Jack Du Brul
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000M17ZBY

Product Description

4 Titles in Philip Mercer Series - 2. Charon's Landing 3. The Medusa Stone 4. Pandora's Curse 5. River of Ruin

Amazon.com

Conceived as a lone-wolf sleuth, prowling the fog-embraced hills and criminal redoubts of modern San Francisco, Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective has evolved over the course of 29 novels into a semi-retired family man and mentor to two younger operatives, neither of whom seems any more capable of staying out of trouble than Nameless was in his prime. Fortunately, Nightcrawlers (the sequel to Spook) packs enough grim drama and emotional traumas to go around.

A couple of short-fused homophobes are putting the hurt on gay men in the city's Castro district, and among their victims is Kenneth Hitchcock, the elder lover of investigator Jake Runyon's estranged 22-year-old son, Joshua. So, for professional as well as personal reasons, the widowed Runyon takes an interest in these attacks, connecting the bashers to an underage hustler and an "old-fashioned meat market" called the Dark Spot. Meanwhile, Nameless is summoned to the death bed of Russell Dancer, a manifestly repulsive former pulp-magazine contributor (first introduced in 1973's Undercurrent), now fallen on hard times, who has an unpublished manuscript he wants delivered to Nameless's mother-in-law, Cybil Wade, after whom he's lusted--unrequitedly--for half a century. It will be a test of Nameless's diplomatic acumen to fulfill Dancer's request, without drawing rancor from both Cybil and his wife, Kerry. A still greater test, however, awaits Nameless's black junior partner, Tamara Corbin, whose assignment to stake out a deadbeat dad turns into something more perilous, after she spots her subject's neighbor sneaking an unidentified, squirming bundle into his house one dark eve.

It's evidence of just how much American detective fiction has changed over the last 30 years, that Nightcrawlers can come off as fresh. Even with its high-stakes, triple plot lines, this novel is more retro than revolutionary. Yet the Shamus-winning Pronzini, who has outlasted most of his original contemporaries to become a sage of the genre, continues to entice by emphasizing character development over simplistic violence or gruesome gimmickry, and by allowing Nameless to do something rarely attempted: explore the creaky twilight of his hero-hood (he's now in his early 60s). Seems that age really can bring wisdom. --J. Kingston Pierce

Book Description

Bill Pronzini's "Nameless" detective has become one of the longest-lived, and consistently highly praised, private investigators in the annals of American crime fiction and the award-winning author proves, once again, that his skills are unmatched.Things were quiet in the San Francisco-based agency Nameless founded and hispartners, Jake and Vanessa were itching to get back to work. A deadbeat father needed to be found, and Vanessa needed to do some field work, so she took the file and headed out to keep an eye on the last known address.Jake got to work on something much more personal....and dangerous. The Castro had become the stomping ground, literally, of two violent gay-bashers and the most recent victim was Jake's son's lover. Father and son are estranged, but maybe helping now would help them reconcile. That was Jake's thought when he started. For Nameless it was all a matter of letting everyone know that if they needed his help, he was there.Jake was handling his situation but for Vanessa, things got out of hand. Her perp never showed up, but when she saw a man carrying a young girl into the house across the street, she knew something was wrong......and about to get worse, because she was going to investigate what was going on. When she doesn't show up a few days later, Nameless feels a sinking in his gut: a few years ago he'd been kidnapped, shackled, and left to die in a cabin in the woods and something about Vanessa's disappearance echoed too loudly. When he discovers the house she'd investigated on her own and sees the words TAKING US TO A HOUSE IN THE WOODS scrawled on a closet wall, the echo became thunderous. Now it was a race against time, and the clock had begun ticking before "Nameless" and Jake heard the starter's gun.

Customer Reviews:

GOOD DETECTIVE NOVEL BURIED IN PROPAGANDA.......2007-04-10

It is a tribute to Mr. Ponzini's skill as a novelist, that he can interweave these three complex plots and make the characters halfway interesting. That's all the old Nameless stories used to do and that's what made them so great. The problem with this book is that the story is larded with politically correct themes and preaching (you know, the usual subjects of race-class-"sexual orientation"). Kind of the way the Marxists used to do it - tiresome.

Now only another 29 books to catch up on..........2006-08-14

First off - covers can be deceiving. The Nightcrawlers title, along with the hazy figure at the end of a dark tunnel, initially gave me the impression that this was a suspense series in the creepy, X-Files sort of vein. I was heading to the beach for the weekend, stopped at the store for snacks, and the cover caught my eye: it looked interesting, and I bought it on impulse, without even reading the blurbs on the back cover.

Well. You can't get much further from X-Files territory. Nightcrawlers is basically a compilation of stories from the Nameless detective agency, blended together. Russ Dancer, a dying hack author, has commissioned Nameless (I'm still not quite sure where the whole 'Nameless' bit came about - his name is Bill) to carry out his last wish - to give a mysterious package to an old flame. Investigator Jake Runyon tries to help his estranged son, after his son's partner is a victim of a brutal gay-bashing. And Nameless's workaholic junior partner, Tamara Corbin, stumbles onto a kidnapping while on a stakeout.

Pronzini has plenty of experience in his genre, and it shows. The themes are dark and gritty, and his writing is tight and focused. The three main characters are well-drawn, if not particularly distinctive, or unfortunately, even memorable (except for maybe Nameless). The book kind of stumbles along until Tamara disappears, and Nameless slides out of the background and comes front and center. Many of the supporting characters are stereotypes, and dialogue intended to establish characterization often doesn't ring true. And coming in to the series so late, I had a little trouble keeping track of who was who and what was going on for the first couple of chapters. Pronzini alternates his main protagonists point of view, abruptly switching between plotlines from chapter to chapter. It's handled as smoothly as possible and I don't really see a better way around it, but the device still slows the narrative. Each time I got interested in one of the stories, I was yanked away and thrust back into the middle of another, until they all verged together about halfway through the book.

There aren't many authors who manage to create a character for one novel, or over the course of a short series; much less successfully sustain the series over the course of three or four decades. Lawrence Block and his Matt Scudder series come to mind... and that's not a bad comparison, in the way Nameless has grown and evolved over the course of 35 years. But even with the disturbing subject matter he's working with here, Pronzini can't quite build up the dark and disturbing atmosphere that's the hallmark of the Scudder books. That's not an interest killer though, because the events that unfold (at least in this installment) are even more realistic as written in such a straightforward manner.

All in all, even with a little nitpicking, I was pretty impressed. Enough to go back to the beginning, and learn more about Nameless and his associates.

Now only another 29 books to catch up on..........2006-07-17

Like a cold shower.......2005-10-21

There's a certain style of writing that Bill Pronzini embraces. Some might call it harsh. Unlike the authors who describe the event or the perps in language more acceptable for readers, PC if you will, Pronzini calls a . . . well you get my drift.

This is a troika of stories. Tamara Corbin, who has grown into the putative 'head' of the Detective Agency but lacks the field bacground of Bill and Runyon, gets involved with the kidnapping of a 6-year old girl that she inadvertantly stumbles upon while surveilling an adjacent house for a child support skip-trace.

Bill, 'Nameless,' answers the plea of a man dying of cirrhosis only to be asked to deliver a package to his mother-in-law with whom the man had some relationship years earlier. This sends the family into turmoil, not surprisingly for everyone but Bill, who is left chagrined and confused. Come on Bill. What did you expect?

Jake Runyon continues to deal with the rejection of his gay son and investigates a series of gay bashings in the Castro District of San Francisco, all the while mourning the death of his wife, Colleen.

All in all the dialogue is crisp and very real, quite good actually, almost a throwback to the days of Chandler and Spillane, but the plots lack the riveting aspect of say "The Innocent" or "Velocity" by Coben and Koontz. Like Scotch, Prinzoni is an acquired taste. 4 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Nghtvrawlers.......2005-08-21

"Nightcrawlers" is the 29th Nameless Detective novel by Bill Pronzini, one of the great mystery writers working today. This novel is actually a collection of 3 stories in which Nameless, his partner Tamara Corbin. and operative Jake Runyan all have separate cases. Nameless is summoned to the death bed of Russ Dancer, a former pulp writer who wishes Nameless to deliver a package to his mother-in-law, Cybil Wade after Dancer passes away. Jake Runyan investigates several cases of gay-bashing in the Castro district. One of the victims is lover of Jakes's son, Joshua. While on a routine stakeout, Tamara notices a man struggle with something that Tamara feels is a child. Tamara decides to snoop around the house, and is taken captive by a madman, Robert Lemoyne. He had kidnapped a little girl Lauren whom Lemoyne believed was his daughter. He takes them to a remote parcel of land in Nevada County with plans to kill them. This was not my favorite Nameless novel. The Tamara storyline, while exciting at the end, was really slow for me. Nameless (I still call him this even though we know his name is Bill) and the Russ Dancer storyline are for long time readers of this series, and new readers would need to go back to "Hoodwink" to understand all aspects of this storyline. Most of the actual detection was done by Jake Runyan with his working to find the gay-bashers in the Castro district. All the novels by Bill Pronzini are well written. I almost always give his novels 5 stars but this one lacked something. All in all, however, this is a very good book.

Nightcrawlers: A Nameless Detective Novel

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Nightcrawlers: A Nameless Detective Novel

Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1405634057

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The Mezentian Gate
E. R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Ballatine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000OBA5EQ

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The Mezentian Gate
E.R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MHTCYQ

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The Mezentian Gate
E.R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0345272218
Release Date: 1978-04-12

Average customer rating:
The Mezentian Gate
E. R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Pan/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000IXSFEW

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Mezentian Gate
E R Eddison
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UDXJ28

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The Mezentian Gate
E. R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000OP6M30

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The Mezentian Gate
E. R. Eddison
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GREFE4

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Mezentian Gate 01578
E R Eddison
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000PXED2I

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Mezentian Gate 01578
E R Eddison
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SFC1Z4

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THE MEZENTIAN GATE.

Manufacturer: P/B
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFXP9G

Book Description

First came the Bronze Age, then the Age of Reason, and now, the Age of Stress-an era of frayed nerves, jangled moods, and panic attacks.

Cheaper than two weeks in Maui, Saner than primal screaming, and more practical than a dry martini, 60 Ways to Relieve Stress in 60 Seconds delivers exactly what it promises-60 short, proven techniques to reduce stress in a minute or less. Developed by Manning Rubin and whimsically illustrated by Paul Frahm-both executives in advertising, the industry that virtually invented stress-here are mind games, quick physical challenges, and imaging and concentration exercises that instantly refocus a person's energy. There's even a stress tester on the cover for before-and-after verification. So the next time the patch shows red, try #18: Drink a glass of water by using exactly 30 sips. Or when your presentation is overdue and the numbers refuse to add up, try #45: Pretend you're a newscaster covering a story, any story. Describe it as a TV newsperson would. It really works. 128,000 copies in print.

Customer Reviews:

Helpful but basic.......2006-06-22

I found the book to be practical and it contained several helpful hints. It was a bit basic and did not seem to have any guidance for long term stress management.

Fine if you're not actually stressed!.......2004-04-07

I am a stress management instructor looking for some new ideas. I teach quick-fix techniques for people to calm themselves during their busy lives, and so this book attracted me. This book however is a jokey book, with one line per two pages, so you can read the entire thing in 2 minutes. It gives you ideas to distract yourself for a minute from what ever is causing your stressful reactions, like make a paper airplane and send it across the room, or name as many teams you can in a sport. Childish ideas if you want to have a bit of a laugh, but if you are actually looking for something to deal with serious stress overload this is not the book for you.

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