The Medusa Project

30 years or so since Title 9 the initiative supporting women's athletics in this country, and the efforts in the 70s to allow women full access into the military and Cindy Dees has written what will be seen as a landmark adventure / suspense novel with 6 top female officers/ athletes/uber-intelligent women being trained as special forces operatives for the military. Vanessa BLake is the main heroine and she rocks! MIT trained computer whiz is picked for a program that men in power is sure to fail- a pilot project where women are trained in special ops. We are talking CHuck Norris Delta Force/ Navy Seal stuff here- silent stalking, killing and gathering intelligence in complete anonymity in the far corners of the world with nothing but their wits to survive. The ladies deemed "Snake" ladies by themselves as members of the Medussa Project exceed all expectations and earn a place eventually in the intelligence world. This is fiction- and a few years in the future- but as a woman who grew up with the first women ever attending West Point in the 80s- I am thrilled to see such physical and intellectual prowess being achieved in a series of books like Bombshell. It was only a few years ago that women in the service were unusual. I love seeing Silhouette taking chances and publishing such a great book- CIndy Dees is one of the top writers working for the Bombshell line- her characters are rich and they aim high. Keep up the good work! Great reading for Jr High and High School age girls- sex is treated with respect and the discipline , persistence and teamwork that the women use is a fantastic guideline for success .

Cindy Dees new book THE MEDUSA PROJECT absolutely rocks in an all out kick butt military story involving women finally being `allowed' to join the Special Forces program. It is so well written and just so fabulous, I hardly know where to start. Air Force Major Vanessa Blake after waiting years for the opportunity is tasked to lead the first ever all female Special Forces team. She is brilliant in her strategy against all odds from the get go. She uses her brains and skills to maneuver around all the walls put up to block her goal. Starting with getting a hacker to help pick her team electronically instead of slogging through thousands of paper files. Lieutenant Colonel Jake Scatalone the tough as nails trainer on a mission to do whatever it takes to make the Medusa's want to quit during training. But they don't quit. They unite and pull together making their team the best. They tough out every thing he dishes out eventually earning his respect and support. I read this in one day alternately cheering because it was just so good and pouting because it was over when I was done. I finished it an hour ago and I already want to read it again. My advice...run, do not walk to get a copy of this book. It will go right on your keeper shelf. I have to say this is my FAVORITE Silhouette Bombshell thus far.

My only problem is the F'ing -well Hell what do you expect! A little classier swearing! [PS this is not about the SEALS] Air Force Major Vanessa Blake has been trying for ten years to be allowed to join the Special Forces Ops but wouldn't you know the old windbags in Congress won't allow women in combat. She wonders why her father, a Navy SEAL kept going back on tour instead of staying with his family. It caused a lot of bitterness in her mother. Lieutenant Colonel Jack Scatalone was sent to the Free-fire zone Alpha in North Carolina to make contact with Blake. He got tired of waiting and armed himself with a paint gun and ended up getting himself splatted. A "kill" for Blake. This is not what happens to him. So he drags her [figuratively speaking] up before the JSOC commander, Wittenauer in full mud regalia. Thus begins a combative give and take that is a joy to watch. Scats job is to see that the women are given a chance to fail. Or at least make them quit. Blake has a two week period to find five women to make a team and a room full of all enlisted woman. Being up on computers she enlists the help of one of the Pentagon hackers and picks out 5 woman in about four days. Oh then begins the wonderful bonding of 5 diverse women into an operational team of deadly proportions. Air Force Major Vanessa Blake - 33 - "Viper" - computer expert. Captian Aleesha Gautier - "Mamba", Jamaican by birth, ER doctor,trained surgeon, fluent in French, Spanish & Portuguese, collegiate swimmer and scuba diver. Air Force Test Pilot Misty Cordell - "Sidewinder" - 2 years retired - top stick in every squadron she ever flew with - Stunt pilot for fun - fluent in Russian & German - Champion surfer and triathlete for fun. Marine officer Karen Turner - "Python" - been trying to get into Special Forces for years. Officer Isabella Torres - "Adder" - top photographic image analist in air force intelligence & a cryptography expert - fluent in Spanich, French, Italian, Farsi, Hebrew and Arabic. Katrina Kim - "Cobra" - half Korean petite, elegant - another who had fought for years to join, in her case army Special Forces sniper. The women have high hopes that the testosterone fortress has been breached. They expect JSOC to give them the roughest, toughest, nastiest [...] for trainers. At the same time [and running along with their training period] Delta Force three become lost in Bhoukar - these are Jack's men and he is upset and wants to find them. We read of their ongoing experiences at the same time that Jack is trying to fail the women. Wittenauer and the President Stanforth confer with each other in trying to find these men. :) Blake confronts Wittenauer [after the reported failed project "Medusa" and disappearance of Scatalone] to send in the Medusas as officially they don't exist. What did he have to lose? This is so action packed and yet emotionally restrained that it is impossible to put down. It is always "just one more chapter". You get to love t

In short, I loved reading this book. I got it and read it almost all the way through without putting it down once. it was that engrossing. Eventually my tired eyes won out, and I had to finish the last 50 pages the next day after I'd gotten some sleep. I read it so fast that I'm almost sad now that the book is over. I really started to like the characters, and publisher willing, I think it would be great fun to read more of the adventures of the Medusas. Writing-wise, I liked the parallel between the training of the Medusa team and the actual peril of the Delta Three team. I was sorry for them to be out in the field so long, but it was excellent to bring in the Medusas to help wrap up the story. The romance part of it worked well because it was more restrained. It was appropriate to the story being told. If you want to find a book with sappy romance and weak, damsel-in-distress style women, this book (and for that matter the whole Bombshell series) isn't for you. If you like a strong female lead and a story with lots of action, adventure, friendship and teamwork, this will work for you.

Though she has risen to the rank of major in the Air Force, Vanessa Blake still dreams of becoming a Navy SEAL. She feels she is more than qualified to perform the missions once she receives her training, but no female has ever been selected as a SEAL at least until now. To her euphoria, Vanessa and an elite selected team of women have been chosen to be guinea pigs by forming a cell of female Seals, the Medusas. SEAL Lieutenant Colonel Jack Scatalone is skeptical about these women meeting the physical and mental demands. However, watching them work, Jack changes his mind as he becomes their biggest supporter. In particular he is attracted to Vanessa, but knows that does not interfere in his change of mind only a change of heart that he has found his mate. On a mission to rescue his team trapped in the Middle East, Jack is caught too. This time the brass sends the Medusas led by Vanessa to rescue the male SEALs. THE MEDUSA PROJECT is a terrific military gender bending thriller with the women making up the cavalry coming to the rescue of the besieged men. The story line is 98% testosterone (including the Medusas) and 2% romance mostly because the exploits are non-stop without time or location for much on the sheets. Thus the relationship between the two likable heroic protagonists is realistic rather than the usual life threatening scenario with time for a quick nip and tuck. Fans of thrillers starring SEALs will enjoy the action-packed THE MEDUSA PROJECT. Harriet Klausner