Jellyfish are otherworldly and weird looking, and you definitely want to avoid them when you’re in the water. From what I hear, their stings hurt like hell and the pain lingers for weeks. According to my sister-in-law, who was attacked by a jellyfish on a beach in Bali, the sting feels like a million needles striking all at once followed by a rough sandpaper massage. 

The sting of a tiny, two centimeter Jellyfish can ruin your vacation in paradise, but what about the sting of a jellyfish the size of a football field? What would that be like?

Evan and Mei-Mei are about to find out. When the young married couple inherit an island off the coast of Palmetto Dunes, South Carolina (that’s right—an entire island), they ditch their hip urban lifestyle for an idyllic island adventure. As they step off the boat and embrace their new homestead, the couple share an unexpected shiver. To them, the island exists upon the divide between Heaven and Hell. 

The Jellyfish action doesn’t start right away, however. Evan and Mei must first eradicate four escaped convicts sheltering on the island. The riffraff ogle Mei-Mei in her skimpy bikini (that’s so rude!), but otherwise they’re just a minor speed bump in the story.

Once the criminals are out of the way, the monster jellyfish asserts its kaiju dominance. And believe me, this thing is a king-size motherfucker. It’s the “Godzilla of jellyfish,” says author J.A. Johnson. 

“It was huge. It’s bell was maybe 100 yards across, a smooth grayish expanse rising up from the sea like an inflatable island. It was an impossibly great, colossal monstrous jellyfish.” 

Up close, Evan is struck by the massive cnidarian’s smoldering intensity. He understands that, in some alien way, this is a supremely intelligent creature. His wife isn’t similarly impressed. “That damn jellyfish is just another thing in the sea that can kill and eat us,” she sulks. 

There’s an unexpected twist, of course, and readers don’t have to wait long for it. The jellyfish is in its sexual phase (thus the novel’s title: Medusa’s Children), and is literally populating the South Carolina coast with “jelly people.” 

And that’s not all. Have you ever heard of Turritopsis dohrnii? That’s what we have here. The “immortal jellyfish” is able to regenerate itself over and over again. Outside of being killed or eaten, it will never die. I could be wrong, but this may be a fatal miscalculation by the author. I predict a series of never-ending sequels forthcoming. 

[ Medusa’s Children / By J.A. Johnson / First Printing: June 2023 / ISBN: 9798396849686 ]