The Medusa Files, Case 1: Written in Stone Kindle Edition

This really surprised me. In some respects, it's a "typical" urban fantasy - modern-day setting with all our technology and culture and first-world problems but also with elves and demons and ogres hiding in plain sight disguised as normal humans living among us. And the POV character is a sexy, Special-Snowflake female lead.

Only not.

I like Morgan. I like her a LOT. If only for how...for lack of a better word, "human" she is in her reactions to everything that happens. She finds out that she's special, yes . . . and it scares the crap out of her. She keeps questioning her sanity, keeps denying and resisting the power she's found herself with, a power she can't yet control. She's a tough person, a US Marshal, but Black allows her to be vulnerable, to be scared a few times, to feel off-balance and out of her element without losing her strength of character. And there is an in-world reason that she's *as* special as she is, one that we don't find out till the end of the book but makes sense. She's not just special for the sake of being a Special Main Character.

I feel like we don't get to know the other characters very well in the space of this book, but then, neither does Morgan, so it works for me, especially since this is only the first of at least eight books. There's time to get to know the others.

Also, BIG BIG thing for me - and this is potentially a spoiler-alert of sorts - the story is a bit formulaic in that we've got an awesome, kick-ass female lead so of *course* there's a hot male co-lead . . . but they do *not* automatically wind up "hooking up" by the end of the story. That right there was really refreshing for me. Yes, Morgan is attracted to Gage - powerfully so - but it at least seems from narrative clues that it's less his looks (which are most certainly still a factor in themselves) and more *what* he is, part of his own powers. She's not just hot for him because he's the male lead and she's "supposed" to fall for him, and she *doesn't* fall for him and get together with him romantically by the end of the story. That was a nice change. There's time for that later.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. My only real complaint was it felt too short. But that could be either because it was, or because I just wanted more regardless of how much more narrative was actually needed to tell this first story. In any case, can't wait to start the next one!

My biggest problem with this story is the length (about 100 pages). It was just enough give us an idea of where the author wants things to go, but not enough time to really get there. The idea behind the book is interesting and the main character has the potential to be a lot of fun. But the action was forced, the resolution of the main character's confusion about her new situation came much too quickly and wasn't very satisfying, and this seemed largely due to the brevity of the novella. I think it says something that the author has enough imagination and talent that after such a truncated introduction to Morgan Jacobs world that I really want to see more. But the reason I can't give a higher rating to this effort is because while this effort shows promise, the actual novella just doesn't deliver enough by itself. If this author expands future works to be full-length novels or doesn't try to bite off more than she can chew in the shorter novellas, I think that she will produce some truly interesting work. I'm certainly intigued enough that I'll read the next part, especially at the prices this books can be downloaded for.

I admit to purchasing The Medusa Files because it was written by CI Black, author of Immortal Coil (an awesome dragon novel.) The story is about a US Marshall living in seclusion in her apartment after an incident gone terribly wrong. Morgan Jacobs has taken an indefinite leave of absence from work and wont even look the delivery man in the eye, for fear she may turn him into stone. She's not sure how or why this is happening but doesnt know where to turn for answers. Alexander Gage is posing as an FBI agent when he goes to question Morgan. From his teams preliminary reports, it looks like she might be the last living Gorgon around. Or powerful kickbutt Medusa to put it bluntly.

Alex is really a part of an undercover paranormal agency that polices other paranormals. The team is made up of mythical creatures who live among mankind while maintaining their secret heritage. Their goal is to find out if Morgan Jacobs is a danger to others due to her accidental stoning to death of a man who attacked her. Alex has an ulterior motive in wanting to recruit her. A gorgon on their team would enhance their strength and also replace the previous member of the group that was recently killed.

I enjoyed this and the spin Black puts on the medusa story. I love how unique Morgan's abilities are regarding turning people/things into stone. She is on a path of discovery and knowledge about a world she never knew existed among her life as a human. This was not as solid a read as Immortal Coil for me but I definitely saw potential and would love to follow. There is no true HEA as this seems like the launch or prequel of a series with heavy passion and lusting between the two main characters Alex and Morgan. All around a good quick read and something to past away a couple of hours

What a kick-butt short story- I'm being honest here. It's only about 100 pages long . Very well written, a great teaser to get you hooked into a new series. Morgan finds herself responsible for a man's death by an unbelievable manner. She couldn't have been responsible as far as she was concerned. But she's "not in Kansas anymore". Her life has become unreal for sure as she is dragged into the world of the FBI and urban myth. Her character will be fleshed some more in the forthcoming series. But a VERY great start to a strong female lead in paranormal and urban fantasy worlds.