In Moody's hugely overwrought sixth outing for Venus Diamond (after 2001's K Falls), the undercover agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds herself in strange waters. Rather than the environmental crimes she usually tackles, Venus has to help her teenage brother, Tim, accused of murdering a friend, Pearl Pederson, who drowned while they were playing pirates on Tim's mother's yacht. Venus is close to Tim, but even she finds it hard to believe his story—that a giant jellyfish grabbed Pearl and dragged her under. New plot lines come thick and fast. Kidnapping, child pornography, car smuggling, Russian mobsters who like to cut off victims' hands, computer hackers, Chinese drugs made from poached animal organs and sold on the black market, a dangerous toxin for biological warfare ready to be shopped to the highest bidder, a ticking bomb, a midair gun battle in helicopters, an underwater knife fight, plus one old romance, one new romance and the assorted family crazies—there are enough story elements here for at least three novels. Moody's plots have always been thick and dense; this one is way over the top. It also lacks the depth provided in earlier books by thought-provoking presentations of serious environmental issues. Without that, this Medusa strangles itself on the myriad muddled plot threads. Most fans will beg Venus to get back into the wilderness where she belongs. (Aug. 4)
