Title: The Wrecker
Review: This is a most enjoyable book; I was very let down when
I finished it. It is one of the series
of books that Clive Cussler co-writes with Justin Scott. The Hero in the book is Isaac Bell, a
detective from the early 1900s. (this is
a departure from Cussler's other books which are usually in the future by a few
years).
The book opens twelve years after the main part of the story
takes place. Isaac is watching an
exclusive men's club and waiting for the members to leave, all, that is, except
for one.
The story then jumps to a coal mine where a union is
forming. The company doesn't want a
union, if they have a union they will have to pay fair wages, and give the
injured some sort of recompense to help them and their families live. The story is fast moving with many characters
you love and hate.
Isaac is investigating accidents that keep occurring in the
mine. The mine bosses blame in on
agitators that are trying to form a union.
The people trying to form a union blame it on the company owners who, they
feel, will stop at nothing to force them out of the mines or kill them. Isaac barely makes it out of the mine at one
point, when an explosion occurs killing
what were called the "door boys", little boys who were forced
to work in the mines to help support their families.
As Isaac goes into the mines to find out more about what is
going on he encounters many adventures, some of which he would rather go
without. The most dangerous being a gas
explosion which makes no sense and almost kills Isaac as he is investigating
what is going on.
When Isaac wakes up from the explosion, he sees a man in the
mine that does not belong there, or at least he appears not to be one of the
miners. The man sees Isaac laying there but instead of reaching out to help him,
he raises his hand and knocks him out again. The one thing that Isaac notices
about the man, before he is knocked unconscious, is his 'Amber Colored
Eyes, This is what he looks for as he
goes on to Chicago and New York investigating what is really going on and who
is responsible for what is going on inside the mines.
This was a fast moving book full of twists and turns and loads
of wonderful reading just like all of Clive Cussler's books. What an author, I love him and all of his
books too! This book receives a 5 out of
5
Thanks Eileen for this review.
Publisher: Published November 17th
2009 by Putnam Adult
ISBN: 9780399155994
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 470
Where did I get the book: I picked it up at
my local library.
Quick
Review: 5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis: In The
Chase, Clive Cussler introduced an electrifying new hero, the tall, lean,
no-nonsense detective Isaac Bell, who, driven by his sense of justice, travels
early-twentieth-century America pursuing thieves and killers . . . and
sometimes criminals much worse.
It is 1907, a year of financial panic and labor unrest. Train
wrecks, fires, and explosions sabotage the Southern Pacific Railroad?s Cascades
express line and, desperate, the railroad hires the fabled Van Dorn Detective
Agency. Van Dorn sends in his best man, and Bell quickly discovers that a
mysterious saboteur haunts the hobo jungles of the West, a man known as the
Wrecker, who recruits accomplices from the down-and-out to attack the railroad,
and then kills them afterward. The Wrecker traverses the vast spaces of the
American West as if he had wings, striking wherever he pleases, causing untold
damage and loss of human life. Who is he? What does he want? Is he a striker?
An anarchist? A revolutionary determined to displace the ?privileged few?? A criminal
mastermind engineering some as yet unexplained scheme?
Whoever he is, whatever his motives, the Wrecker knows how to
create maximum havoc, and Bell senses that he is far from done?that, in fact,
the Wrecker is building up to a grand act unlike anything he has committed
before. If Bell doesn?t stop him in time, more than a railroad could be at
risk?it could be the future of the entire country.
Filled with intricate plotting and dazzling set pieces, The
Wrecker is one of the most entertaining thrillers in years.
Author Biography: Cussler began
writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous
series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was
released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University
of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded
Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since
the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.
Cussler is an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks
and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3
non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his
novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval
history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered
more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the
first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its
victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania;
the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned
Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy
warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia,
which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from
the sea.
In September, 1998, NUMA - which turns over all artifacts to
state and Federal authorities, or donates them to museums and universities -
launched its own web site for those wishing more information about maritime
history or wishing to make donations to the organization. (www.numa.net).
In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is also a
fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society
in London. He has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding
underwater exploration.
Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in
more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific
Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe,
Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide,
Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey and Black Wind (this last with
his son, Dirk Cussler); the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters
II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt r Revealed; the NUMA® Files novels Serpent,
Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death and Lost City (written with Paul Kemprecos);
and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig
Dirgo) and Dark Watch (written with Jack Du Brul).
Clive Cussler lives in Arizona.
Justin Scott - Also writes as Justin Scott, Paul Garrison, J.S.
Blazer, and Alexander Cole.
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