The Wrecker by Clive Cussler
The Wrecker is the second novel in a new Western series by “one of the greatest adventure novelists of our time” (imdb). It promises to become perhaps the most popular Clive Cussler series yet. Because, let’s face it, stories about the Wild West never lose their appeal to American (as well as International) audiences.
A detective by the name of Isaac Bell represents the main character in The Wrecker. Bell is as athletic and fearless as James Bond and as intellectually brilliant as Sherlock Holmes.
Conveniently, Isaac Bell is also independently wealthy, heir to a prominent Boston banking family. After disappointing his father by not following in his footsteps, Bell has pursued his detective work with a fervor that spells obsessive passion more than a way to make a living.
In The Wrecker, Isaac Bell gets hired to stop a saboteur targeting the Southern Pacific Railroad, threatening to financially “derail” the mega-corporation as they push to build a new and expensive cutoff track that will greatly decrease traveling time between the northern and southern portions of the American West Coast.
The villain known as The Wrecker may be every bit as brilliant as Isaac Bell himself, reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes’ arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. Up until the end of the novel, The Wrecker hides in plain sight within the circles of Southern Pacific Railroad president Osgood Hennessy.
The goal of the Wrecker is to gain control of the entire United States railroad system, at a time in history when railroad barons such as Harriman and Vanderbilt were the wealthiest men in America, beginning with the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Notorious as an avid automobile enthusiast, one reason why Clive Cussler may have picked the early 1900′s as the setting for his new series may well have been to give him an opportunity to write about car chases in classic automobiles from the turn of the last century.
Featured in The Wrecker, we find the winner of the 1908 New York to Paris race, the 1907 Model 35 Thomas Flyer, as well as a Packard Grey Wolf, a turn of the century Rolls Royce, Isaac Bell’s Locomobile, and a Bugatti Type 41 Royale.
Although Clive Cussler may be best known for his love of diving and sea exploration, both through his fictional stories and non-fictional enterprises, he obviously also cherishes the rugged landscapes of the American West. Why else would he have chosen to live in the mountains of Colorado, as far from the sea as you can get in the United States?
This “second” love of Clive Cussler shines through in his new Isaac Bell series in a way that will likely reinvigorate many old Wild West enthusiasts as well as give birth to a whole new generation of Western lovers. The book is a highly recommended read.
Mrs. Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, where she works as a professional copywriter. She writes book review as a hobby. Visit her site to order The Wrecker by Clive Cussler, or the most recent Dirk Pitt novel, Clive Cussler’s Arctic Drift.