The Wrecker

The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott

At last!  A Clive Cussler book that doesn’t take place primarily on WATER!  This was my first (his second) “Isaac Bell” adventure.  So far, I’ve read three other “series” by Cussler, and all of them take place on some sort of sea worthy vessel with good guys chasing bad guys and vice versa.  

These Isaac Bell stories take place around the year 1907, and Isaac Bell is the swashbuckling hero of the Van Dorn Detective Agency.  Oh sure, he’s wealthy, smart, good looking, etc., but at least this guy has a steady girlfriend.  In fact, he’s engaged to be married and is quite the sweetheart.

This book revolves around railroads and trains.  Lots of trains.  And lots of railroads.  I’ve never read a book that featured so many different trains and different railroads.  Well, I guess these things were quite the novelty around the turn of the twentieth century, and societies quickly became dependent on this new found mode of transportation.  Those who owned railroads were very wealthy indeed.  Which is where the premise of this story is founded.

It seems as though there is a mysterious figure known only as “The Wrecker” who is running around sabotaging trains, train stations, bridges, train tunnels, etc.  He’s quite the master at what he does, and quite the evil man.  He won’t think twice about hiring goons to do his dirty work and then quickly killing them afterwards to protect his own identity.  When one railroad tycoon (who just happens to have young, beautiful daughter quite smitten with Bell) starts to slowly have his empire destroyed by this “Wrecker”, the Van Dorn detective agency is called in and Isaac Bell is thrown into action.

I really enjoyed this book on many levels.  The action was very fast paced, yet never seemed too implausible.  There’s even a James Bond-like poker game in the middle of the book that is filled with heart stopping tension.  Strangely, we actually do discover the real identity of the Wrecker about halfway through the book, yet Cussler and Scott know how to use this revelation to their advantage, and it actually adds to the story.  You don’t feel ripped off because you know whodunnit so early on.

Although this was Cussler’s second Isaac Bell novel, this was the first one where he used a co-author, which brings up the debate amongst fans as to whether or not Cussler is actually doing much, if any, of the writing at all for these adventures.  One tends to be a bit skeptical when Cussler, along with a different co-author, manages to put out three or four books per year.  It seems he’s writing them faster than his fans can read them.  I guess this really shouldn’t matter as long as the book is good, and this one is very good.  I almost wish I would have started at the “beginning” and read the first Isaac Bell book before this one, but like many, I can’t keep straight all of the different series and different books.  It will be my next one….