The Chase

The Chase - by Clive Cussler

To my knowledge, the first (only?) book penned solely by Clive Cussler that is not a Dirk Pitt story.  Adventure fans need not fear, as Cussler gives us a new hero just as worthy, with enough twists and turns to make things interesting.  This is for the Cussler fan that might be just be a tad tired of the Dirk Pitt tales.

Cussler takes us back a little over 100 years — 1906 to be precise, and there have been a series of bank robberies throughout the western part of the country.  Seems this robber is rather ruthless.  To help protect his identity, he kills everyone in the bank after he completes his dirty deed - men, women, children.  It makes no difference.

Enter Isaac Bell.  The swash buckling, wealthy, handsome, rugged detective of the fictitious  famed Van Dorn detective agency.  It seems that whenever there is a crime this sinister, only the best will do, which happens to be none other than Mr. Isaac Bell.  Although there aren’t that many similarities between Bell and the modern day Dirk Pitt, this guy could easily pass off as Pitt’s grandfather (knowing Cussler, it wouldn’t surprise me if he introduced such a notion in a future novel).  This guy can do no wrong.  Whether he’s involved in a fist-fight taking on a goon that has been dispatched to kill him, or calmly bluffing his way through a high stakes poker game, this is definitely the guy that you’d want on your side when things get ugly.

Since the story is 100 years in the past, we get simpler variations of the whole “bad guy” idea.  Instead of sinister villains threatening to destroy the world by causing fatal tidal shifts in the major oceans, we’re treated to simpler episodes such as railroads being blown up and banks being robbed.  Fortunately, Cussler is a master when it comes to detail. We see so many episodes of early twentieth century life - through the hills and canyons of the deserts, to the bustling cities such as San Francisco, we feel like we’re actually there.  If you know your history, you know what actually did happen in San Francisco back in 1906, and Cussler manages to fit the episode in well with the rest of the tale.

As usual in one of these books by this author, the villain is a pretty smart guy as well, and it seems as though our hero is the only one really capable to catch the crook.  True, there are always instances that are going to seem a bit unbelievable, such as when Pitt…..I mean Bell knows something bad is about to happen because “something just doesn’t feel right”, but for the most part, the journey is a pleasant, albeit bumpy and fast one.  The term “Chase” in the title is quite literal, as the last quarter of the book or so features just such a thing.  

If there’s one thing that is similar between this book and the modern day NUMA adventures is the author’s love for classic cars.  Or classic anything that has a motor and runs.  We meet all sorts of “modern” vehicles in this book, and Cussler goes into pretty extensive detail describing the look, the feel, the horsepower, the characteristics of all of these fangled machines.  Again though, the fact that these vehicles are “new” in this story as opposed to “old” just makes things a bit easier to digest and not feel as though you’ve read it all before.

As I write this review, there have been several other Isaac Bell books (the others were co-written with Justin Scott, I believe) and this is only the second that I’ve read.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both and am looking forward to the rest.  I also feel somewhat refreshed from all of the redundancy of the Dirk Pitt books, and I now feel I’m refreshed enough to pick up one of those again as well.   Great ride!