The Wrecker by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott

Posted by Britt Hellman on March 7, 2010

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.

The main character of the of this new Clive Cussler series is a detective by the name of Isaac Bell, a fearless figure of physical prowess equaling James Bond who simultaneously possesses observational skills and powers of deduction rivaling Sherlock Holmes.

As an independently wealthy heir to a Boston banking family, Isaac Bell pursues his detective investigations with a fury born out of an obsession and passion for justice rather than the need to make a living.

Isaac Bell gets hired by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company to find and stop a saboteur known as “The Wrecker,” who has targeted Southern Pacific construction sites throughout the West. If the sabotage continues in the midst of pressing deadlines to finish work on a major new track, it could cost Southern Pacific its good standing with its lenders, and rapidly lead to bankruptcy.

Unbeknownst to all until the very end of the book, The Wrecker is a regular member of the inner circles of Southern Pacific Railroad president Osgood Hennessy, even courting the railroad baron’s “unspeakably beautiful” daughter Lillian. He’s a formidable adversary, perhaps as brilliant as Isaac Bell himself.

The agenda of the Wrecker is to seize control of the Southern Pacific Railroad through various dummy corporations he has put in place, which will help him capture the fallout from Southern Pacific’s impending bankruptcy. Not only that but it appears he plans to eventually to control the entire United States railroad system, the greatest source of billionaire wealth in America at the turn of the last century.

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?

Through The Wrecker, we get a glimpse of this other side of Cussler, the one that loves the arid mountainous landscapes of the American West. And it’s an enthusiasm that shines through with unmitigated contagiousness. The new Isaac Bell series may well help give birth to a whole new generation of Western enthusiasts, as well as spark great excitement in many old ones. With all due respect to the previous Clive Cussler series, his Isaac Bell stories may top them all.

Britt Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, working as a copywriter. She writes book review as a hobby. Visit her site to order The Wrecker, or the latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift, Clive Cussler.

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