About the Author

Justin Scott (Author)
Justin Scott is the author of twenty-six novels, including The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle, the Ben Abbot detective series, and five modern sea thrillers under his pen name Paul Garrison. He currently co-writes the Isaac Bell series with Clive Cussler. He lives in Connecticut.

Clive Cussler (Author)
Clive Cussler is the author and co-author of a great number of international bestsellers, including the famous Dirk Pitt® adventures, such as Odessa Sea; the NUMA® Files adventures, most recently Nighthawk; the Oregon Files, such as Typhoon Fury; the Isaac Bell historical thrillers, which began with The Chase; and the recent Fargo Adventures which lastly included The Romanov Ransom. He lives in Arizona.

Reviews

Set in 1907, the rousing second thriller to feature detective Isaac Bell (after The Chase) from bestseller Cussler and Scott pits Bell against "the Wrecker," who's been destroying trains and railroad facilities around the country for no apparent reason. These horrific incidents are wreaking havoc on the plans of Osgood Hennessy, the Southern Pacific Railroad's president, who's constructing the massive Cascade Canyon Bridge in Oregon. If the project isn't completed by winter, Hennessy's bankers will withdraw financing and his company will be destroyed. As in the first book, the purposefully stilted writing style takes a little getting used to, but there's plenty of excitement to be had in a world where massive, fire-breathing trains fly along at speeds of up to 120 mph. While the Wrecker's identity is revealed early on and there's never any doubt that Isaac will get his man, readers will find many thrills and much diabolical cleverness along the way. (Nov.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Following his refreshing and exciting foray into early 20th-century California with The Chase, Cussler returns to the land of yesteryear. Someone is out to destroy a major railroad by wrecking trains, blowing up tunnels and bridges, and killing people. Railroad detective Isaac Bell is brought in to bring the Wrecker to justice. He is ably assisted by much of the same group who appeared in The Chase. Unlike Cussler's other adventure novels (the "NUMAr Files" and Dirk Pitt series), which depend on over-the-top futuristic technology, this new book is limited by history and cannot extend reality too far, all of which makes the novel work. It doesn't hurt that Bell is a more realistic hero and not a superman, although he is very much capable of taking care of himself. Verdict Richly enhanced with well-researched historical and technological details, Cussler's latest offers a welcome change of pace from the Dirk Pitt books. A very enjoyable romp. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/09.]-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.