The Wrecker (An Isaac Bell Adventure) Paperback – October 26, 2010

The second book in the Isaac Bell proves that good things come to those who wait.What we liked in the first Isaac Bell series are in this book plus more.Isaac Bell is self-confident without being arrogant, intelligent and methodically. He isn't afraid to face a foe in a gunfight or to admit that he is in love with a beautiful woman even when a spectacular beautiful young woman who happens to be the daughter of the rich client is making a play for him.I give the authors credit on how they had their character handle the situation. Bell was able to diffuse the situation quickly and firmly without being hurtful. No insulting their own character by letting him fall into the women's trap. The character is far too intelligent not to recognize what was happening.When faced with a man who has caused large financial losses as well as a number of deaths, he gathers around him an army of investigators. Accountants, lawyers, experts in their field all needed to bring the villain to ground. All without letting his ego get in the way.Secondary characters are interesting, intelligent and realistic. No inept sidekick thrown in to add what some authors consider humor.Scenes are well thought out and there is a plenty of action that flows easily from one scene to the next. Technical and historical material and details are skillfully handled. You learn without having the material shoved down your throat or bogging down the flow of the story.The book seamlessly blends fiction and real events into a fantastic action story.One little comment concerning other reviews, they refer to the writing style as being stilted. I personally had no problems with the writing style. Since the story takes in the early 1900's, a more modern style would have been inappropriate.My thanks go out to both Clive Cussler and Justin Scott for a terrific read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.Scott Brick what can I say; when you have the best reader narrating your book, it's only better.Lastly, for all of us who have ties to Jersey City, NJ we thank you.

In "The Chase", Clive Cussler introduced readers to a new character: Isaac Bell. Bell is a detective with the Van Dorn Detective Agency, and it's his job to travel the country to catch notorious bad guys. In "The Wrecker", Isaac will face his biggest challenge yet.The story is set at the turn of the 20th century. Financial unrest and labor strifes have beset the nation, none more so than on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Osgood Hennessy, president of the Southern Pacific, controls most of the railroads in the West. It is his plan to build the Cascades Cutoff, which will help the flow of railway traffic. However, Hennessy is faced with a saboteur on a grand scale; a man known simply as "The Wrecker". The Wrecker recruits down-and-outs from the hobo villages along the train lines to perform acts of sabotage against the railway, then kills them. Hennesy hires the Van Dorn agency to catch the Wrecker, and soon, Isaac Bell is on the case. From the west coast to New Jersey, Bell chases the Wrecker, but to no avail. To make matters worse, the Wrecker has his sights set on blowing the Cascade Canyon Bridge. Will the Wrecker succeed, or will Bell catch him before it's too late?I've become a big fan of the Isaac Bell series, and "The Wrecker" is packed full of action and adventure. Isaac Bell is the prototypical hero, sporting a stetson hat, white suit, and blond mustache. The Wrecker is a devious, well-disguised bad guy who is cleverly hidden by Cussler throughout the book. The supporting characters are well-developed and they add to the suspense of the story.I recommend "The Wrecker" very highly. The story is full of thrills, and the characters jump off the page. Don't miss this great story from Clive Cussler.

I have read every one of Clive Cussler's books. As he is getting on in years, he now works with "co-writers" to pump out series beyond his original Dirk Pitt books. Unfortunately, the quality of these books has become uneven. The Pitt series, given to his son, is suffering greatly in my opinion. The Oregon novels with Jack Du Brul have become consistently excellent. Now....out of nowhere comes this historical Isaac Bell detective series. The first book, The Chase, was pretty good even though I thought that the characters weren't sketched out all that well and the narrative didn't draw me into the world of the the late 19th century.Now comes The Wrecker, which I just finished yesterday. Absolutely fabulous. The author (I'm assuming ol' Clive in reality has little to do with the book other than lending his name to it) does a phenomenal job fleshing out all of the characters, but leaving just enough hidden to keep you guessing. I guessed the identity of the bad guy pretty early on, but I just couldn't swear on it until he was truly revealed later on in the book. The various subplots were skillfully weaved together. I had no trouble remembering who was who and never once got confused. Finally, the greatest strength of the novel was the way the author brought the America of the early 1900's alive. It was as if I was a part of the scenery. This book is 80% thriller, 20% history book. I was excited by both the plot and the vivid description of the mighty industrial revolution fever that was gripping the country at the time. Yet, the author does not just paint bright pink hues here--the seedy underside of the times are there as well: the financial panics, the out-of-work drifters, the overt "yellow" racism and "accepted" black racism, and the gritty dichotomy between the haves and have-nots.Get it, read it, and be prepared for some sleep deprivation for a couple of days.

This was a really good Isaac Bell story. I really learned a lot about the railroad in the early 1900’s, and what America was like. There was adventure, mystery, murder and love in the book.

Awesome author and characters

Great storyline, detailed and classic Bell adventure! Surely, this is a worthy read. Kudos to the late Clive Cussler.Give this a try, you won’t regret it!

Déjà lu deux Cussler avant donc j'ai pris celui là pour boucher un trou dans les éditions de mes favoris. Wo purée ! Une semaine pour 100 pages et je l'ai posé : alambiqué. Et il faut avoir le vocabulaire concernant les trains et voies ferrées montrés sur la jaquette ! Deuxième trou je m'y remets = dur dur. Pour l'intrigue, avec le rythme de l'écriture, je me suis souvent retrouvée avec l'impression de lire un script de dessin animé comique voire un film saccadé de Chaplin.Il ya des cours sur les explosifs et la "grande" banque mais je n'ai pas consulté quant à leur véracité.Suis soulagée de l'avoir fini et vais relire mes favoris en attendant leurs suites et devinez qui je n'achèterai plus ?

A very good story with lots of twists and difficult to put down before the last page. Different from Dirk Pitt but still a real Clive Cussler, good reading.

Cussler has a tendency at times to make Isaac Bell out to be somewhat of an immortal, as against those around him who are constantly being bumped off. Still a GOOD read