The Wrecker

By: Clive Cussler

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Chase, Clive Cussler introduced an electrifying new hero: the tall, lean, no-nonsense detective Isaac Bell, who, driven by his sense of justice, travels early-20th-century America pursuing thieves and killers - and sometimes criminals much worse.

It is 1907, a year of financial panic and labor unrest. Train wrecks, fires, and explosions sabotage the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascades express line and, desperate, the railroad hires the fabled Van Dorn Detective Agency. Van Dorn sends in his best man, and Bell quickly discovers that a mysterious saboteur haunts the hobo jungles of the West, a man known as the Wrecker, who recruits accomplices from the down-and-out to attack the railroad, and then kills them afterward. The Wrecker traverses the vast spaces of the American West as if he had wings, striking wherever he pleases, causing untold damage and loss of human life. Who is he? What does he want? Is he a striker? An anarchist? A revolutionary determined to displace the "privileged few"? A criminal mastermind engineering some as yet unexplained scheme?

Whoever he is, whatever his motives, the Wrecker knows how to create maximum havoc, and Bell senses that he is far from done - that, in fact, the Wrecker is building up to a grand act unlike anything he has committed before. If Bell doesn't stop him in time, more than a railroad could be at risk - it could be the future of the entire country.

Filled with intricate plotting and dazzling set pieces, The Wrecker is one of the most entertaining thrillers in years.

©2009 Clive Cussler (P)2009 Penguin

I Love This Series

This is a great series. I can't wait to dig my claws ito the next book. The characters are excellent! I could totally see Dirk Pitt reading all about Issac Bell. :-)

Great story

Very surprising book from Mr. Cussler. No boats, no margaritas and no barely believable super heros escaping a submarine. I usually do not like period pieces, but this was amazing. Exciting and refreshing.

"Great Sale series Book"

If you could sum up The Wrecker in three words, what would they be?

Inventive,Clever, Educational. Reviewer said he like this one, and Striker so I started with this one. I didn't realize it was 14hrs long! The others are not as long so I can only think that author or editor realized better editing keeps the reader/listener connected.

What did you like best about this story?

This was about 4 hours too long for me, however, the story was developed so well and it had great characters and plot. Worth the listen for sure.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

He is my new fave reader and I am downloading so many new authors due to his reading skills! He makes the stories all come to life and each in a way the author intended.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did enjoy this book, no doubt about it! I personally would have liked it a bit shorter as I lost some of the author's impact! The beginning was great and when it was finally tied together, I had forgotten all about it.

Any additional comments?

Great listen at new 1.25x speed. My first of this author, I can only hope the rest of 7 in series was a good buy. Thanks audible for the sale, as I did buy all 8 at once!

You'll learn about the railroads

If you ever wanted to learn about the railroad/trains, this is a good place to start. Research is great, tied into an interesting story. It's apparent the author wanted to get his teeth into a new character leaving the oceanic world for the railroad world while maintaining the hero .. Isaac Bell is very much like Dirk Pitt, just doesn't scuba dive. Very listenable.

Great new action hero

The combination of Clive Cussler and Scott Brick cannot be beat. Cussler's new action character in the person of detective Isaac Bell adds a new dimension to an action hero in historical fiction. The Chase and now The Wrecker, I hope is the start of a series compatible to my favorite action character Dirk Pitt. The historical fiction in the Isaac Bell stories has a more real scheme that the NUMA adventures..

Great read, though the middle was a bit long

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely yes, if they enjoy a mystery-thriller set in the early 1900’s.

What other book might you compare The Wrecker to and why?

They are sort like a Jack Reacher novel set 100 years earlier.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Brick is a great narrator and gives expression and suspense to the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, for the most part, but the middle portion of the book was a bit long. We knew the Wrecker was a bad guy and we didn’t need to hear quite so many accounts of his misdeeds.

Any additional comments?

This is a great escapist mystery thriller with the added twist of being set in an historical epoch that is not often featured as a backdrop for stories.

BEST STORY AND BEST NARRATOR

Best ever CC story. Scott Brick does another masterful job at bringing the story to life.

Getting to Know Isaac Bell

I listened to my first Isaac Bell story, "The Chase" out of order in the series and thoroughly enjoyed it. This persuaded me to go back to the beginning of the series and start from book one, which I also enjoyed. Now, having read, "The Wrecker" I am still entertained by this series.

Set just after the turn-of-the-century, I find the allusions to the lifestyle of that era interesting. In addition, although many people seem to have a problem with Scott Brick as a narrator, I find him to be a perfect narrator for these adventure-type novels. I would much rather listen to a narrator who puts the personality that he does into a story, as opposed to a reader who is more flat. For me, he brings his stories to life.

Having said this about the basic qualities of this series, I think "The Wrecker" has done the best job of allowing us to get to know Isaac Bell as a person, as well as a detective. His relationship with Marion continues, and their moments together are sweet and tender and it does bring out a side of Isaac that is softer and less robotic then the detective Isaac Bell.

Of course, listeners should know that all of this series is simple, mostly just for fun, and certainly not in the category of great literature. However, if you are looking for a book that is light, strictly entertaining, but still has some suspense and very likable characters, then you will probably like this series. Cussler does a fine job of keeping the facts and information true to the era, and even goes a little beyond by injecting details about the primary topic of each book.

For instance, in this book he does a great job of enlightening the listener with great information about the trains and locomotives of that time, the process of building a railroad right down to every piece of track and every bolt and tie. I suppose if one isn't interested in trains this could be tedious, but personally I found it added great realism to the story.

As a detective, Isaac is, once again, the brilliant, top-notch investigator upon which the series is based. This is one of the instances of which I was speaking where the book tends to be a little unrealistic… Isaac is a little too perfect. But then again, that's what this sort of book is about… having a hero for whom to cheer, and to know that he will always come out on top. These stories are the classic "the good guy always wins," so, once again, for a fun, lighthearted read it was very satisfying. In this story, as in the others, his villain, the Wrecker, is written with enough intelligence and sophistication that it does make the difficulty in thwarting him very realistic. Cussler does a great job of making him a worthy adversary for Isaac. This keeps the story believable and engaging for the listener, as we try to out-guess his next move to stay ahead of Isaac.

Without spoiling the plot I will add that the one thing I did not like about this particular story was the weapon that the Wrecker used which made him such a dangerous character. Personally, I thought it was downright ridiculous, and very unlikely for the era. However, this was a small negative in the overall believability of the story, and I would still recommend this book for someone who wants to simply have a fun adventure story that does not take itself too seriously.

Fantastic

I enjoyed every minute. Thrilling and satisfying. The reading kept you on edge and expecting another surprise.

awesome

I love Scott brick. he make the characters come to life. could not stop listening