The Wrecker (An Isaac Bell Adventure)

by Clive Cussler

2010

Status

Available

Publication

G.P. Putnam's Sons (2010), Edition: Reprint, 592 pages

Description

Investigating a series of attacks on the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascades express lines, Detective Bell learns of the existence of an elusive saboteur who recruits and murders his own accomplices while engineering schemes of maximum havoc.

User reviews

LibraryThing member readafew

The Wrecker is the second book in the Isaac Bell series and I would say my favorite of the three. In this one Bell is tasked to find and stop the man/men responsible for sabotaging the Southern Pacific Railroad. The man responsible has been nick-named The Wrecker. His attacks are never the same

twice, one time he collapses a tunnel, the next he derails a train and a 3rd gives 2 trains the go ahead to use the same track from opposite directions. Bell and the entire van Dorn detective agency is racing to stop the next attack, preferably by arresting the murderer himself.

Overall, this was a pretty good story and fast paced as well. Isaac Bell is kind of like Alex Cross of the early 1900s. I enjoy listening to these on my commute to work. The have plenty of action and there is always another twist or turn in the plot to keep things interesting. Enjoyable books.

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LibraryThing member John5918

As with most of Cussler's books, this is not great literature but it is fast-moving and keeps the reader's interest - a 'page turner'. Set in the early 1900s (with a little leap ahead to the '30s) it features detective Isaac Bell, first introduced in 'The Chase', hunting a 'wrecker' who is

determined to damage the railroad.

The railway material is generally good, although there are times when it doesn't feel quite right. He does claim that a US 4-4-2 was clocked at 127.1 mph, which conflicts with the reality that the world speed record for a steam locomotive was set at 126 mph by a British Pacific 30 years later.

As with his previous railway-themed book, this one too could have benefited from better proof-reading. Apart from obvious typos, at one point an Uncle Bill changes miraculously to Uncle Bob.

But nevertheless, worth reading, and sympathetic to the railways.

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LibraryThing member derek85

enjoyed and looking forward to next in series

LibraryThing member TomWheaton

I didn't like this Isaac Bell book as much as the first one. I thought the author spent too much time explaining the history of the railroad then on the story about the wrecker.

LibraryThing member croknot1

It didn't hold my attention as well as I thought it would. Maybe it was all the talk about trains. I thought it would be more interesting, considering it is about a murderer nick-named the wrecker.I found myself skipping ahead a lot.
My copy is paperback, still very long.

LibraryThing member cargocontainer

I give this three and a half. The opening runs a little slow, and at times it can be pretty predictable, but I think this change of era is doing good for Cussler.

LibraryThing member DavidLErickson

Famous Van Doran Detective Isaac Bell hunts down an elusive madman set on destroying a railroad empire so he can pick up the pieces and control all railroading in America.

This is an entertaining read, filled with nonstop mayhem and action that I truly enjoyed. However, it seemed overly long and the

climax was way too made-for-tv. Isaac Bell confronts the Wrecker, gets impaled by him even though he knows the Wrecker kills his victims with a telescoping sword, then goes on to pull bolts and spikes to unseat a rail and foil the Wrecker's plans to destroy a bridge while he's bleeding out. The Wrecker goes over the side with the train, falls hundreds of feet into freezing, raging waters and still survives to terrorize another day. Just way too overdone, but the getting there is a great ride.

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LibraryThing member dekan

i just love the issac bell stories. they really make you feel the time and it's refreshing to steer away from all the tech sometimes. man against nature kind of thing. not as impressed with his other writers, maybe i'm a justin schoot fan?

LibraryThing member pigeon_racer

Mr. Cussler's detective takes you on a wild ride trying to catch a man who is sabotaging a railroad that is building in the upper northwest in the 1800s while at the same time trying to not get killed in the process. Very entertaining!

LibraryThing member mainrun

I enjoyed this book a lot, as I have most Clive Cussler books I have read. I should read a lot more from him. A couple things irritated me. One: dates. It seemed a lot of days go by as people travel from one end of the country to another and also plan/scheme/try to figure out what is going on.

However, when an actual date is given, it seems like it is too close to the previous date given. Two: the identity of the wrecker. It seemed to be revealed, but the way the book was written didn't change. Three: The wrecker was a super smart villain, who had everything planned. However, the book felt like a series of unrelated action scenes (very well done.) i wished it was more tightly written. Still a nice book.

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LibraryThing member Carol420

he story line is smart with plenty of action and suspense for all Cussler fans. Bell is further developed as the old fashioned hero, chivalrous, fearless, with a passion for detail (aka Sherlock Holmes). His relationship with his fiance, Marion Morgan, is a delight to read, they being besotted in

their affection for each other. I don't like this series as well as all the others but it is an okay read.

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LibraryThing member sjh4255

Very good book continuing on the Isaac Bell series in a different era of the railroads... Isaac never gives up.... the picture on the cover is not a true representation of what happened in the book...

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