The Wrecker

From Publishers Weekly 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 В© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Cussler, known primarily for his contemporary high-tech thrillers, steps back in time—more than a century, in fact—in this rousing sequel to The Chase (2007). Van Dorn Detective Agency operative Isaac Bell returns, this time to track down a clever saboteur whoвЂTMs been dubbed the Wrecker. Seems the Wrecker has it in for the Southern Pacific Company, and he will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep the company from putting through a new railway line between San Francisco and northern California. Isaac is a sharply drawn series lead, and the story, as befits a railroad-themed thriller, moves at a brisk clip. In addition, thereвЂTMs a very nice surprise in the final scenes. Readers who have sensed a certain been-there-done-that feeling in some of CusslerвЂTMs recent novels will be pleased to find a new spark here. More Isaac Bell novels would be most welcome. --David Pitt