The Chase (Isaac Bell Series #1)

By:

Synopsis
A remarkable adventure from the limitless imagination of Clive Cussler. For decades, Clive Cussler has been delighting readers with novels filled with suspense, action, and sheer audacity. Now he does it again, in one of the wildest, most entertaining historical thrillers in years. April 1950: The rusting hulk of a steam locomotive rises from the deep waters of a Montana lake. Inside is all that remains of three people who died forty-four years before. But it is neither the engine nor its grisly contents that interest the people watching nearby. It is what is about to come next.... 1906: For two years, the western states of America have been suffering an extraordinary crime spree: a string of bank robberies by a single man who then cold-bloodedly murders any and all witnesses and vanishes without a trace. Fed up by the depredations of "The Butcher Bandit," the U.S. government brings in the best man it can find-a tall, lean, no-nonsense detective named Isaac Bell, who has caught thieves and killers from coast to coast. But he has never had a challenge like this one. From Arizona to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during its calamitous earthquake and fire, he pursues what quickly becomes clear to him is the best criminal mind he has ever encountered, and the woman who seems to hold the key to the man's identity. Using science, deduction, and intuition, he repeatedly draws near, only to grasp at empty air, but at least he knows his pursuit is having an effect. Because his quarry is getting angry now, and has turned the chase back on him. The hunter has become the hunted. And soon, it will take all of Bell's skills not merely to prevail ... but to survive. Filled with intricate plotting, Cussler's signature dazzling set pieces, and not one but two extraordinary villains, The Chase is the master working at the height of his powers.
Copyright:
2007

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
406 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780399154386
Publisher:
N/A
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Sandecker, RLLLP
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Westerns, Literature and Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers
Submitted By:
Dave Russell
Proofread By:
Regina Alvarado
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

2 out of 5

By on

I used to be a big fan of the first dozen or so Dirk Pitt novels from Clive Cussler, but I felt he was starting to rehash way too many plot elements, so I quit reading him. So I hadn't read anything by him in about ten years when I found The Chase. The plot looked interesting, and I thought some entirely new characters would give Cussler the chance to do something fresh. Wrong. Honestly, I couldn't finish this book. I left off on page 174 (yes, I made a note of it in case I ever wanted to go back, which I haven't felt compelled to in the two years since I put it down), but the book just wasn't holding my interest at all. Isaac Bell is the typical Cussler superhero who can do no wrong, complete with several scenes where women practically faint as he passes by. Basically, he's like Dirk Pitt with no sense of humor. In fact, setting the story in 1906, Cussler seems to think NOBODY had a sense of humor back then, because the wisecracking of Pitt and Giordino is entirely missing. Cussler was never a great writer of dialogue, but he sinks to new all-time lows in The Chase, with stilted conversations like this: "Hello brother, you're an hour and a half late." "Greetings, sister, I regret I could only move as fast as the engineer drove the train." The detectives continually say stuff like "I pray you capture the murdering scum." While robbing a bank, the villain says, "Make no resistance and walk slowly behind the counter," a line I'm sure would have gotten him laughed right out of the James Gang. Making matters worse, the plot gets less and less believable as it goes on, and I bailed a third of the way through! Maybe I'm missing out, but if things kept on the way they were headed, I was right to quit. Since I didn't read it all the way through, I won't give it the lowest-possible rating, but I can't go higher than two stars. Big disappointment.