The Wrecker is the second novel in a new Western series by “one of the greatest adventure novelists of our time” (imdb). It promises to become perhaps the most popular Clive Cussler series yet. Because, let’s face it, stories about the Wild West never lose their appeal to American (as well as International) audiences.

The main character of the of this new Clive Cussler series is a detective by the name of Isaac Bell, a fearless figure of physical prowess equaling James Bond who simultaneously possesses observational skills and powers of deduction rivaling Sherlock Holmes.

As luck would have it, Isaac Bell is an independently wealthy heir of a major American banking family, his detective work more of a passion and obsession than a job-for-money.

In The Wrecker, Isaac Bell gets hired to stop a saboteur targeting the Southern Pacific Railroad, threatening to financially “derail” the mega-corporation as they push to build a new and expensive cutoff track that will greatly decrease traveling time between the northern and southern portions of the American West Coast.

The villain known as The Wrecker may be every bit as brilliant as Isaac Bell himself, reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes’ arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. Up until the end of the novel, The Wrecker hides in plain sight within the circles of Southern Pacific Railroad president Osgood Hennessy.

The agenda of the Wrecker is to seize control of the Southern Pacific Railroad through various dummy corporations he has put in place, which will help him capture the fallout from Southern Pacific’s impending bankruptcy. Not only that but it appears he plans to eventually to control the entire United States railroad system, the greatest source of billionaire wealth in America at the turn of the last century.

Set in the early twentieth century, the novel of course presents a golden opportunity for automobile enthusiast Clive Cussler to have fun with several classic automobiles from the age when the invention of the car was in its infancy and the experimental variety in styles was greater than ever in history.

Automobiles featured in The Wrecker include a Packard Grey Wolf, the 1907 Model 35 Thomas Flyer, winner of the New York to Paris race of 1908, Isaac Bell’s classic Locomobile, and a Bugatti Type 41 Royale.

Clive Cussler is a man of many passions, one of the best known and most obvious being his love of the ocean, as evidenced by his countless action novels revolving in and around water. But the fact that he has chosen to live in Colorado, far from the any great body of water, suggests that he also loves the rugged, arid and mountainous landscapes of the American West.

Through The Wrecker, we get a glimpse of this other side of Cussler, the one that loves the arid mountainous landscapes of the American West. And it’s an enthusiasm that shines through with unmitigated contagiousness. The new Isaac Bell series may well help give birth to a whole new generation of Western enthusiasts, as well as spark great excitement in many old ones. With all due respect to the previous Clive Cussler series, his Isaac Bell stories may top them all.

Mrs. Hellman lives in Western North Carolina with her spouse and three children, working as a copywriter. She writes book review as a hobby. Visit her site to order The Wrecker by Clive Cussler, or the latest Dirk Pitt adventure, Arctic Drift, Clive Cussler.

For information on Auto Shipping visit MetroGistics.