Still writing great stuff (even with the help)...

books:


	• Skeleton Coast: A Novel of the Oregon Files (The Oregon Files) Clive Cussler, Jack Du Brul Berkley Trade, 2006 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Still writing great stuff (even with the help)...

My opinion of 'co-authoring' in general is that the result usually ends up exposing the worst in both authors and a disapointing outing for dedicated readers. However, that is definitely not the case with this Cussler/Du Brul sendup. I've been a fan of Cussler's Dirk Pitt/NUMA series for years and expected to be disappointed with this book, but bought it more out of curiousity than anything else. What a surprise!

As usual with Cussler, I was riveted to the pages after the first ten or so, and couldn't put it down until all the baddies were disposed of. If you like action/adventure reading, this stuff comes very close to equaling anything written in the NUMA vein - plus the authors very neatly managed to insert NUMA into the plot as well. Great!

Many other reviewers have already said most of what I was planning to say here, so I'm not going to reitrate. Suffice it to say that after reading 'Skeleton Coast', I imediately ordered the other book written by the Cussler/Du Brul combo. If you enjoy either or both authors, get both of these books. You won't be disappointed.

In other reviews, I've called Dirk Pitt the 'James Bond of the 21st century'. Well now it seems both James and Dirk have a rival in Juan Cabrillo - one tough customer, regardless of his missing leg.

I had a thought (that happens occasionaly). What if Cussler and du Brul got together with Raymond Benson, the author of the new Bond adventures. Could you imagine MI6, NUMA and The Company all working together to thwart some kind of global super-threat? Now that would be an adventure! But to be really interesting, the book would have to run to at least 700 pgs. And they'd have to come up with some really formidable opponents as well. Hmmm... how about the son of Ernst Stavro Blofeld working alongside a genetically cloned reincarnation of Hitler? Go for it, guys...

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Juan Cabrillo rules!

I really enjoyed Skeleton Coast. I had read one of the other Oregon Files novels, and I really didn't enjoy it. This one was great! I can't wait to read the other Oregon Files novels.
Juan Cabrillo is a very interesting and exciting character, right up there with Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin.

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Skeleton Coast

Book was received in a timely manner. Excellent condition.

I enjoyed reading the book and its fast paced action.

Action on the seas around Africa

What do you get when you tie together Clive Cussler and one of his numerous co-authors? Typically, a Clive Cussler book with some twists that show the seams where Clive and the co-author split writing duties. that is not the case in this book! JacK DuBrul is identified as the co-author here and there appear to be only minute seams which may actually be artifacts of editorial decisions made by others.

In the Oregon Files we follow the adventures of Juan Cabrillo and his modern pirate ship. Oh, I know! Juan Cabrillo is the "Chairman" of a corporation and he gets his commissions from government work - not high seas piracy. But, is this really that different than what used to be called Privateering?

The Oregon is Cabrillo's ship. She looks like a tramp steamer, but is in reality a super modern, highly equipped and weaponed, futuristic ship. Her equipment includes everything from superb engines to a multiple ways of launching boats, to all kinds of weapon systems and helicopters. The crew are all ex-CIA or other special forces and all seem hell bent for leather to do anything they are asked to.

In Skeleton Coast we see the marriage of eveil fanatical eco-terrorists with the power seeking quasi-officeers who take over African countries. The thread that pulls them all together is the Oregon and its exploits.

In typical Cussler style, there is a prologue in which we learn of a daring diamond heist perpetrated on an African nation over 100 years ago. Then, we switch to modern times and see the Oregon delivering a load of weapons to a modern African warlord. Action starts there and does not stop until we meet a woman who works for DeBeers diamonds, charismatic industrialists and scientists who invent various things, evil scientists who try to kill millions to show the world that the environment is deteriorating, etc. etc. etc.

There are actions scenes galore, many bodies, morbid torture and killing sprees, a fabulous prison situated in the middle of an impassible desert, and more. All to be resolved as it should with the Oregon rescuing the world and getting the girl to boot! It was a fun read and they even tied the old stolen diamonds in a way that made some kind of madcap sense.

Having had some bad experiences with co-author arrangements, I was frankly skeptical about this one. But after having read the Skeleton Coast, I will seek out more of the Oregon Files in the future.

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Typical Over-the-Top Cussler Action-Thriller

This review is for the Berkley trade paperback edition, October 2006, 373 pages. SKELETON COAST was on the USA Today's Top 150 Best-Selling books list for nine weeks in October and November 2006, reaching a peak position to 21. Clive Cussler has 24 novels on this best-seller list.

The story begins in 1896 with the theft of a fortune in uncut diamonds from the Herero king in then the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana). After a treacherous escape across the Kalahari Desert, the five thieves, all Brits, reach the HMS Rove, their chartered escape vessel. But as soon as they board, they are trapped by a violent storm and their pursuers attack. Officially, the HMS Rove is lost a sea, but the story narrator reveals it is buried eight miles inland in the desert.

In the present day, the story moves to a laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland and a conversation between the owner and a female technician about making sea water gooey. Then it jumps to a scummy looking freighter in the Congo River. The crew is trading weapons for uncut diamonds with a rebel group. Beneath the crud the freighter is actually the Oregon, Captain Juan Cabrillo's technological marvel operated by ex CIA agents and other mercenaries working for a for profit corporation. After escaping a harrowing fire fight with the rebels, the Oregon saves a damsel in distress who happens to be looking for the HMS Rove.

And so it goes. The Oregon faces one challenge after another, each one more tortuous than the previous and requiring the employment of the Oregon's state-of-the-art firepower, helicopter, lifeboat cum hydroplane and submersibles. The feats and skills of the Oregon's crew are nothing less than unbelievable, the coincidences incredible and Captain Cabrillo's ability to invent complex plans within minutes astounding. This is a typical over-the-top Cussler action-thriller. Unfortunately, it is heavy on tell rather than show and the non-stop action is frequently interrupted by speeches we would rather skip.

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