Series Update
ForumBook Discussion : Mirage by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an, um Nachrichten zu schreiben.
Dieses Thema ruht momentan. Die letzte Nachricht liegt mehr als 90 Tage zurück. Du kannst es wieder aufgreifen, indem du eine neue Antwort schreibst.
2Carol420
Golden Buddha by Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo – Read and Discussed on Leafmarks
The Oregon Files Book #1
Juan Cabrillo is Chairman of the “Corporation”, a special US Government-sponsored group that operates out of a ship called the Oregon; a marvel of scientific research equipment bristling with state-of-the-art weaponry – but disguised as a heap of junk. The Oregon, has a personality and a characterization all it's own.
Cabrillo and his crew are mercenaries with a conscience. They are able to cross the high seas in their rusting tub unmolested, seeking out those beyond the arms of the law and dealing out justice to any who would plot chaos on a global scale.
In this first addition…a priceless object and an ¬entire country’s fate rest in the hands of Juan Cabrillo and his crew.
They have been charged by the CIA with finding the Golden Buddha, a statue of the utmost importance to Buddhism in spite of its somewhat shady history. If they find it, the exiled Dalai Lama will be able to return to Tibet.
There are others that also want the Buddha for darker purposes. The list of characters is long and sometimes confusing.
The Oregon crew manages to play the Russians and the Chinese off against one another and restore the Dalai Lama in the end.
Since this was read and discussed on a different site that is no longer in existence I will use quotes and viewpoints from the 5 people that I found that are a usual part of the group that posted on Goodreads.
“Different from the Dirk Pitt books I'm most familiar with, this has an ensemble cast. Yes, it still has the classic cars and the detailed technical descriptions, but you don't get the same character building. I am guessing that will happen as I get to know the members of the team better in later books. In any case, it was an interesting, enjoyable read that I would recommend to readers who enjoy action adventure (or as my favorite used bookstore labels it, Men's Fiction...lol.”
“One of the negatives of this book for me was that, with the exception of Cabrillo, you never really get to know any of them very well. That may be because this is the first book in the series and is more an introduction to the characters that any sort of development. The book is filled with non-stop action and the plot was very unique.
The authors created some great battles, set in exciting locales, in an engrossing story. If you are looking for an exciting action/adventure novel, this is probably a book you would enjoy. “
“This reads a little bit like a script for a new version of the Mission: Impossible series: a lot of snippets of action in various places with many characters I had difficulty keeping straight, and a complicated plot to put the Dalai Lama back on the throne which relied a lot on misrepresentation and tricks. Though there was quite some action in the book, somehow the story did not really grab me. It felt like a reasonable plot, but the execution was not really well done.”
According to Goodreads there was 1 5 star rating, 1 -3 star rating and 3-4star ratings giving the book an overall rating of 4.00. We all said we liked the third book more with a different co-author.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sacred Stone Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo
The Oregon Files Book #2
This “Oregon Files” takes place on land, much of it in the Middle East…and because it takes place almost entirely on the land, The Oregon itself is mostly absent from this particular plot.
Two opposing groups seek a 50,000-year-old radioactive meteorite known as the Sacred Stone.
Muslim extremists have stolen a nuclear device and need the stone to give them the power to vaporize any city in the west.
A megalomaniacal industrialist leads a group seeking to carry out the utter annihilation of Islam itself.
Caught between the two militant factions is Juan Cabrillo and his crew, who must do whatever they can to stop them and recover the Sacred Stones.
I thought the opening of this book featuring Lief Erickson and his men finding the cave and first discovering what the stone was capable of was brilliant.
The 6 regular members of the discussion group that posted reviews on Goodreads gave Sacred Stone 5 – 4 star ratings and 1- 3 star for an over all rating of 3.83
comments:
“The story itself was a fun, easy read with spy action and thriller components. I am looking forward to getting to know the crew of The Oregon better as I definitely see the people, and their various talents/personalities, as a major strength of the series.”
“This book is filled with nonstop action and would make a great movie.”
“I have read all 11 of the books in the Oregon Files series and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. This was a reread and I have to say the fast-paced action of this story, the crew of the Oregon, and the details the authors pay to the historical and factual settings make this one of my absolutely favorite series.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dark Watch by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #3
Cabrillo's newest employers are a consortium of Japanese shipping tycoons who are being threatened by pirates.
The plot includes commercial freighters that are disappearing, missiles that North Korea is selling to Syria, bad guys planting a bomb on a ship that the U.S. wants to destroy, the sinking of a research vessel, covert operations from any number of nations, and the threat of diseases such as typhoid and cholera that could run rampant
As the Oregon crew learns more, Juan realizes that this case of brazen piracy is much more than just this obvious piratical front.
He may be in too deep to pull off this caper as the opponents have heavy sponsors from around the globe using pirates to increase and hide the lucrative international slave trade.
Along with all this other excitement we have an about to erupt volcano and a missing crew member.
There were 6 participants with 5 people rating it 4.5 and 1 person rating it a 4. With an overall rating of 4.42
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Skeleton Coast by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #4
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the covert ship, Oregon, have barely escaped a mission on the Congo River when they intercept a mayday from a defenseless boat under fire off the African coast.
While saving Sloane Macintyre - who's looking for a long-submerged ship Cabrillo learns that Sloane and her assistant has recently visited a crazy fisherman who claims to have been attacked on the open sea by giant metal snakes .
What begins as a snake hunt leads Cabrillo onto the trail of a deranged militant and his followers who plan to unleash the power of nature itself against all who oppose them.
Like all Cussler novels, this one begins with a story from the past. It seems that millions of dollars worth of diamonds disappeared off the African coast a hundred years ago during a storm that may have buried the ship and it’s cargo under tons of sand.
The ship also intercepts a piece of a satellite phone conversation regarding a kidnapped industrialist.
Juan Cabrillo decides to send in a team to rescue him, sure of a handsome reward. The same people who kidnapped the American businessman and one of his employees are also involved in an even bigger scheme that threatens millions of lives, and it also ties together with Sloane’s diamond hunt.
The entire book is one action filled page after another.
There were 6 participants: Rating were 2-4’s with an overall rating of 4.08
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #5
Capt. Juan Cabrillo, and the crew of the “Oregon” take on a group known as the Responsivists.
The Responsivists publicly promote a program of global population control, but are secretly planning a devastating attack on the human race utilizing a virulent virus found aboard an ancient ship that may or may not be…Noah's Ark.
The chief villain is a doctor who heads the Responsivists and a self made billionaire that is later revealed to be the doctors son-in-law.
This is not too surprising as many of the bad guys actually turn out to be who they said they were.
The Responsivists, have taken control of a luxury cruise liner to start their plan is to release a deadly virus that will render half of the world's population sterile and thrust the rest of the world into anarchy.
To make matters worse, a son of one of the “Oregon” crew members has joined the rebel group. Now it's up to the Corporation to free the son and stop the Responsivists' plan.
Using high-tech tools such as a Soviet space satellite launched during the Cold War, Cabrillo and his team set about stopping the cult before it's too late.
There were 6 participants in the group discussion. Almost everyone gave the book a 4 star rating with an overall average of 4.00
Comments were as follows:
"I think there was too much time spent on some of the sections, like Max's escape. There was also a lot of time spent on weaponry descriptions that made to book longer, but not necessarily better."
"Great action. The authors kept us guessing what would happen next and that kept me reading. This series has a fantastic cast of characters and it was interesting to see the backgrounds of some of the lesser featured ones."
"Always an interesting ride that keeps me wanting to turn the page"
"I like reading about how they get out of tight situations and I also like the different areas they travel too"
"I enjoyed the link in with the ark and the cult link. Also enjoy the group of characters brought together and the wider group within this book."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Corsair by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #6
200 Years ago:
A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago… ruling the high seas, pillaging ships and capturing their crews.
One such pirate was named Sulieman Al-Jama. In a duel with an American ship, Al-Jama's ship is severely damaged.
An American, Henry Lafayette, boarded Al-Jama's ship and fought with him.
When the two fall into the water… Lafayette manages to pull Al-Jama to safety. For two years, the men lived together.
Al-Jama and Lafayette agreed that Christians and Muslims could live together without fighting. Al-Jama wrote his beliefs down and stored them away… but his writings were lost over time.
Present Day:
There is a new pirate terrorizing the seas, also calling himself Suleiman al Jama, and he's got big plans that will do anything but make peace.
Although Cabrillo is a ship's captain; the story was a lot more land based than much of Cussler's work.
While heading for a peace conference in Libya, the American Secretary of State's plane crashes in the desert. Given the terrorist traditions of the area, her government suspect foul play and send Cabrillo to check if she may have survived.
He arrives at the scene of the wreckage to discover that it has all been staged and the apparent accident may have been nothing of the kind. He suspects that the Secretary of State has been kidnapped to disrupt the peace process.
Other events seem to back up Cabrillo's suspicions, when an unrelated group of American archaeologists are reported missing.
There is also a sudden flurry of activity at a couple of points in the desert nearby which had been abandoned for many years until recently.
The discovery of a Russian made helicopter that even the Libyan government claim to know nothing about make Cabrillo certain that terrorists are using the area for their base of operations, almost certainly in an attempt to stop the peace conference from going ahead.
Juan Cabrillo is hired to find the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasn’t just any plane crash.
The Libyan foreign minister seems to have plans of his own, which is why the CIA thought to hire Cabrillo rather than to trust the Libyans to investigate the crash.
They’re back with a vengeance here, infesting the waters of Asia and Africa and becoming a terrorist threat like no other.
The Libyans are after something…something centuries old, and only Cabrillo can find the answers.
There were 6 people participating in the discussion which gave the book an overall rating of 3.79
Comments are as follows:
"I thought the ending was pretty interesting and tied things up pretty well."
"I thought the ending was really rushed and I found it unbelievable. I try to suspend my belief but the whole broken jewel, drop of blood thing was just too convenient for me to believe."
"It was all just a bit of fun for me."
"The whole storyline with the jewel and the blood seemed pretty sketchy. The idea of the blood is very interesting but it did feel like it was just thrown in at the end."
"I quite enjoyed the ending of the book, but the ending of the book linked to the blood was a bit too perfect but hey it's a story. I felt the last section was a good section overall."
"I really enjoy the writing, the authors paint a great picture, easy to see in my mind's eye."
"I enjoy the writing overall and the plotting, as well as the connection to the historical event at the beginning. "
"I liked all the characters and the bits of humor here and there. The writing is good, especially about the action, creating a lot of excitement.
Overall ratings of the books thus far:
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Silent Sea by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #7
On December 7, 1941, five brothers exploring a shaft on a small island off the coast of Washington state make an exciting discovery, only to be interrupted by news of Pearl Harbor.
60 years later comes Juan Cabrillo and his crew chasing the remnants of a crashed satellite in the Argentine jungle, makes a shocking discovery of their own.
His search to untangle the mystery leads him first to that small island and its secret, and then much further back, to an ancient Chinese expedition, and a curse that seems to have survived for over five hundred years.
As the danger escalated the two seemingly unrelated incidents, sixty years apart began to draw together. With the Chinese and Argentineans involved, plus the freezing Antarctic coastline Cabrillo and his team were stretched to the limit.
If that isn’t enough we encounter a shocking revelations of a five hundred year old curse,
In Antarctica we find that Argentina and China have claimed sovereignty over the continent, and built a secret base capable of taking over the world as we know it.
Unfortunately, there are other contenders for this great prize. The Argentineans’ and Chinese aren't willing to relinquish their claim to the resources buried under the sea…. a huge 300 foot Chinese junk might hold the key to untold riches.
The fact that these two authors are able to tie in a tragic accident in Oregon, a missing 13th Century Chinese junk, a disaster at a base camp in Antarctica and devious doings by an Argentine junta. is a wonder in itself.
There is lots of action, lots of thrills, and as with all Cussleer’s books, lots of interesting history.
There were 6 participants in the discussion which gave the book an overall rating of 3.92.
Comments are as follows:
Pros:
“I always like the way history and fiction combine to make an interesting story."
"I liked how all the parts came together too. Also was interesting learning about China coming before Columbus."
"There was more character growth...The story was interesting - maybe a little more so because it was a little more relatable to me than some of the ones we've read in the Middle East or Asia and I liked the way the individual story lines connected a little faster than usual and that the opening sequence (with the Oregon) was actually part of the ongoing story line rather than a completely separate incident."
Cons:
"Little shorter action scenes would be good. These two authors seem to run these parts on and one for countless pages. I also would have liked to have known how Juan got out of his scrape."
"Too much technical information but I guess it fills pages."
Overall ratings of the books thus far:
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
Silent Sea – 3.92
The Jungle – 4.08
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Jungle by Clive Cussler & Jack Du Brul
Oregon File Series Book #8
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon have undergone many hair-raising adventures before - but never one quite like this.
We learn that jungles come in many forms: there are the steamy rainforests of the Burmese highland. There are the lies, and betrayals of the world of covert operations. And there are the dark and twisted thoughts of a man bent on near-global domination. To pull off their latest mission, Cabrillo and his crew of the Oregon must survive them all.
A devastating new weapon unleashed in thirteenth-century China . . . a daring rescue mission in the snowbound mountains along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border . . . a woman gone missing in the jungles of Northern Thailand and Myanmar . . . For Cabrillo, all of these events will come together -leading to the greatest threat against US security that the country has ever known.
We meet a super computer that appears to have a conscience… and a good thing it does as it was designed to hack any firewall in the world and grab information including the most top secret nuclear codes of the United States.
The Oregon has a new crew member Marion MacDugle (MacD). Mac D started out on a less than honest note as he had been given no choice but to cooperate with the religious zealot that built the computer or his five year old daughter would die.
There were 6 participants in this discussion.
Comments
Pro
"I like the plot, the pacing, the characters (the introduction of Lawless) and that it wasn't all action this time."
"I liked a lot of it. The story was very fast paced with plenty of action. I liked the parts set in China and Myanmar. It was a creative plot."
"I liked Lawless from the start. I also liked the action but sometimes it went on a little too long. Overall a very enjoyable book."
Con
“" I thought the ending was too rushed but that's my usual criticism of this series. We spend 90% of the time setting up the story and then shortchange the ending."
Overall Book Ratings Thus Far
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
Silent Sea – 3.92
The Jungle – 4.08
Mirage - 4.75
The Oregon Files Book #1
Juan Cabrillo is Chairman of the “Corporation”, a special US Government-sponsored group that operates out of a ship called the Oregon; a marvel of scientific research equipment bristling with state-of-the-art weaponry – but disguised as a heap of junk. The Oregon, has a personality and a characterization all it's own.
Cabrillo and his crew are mercenaries with a conscience. They are able to cross the high seas in their rusting tub unmolested, seeking out those beyond the arms of the law and dealing out justice to any who would plot chaos on a global scale.
In this first addition…a priceless object and an ¬entire country’s fate rest in the hands of Juan Cabrillo and his crew.
They have been charged by the CIA with finding the Golden Buddha, a statue of the utmost importance to Buddhism in spite of its somewhat shady history. If they find it, the exiled Dalai Lama will be able to return to Tibet.
There are others that also want the Buddha for darker purposes. The list of characters is long and sometimes confusing.
The Oregon crew manages to play the Russians and the Chinese off against one another and restore the Dalai Lama in the end.
Since this was read and discussed on a different site that is no longer in existence I will use quotes and viewpoints from the 5 people that I found that are a usual part of the group that posted on Goodreads.
“Different from the Dirk Pitt books I'm most familiar with, this has an ensemble cast. Yes, it still has the classic cars and the detailed technical descriptions, but you don't get the same character building. I am guessing that will happen as I get to know the members of the team better in later books. In any case, it was an interesting, enjoyable read that I would recommend to readers who enjoy action adventure (or as my favorite used bookstore labels it, Men's Fiction...lol.”
“One of the negatives of this book for me was that, with the exception of Cabrillo, you never really get to know any of them very well. That may be because this is the first book in the series and is more an introduction to the characters that any sort of development. The book is filled with non-stop action and the plot was very unique.
The authors created some great battles, set in exciting locales, in an engrossing story. If you are looking for an exciting action/adventure novel, this is probably a book you would enjoy. “
“This reads a little bit like a script for a new version of the Mission: Impossible series: a lot of snippets of action in various places with many characters I had difficulty keeping straight, and a complicated plot to put the Dalai Lama back on the throne which relied a lot on misrepresentation and tricks. Though there was quite some action in the book, somehow the story did not really grab me. It felt like a reasonable plot, but the execution was not really well done.”
According to Goodreads there was 1 5 star rating, 1 -3 star rating and 3-4star ratings giving the book an overall rating of 4.00. We all said we liked the third book more with a different co-author.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sacred Stone Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo
The Oregon Files Book #2
This “Oregon Files” takes place on land, much of it in the Middle East…and because it takes place almost entirely on the land, The Oregon itself is mostly absent from this particular plot.
Two opposing groups seek a 50,000-year-old radioactive meteorite known as the Sacred Stone.
Muslim extremists have stolen a nuclear device and need the stone to give them the power to vaporize any city in the west.
A megalomaniacal industrialist leads a group seeking to carry out the utter annihilation of Islam itself.
Caught between the two militant factions is Juan Cabrillo and his crew, who must do whatever they can to stop them and recover the Sacred Stones.
I thought the opening of this book featuring Lief Erickson and his men finding the cave and first discovering what the stone was capable of was brilliant.
The 6 regular members of the discussion group that posted reviews on Goodreads gave Sacred Stone 5 – 4 star ratings and 1- 3 star for an over all rating of 3.83
comments:
“The story itself was a fun, easy read with spy action and thriller components. I am looking forward to getting to know the crew of The Oregon better as I definitely see the people, and their various talents/personalities, as a major strength of the series.”
“This book is filled with nonstop action and would make a great movie.”
“I have read all 11 of the books in the Oregon Files series and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. This was a reread and I have to say the fast-paced action of this story, the crew of the Oregon, and the details the authors pay to the historical and factual settings make this one of my absolutely favorite series.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dark Watch by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #3
Cabrillo's newest employers are a consortium of Japanese shipping tycoons who are being threatened by pirates.
The plot includes commercial freighters that are disappearing, missiles that North Korea is selling to Syria, bad guys planting a bomb on a ship that the U.S. wants to destroy, the sinking of a research vessel, covert operations from any number of nations, and the threat of diseases such as typhoid and cholera that could run rampant
As the Oregon crew learns more, Juan realizes that this case of brazen piracy is much more than just this obvious piratical front.
He may be in too deep to pull off this caper as the opponents have heavy sponsors from around the globe using pirates to increase and hide the lucrative international slave trade.
Along with all this other excitement we have an about to erupt volcano and a missing crew member.
There were 6 participants with 5 people rating it 4.5 and 1 person rating it a 4. With an overall rating of 4.42
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Skeleton Coast by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #4
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the covert ship, Oregon, have barely escaped a mission on the Congo River when they intercept a mayday from a defenseless boat under fire off the African coast.
While saving Sloane Macintyre - who's looking for a long-submerged ship Cabrillo learns that Sloane and her assistant has recently visited a crazy fisherman who claims to have been attacked on the open sea by giant metal snakes .
What begins as a snake hunt leads Cabrillo onto the trail of a deranged militant and his followers who plan to unleash the power of nature itself against all who oppose them.
Like all Cussler novels, this one begins with a story from the past. It seems that millions of dollars worth of diamonds disappeared off the African coast a hundred years ago during a storm that may have buried the ship and it’s cargo under tons of sand.
The ship also intercepts a piece of a satellite phone conversation regarding a kidnapped industrialist.
Juan Cabrillo decides to send in a team to rescue him, sure of a handsome reward. The same people who kidnapped the American businessman and one of his employees are also involved in an even bigger scheme that threatens millions of lives, and it also ties together with Sloane’s diamond hunt.
The entire book is one action filled page after another.
There were 6 participants: Rating were 2-4’s with an overall rating of 4.08
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #5
Capt. Juan Cabrillo, and the crew of the “Oregon” take on a group known as the Responsivists.
The Responsivists publicly promote a program of global population control, but are secretly planning a devastating attack on the human race utilizing a virulent virus found aboard an ancient ship that may or may not be…Noah's Ark.
The chief villain is a doctor who heads the Responsivists and a self made billionaire that is later revealed to be the doctors son-in-law.
This is not too surprising as many of the bad guys actually turn out to be who they said they were.
The Responsivists, have taken control of a luxury cruise liner to start their plan is to release a deadly virus that will render half of the world's population sterile and thrust the rest of the world into anarchy.
To make matters worse, a son of one of the “Oregon” crew members has joined the rebel group. Now it's up to the Corporation to free the son and stop the Responsivists' plan.
Using high-tech tools such as a Soviet space satellite launched during the Cold War, Cabrillo and his team set about stopping the cult before it's too late.
There were 6 participants in the group discussion. Almost everyone gave the book a 4 star rating with an overall average of 4.00
Comments were as follows:
"I think there was too much time spent on some of the sections, like Max's escape. There was also a lot of time spent on weaponry descriptions that made to book longer, but not necessarily better."
"Great action. The authors kept us guessing what would happen next and that kept me reading. This series has a fantastic cast of characters and it was interesting to see the backgrounds of some of the lesser featured ones."
"Always an interesting ride that keeps me wanting to turn the page"
"I like reading about how they get out of tight situations and I also like the different areas they travel too"
"I enjoyed the link in with the ark and the cult link. Also enjoy the group of characters brought together and the wider group within this book."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Corsair by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #6
200 Years ago:
A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago… ruling the high seas, pillaging ships and capturing their crews.
One such pirate was named Sulieman Al-Jama. In a duel with an American ship, Al-Jama's ship is severely damaged.
An American, Henry Lafayette, boarded Al-Jama's ship and fought with him.
When the two fall into the water… Lafayette manages to pull Al-Jama to safety. For two years, the men lived together.
Al-Jama and Lafayette agreed that Christians and Muslims could live together without fighting. Al-Jama wrote his beliefs down and stored them away… but his writings were lost over time.
Present Day:
There is a new pirate terrorizing the seas, also calling himself Suleiman al Jama, and he's got big plans that will do anything but make peace.
Although Cabrillo is a ship's captain; the story was a lot more land based than much of Cussler's work.
While heading for a peace conference in Libya, the American Secretary of State's plane crashes in the desert. Given the terrorist traditions of the area, her government suspect foul play and send Cabrillo to check if she may have survived.
He arrives at the scene of the wreckage to discover that it has all been staged and the apparent accident may have been nothing of the kind. He suspects that the Secretary of State has been kidnapped to disrupt the peace process.
Other events seem to back up Cabrillo's suspicions, when an unrelated group of American archaeologists are reported missing.
There is also a sudden flurry of activity at a couple of points in the desert nearby which had been abandoned for many years until recently.
The discovery of a Russian made helicopter that even the Libyan government claim to know nothing about make Cabrillo certain that terrorists are using the area for their base of operations, almost certainly in an attempt to stop the peace conference from going ahead.
Juan Cabrillo is hired to find the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasn’t just any plane crash.
The Libyan foreign minister seems to have plans of his own, which is why the CIA thought to hire Cabrillo rather than to trust the Libyans to investigate the crash.
They’re back with a vengeance here, infesting the waters of Asia and Africa and becoming a terrorist threat like no other.
The Libyans are after something…something centuries old, and only Cabrillo can find the answers.
There were 6 people participating in the discussion which gave the book an overall rating of 3.79
Comments are as follows:
"I thought the ending was pretty interesting and tied things up pretty well."
"I thought the ending was really rushed and I found it unbelievable. I try to suspend my belief but the whole broken jewel, drop of blood thing was just too convenient for me to believe."
"It was all just a bit of fun for me."
"The whole storyline with the jewel and the blood seemed pretty sketchy. The idea of the blood is very interesting but it did feel like it was just thrown in at the end."
"I quite enjoyed the ending of the book, but the ending of the book linked to the blood was a bit too perfect but hey it's a story. I felt the last section was a good section overall."
"I really enjoy the writing, the authors paint a great picture, easy to see in my mind's eye."
"I enjoy the writing overall and the plotting, as well as the connection to the historical event at the beginning. "
"I liked all the characters and the bits of humor here and there. The writing is good, especially about the action, creating a lot of excitement.
Overall ratings of the books thus far:
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Silent Sea by Clive Cussler & Jack DuBrul
The Oregon Files Book #7
On December 7, 1941, five brothers exploring a shaft on a small island off the coast of Washington state make an exciting discovery, only to be interrupted by news of Pearl Harbor.
60 years later comes Juan Cabrillo and his crew chasing the remnants of a crashed satellite in the Argentine jungle, makes a shocking discovery of their own.
His search to untangle the mystery leads him first to that small island and its secret, and then much further back, to an ancient Chinese expedition, and a curse that seems to have survived for over five hundred years.
As the danger escalated the two seemingly unrelated incidents, sixty years apart began to draw together. With the Chinese and Argentineans involved, plus the freezing Antarctic coastline Cabrillo and his team were stretched to the limit.
If that isn’t enough we encounter a shocking revelations of a five hundred year old curse,
In Antarctica we find that Argentina and China have claimed sovereignty over the continent, and built a secret base capable of taking over the world as we know it.
Unfortunately, there are other contenders for this great prize. The Argentineans’ and Chinese aren't willing to relinquish their claim to the resources buried under the sea…. a huge 300 foot Chinese junk might hold the key to untold riches.
The fact that these two authors are able to tie in a tragic accident in Oregon, a missing 13th Century Chinese junk, a disaster at a base camp in Antarctica and devious doings by an Argentine junta. is a wonder in itself.
There is lots of action, lots of thrills, and as with all Cussleer’s books, lots of interesting history.
There were 6 participants in the discussion which gave the book an overall rating of 3.92.
Comments are as follows:
Pros:
“I always like the way history and fiction combine to make an interesting story."
"I liked how all the parts came together too. Also was interesting learning about China coming before Columbus."
"There was more character growth...The story was interesting - maybe a little more so because it was a little more relatable to me than some of the ones we've read in the Middle East or Asia and I liked the way the individual story lines connected a little faster than usual and that the opening sequence (with the Oregon) was actually part of the ongoing story line rather than a completely separate incident."
Cons:
"Little shorter action scenes would be good. These two authors seem to run these parts on and one for countless pages. I also would have liked to have known how Juan got out of his scrape."
"Too much technical information but I guess it fills pages."
Overall ratings of the books thus far:
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
Silent Sea – 3.92
The Jungle – 4.08
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Jungle by Clive Cussler & Jack Du Brul
Oregon File Series Book #8
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon have undergone many hair-raising adventures before - but never one quite like this.
We learn that jungles come in many forms: there are the steamy rainforests of the Burmese highland. There are the lies, and betrayals of the world of covert operations. And there are the dark and twisted thoughts of a man bent on near-global domination. To pull off their latest mission, Cabrillo and his crew of the Oregon must survive them all.
A devastating new weapon unleashed in thirteenth-century China . . . a daring rescue mission in the snowbound mountains along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border . . . a woman gone missing in the jungles of Northern Thailand and Myanmar . . . For Cabrillo, all of these events will come together -leading to the greatest threat against US security that the country has ever known.
We meet a super computer that appears to have a conscience… and a good thing it does as it was designed to hack any firewall in the world and grab information including the most top secret nuclear codes of the United States.
The Oregon has a new crew member Marion MacDugle (MacD). Mac D started out on a less than honest note as he had been given no choice but to cooperate with the religious zealot that built the computer or his five year old daughter would die.
There were 6 participants in this discussion.
Comments
Pro
"I like the plot, the pacing, the characters (the introduction of Lawless) and that it wasn't all action this time."
"I liked a lot of it. The story was very fast paced with plenty of action. I liked the parts set in China and Myanmar. It was a creative plot."
"I liked Lawless from the start. I also liked the action but sometimes it went on a little too long. Overall a very enjoyable book."
Con
“" I thought the ending was too rushed but that's my usual criticism of this series. We spend 90% of the time setting up the story and then shortchange the ending."
Overall Book Ratings Thus Far
Golden Buddha – 4.00
Sacred Stone– 3.83
Dark Watch – 4.42
Skeleton Coast – 4.08
Plague Ship – 4.00
Corsair – 3.79
Silent Sea – 3.92
The Jungle – 4.08
Mirage - 4.75
3Andrew-theQM
Impressive Carol. 👍🙌👏 ❤️ Interesting that my favourite one has the second lowest score, Sacred Stone
4EadieB
>3 Andrew-theQM: I liked that one too but it looks like Corsair was a little lower in the score department.
>2 Carol420: Thanks for the info - Can't believe that we have finished so many from this series.
>2 Carol420: Thanks for the info - Can't believe that we have finished so many from this series.
6Andrew-theQM
>5 Carol420: Think I buck the trend as didn’t enjoy that one as much.
7Carol420
>6 Andrew-theQM: LOL! You're just a rebel at heart.
8Andrew-theQM
>7 Carol420: With These Books I think I am, just call me contrary Mary!
