Chasing the money? (The Chase - Clive Cussler)

Member Name: scuba_angel

Product:	The Chase - Clive Cussler
Date:	15/10/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a fairly typical Cussler book, doesnt feature familiar characters

Disadvantages: doesnt feature familiar characters

It has to be said that one of my weaknesses is books. I will buy and read virtually anything (though 'chicklit' tends to be the bottom of my list) and one of the authors best described as one of my dirty little addictions is Clive Cussler, and as a result I have a whole shelf dedicated to his books so when I wandered in to the shops one evening and spotted nestled on the shelf a new one I had to buy it.

Getting home I had to do some studying so it was the next day when I got myself stuck in to it.

Given my eagerness to start reading I hadnt even looked at the blurb on the back nor the cover, so hadnt noticed the lack of 'from the Numa files' or 'from the Oregon files' so it took me a few pages to register what seemed odd about the characters and start of the book.

Isaac Bell is an investigator chasing the Butcher Bandit, a bank robber who kills anyone who is in the bank when he strikes and then escapes again leaving no clues. For two years local police have chased the Bandit and yet have got no closer to aprehending him.

Bell works for the Van Dorn agency and is considered one of their best agents, a wealthy man in his own right he works because it interest him more than the family buisness. This job soon goes from a mere work assignment to personal after he discovers that someone is passing information about him on to the Bandit.

In common with other Cussler books the characters have a liking for assorted forms of travel with details about cars, railways and boats liberally sprinkled throughout the text. The main character is a man who is perfectly happy as a bachelor yet we are told is attractive to women despite not being conventionally handsome,as well as knowing exactly what to do in any event. So Cussler's formula for creating his characters is clearly the same no matter who he writes about.

Again as is usual the book is around 500 pages long which doesnt feel too long though there are obviously parts which could be pruned to make it a shorter read but for me at least these dont detract from the overal pace and feel of the story.

Yes as Cussler is something of an addiction for me its rare that I'll give an absolute slagging to a book but reading this one has somewhat reopened my eyes to the predicatable formulas he uses in the rest of his books but the use of new characters was refreshing. I know little about the era which it is set in but it read in a reasonably realistic manner, and given the details about the cars and rolling stock would require some research I will continue to assume these are also accurate though of little interest to me personally.

As always I got my copy from the local supermarket as part of the 2 for £7 offer but the RRP is £6.99, and it can be found online for around these prices or less. For a Cussler fan it's a pleasant change for someone new to Cussler its a decent read.

Summary: Isaac Bell is seeking the Butcher Bandit.