The Silent Sea by Clive Cussler (With Jack Du Brul)

Background

From the Oregon Files novels based on the larger than life Juan Cabrillo and his more than capable private secret service organization called 'the Corporation'. The corporation are based on the Oregon, which looks to be a rusty old tramp steamer sailing the seas but in reality it is an extraordinarily sophisticated intelligence-gathering vessel with luxury facilities and top of the line technical capabilities and a match for almost all other vessels out there.

Synopsis

December, 1941. Four brothers investigate the secrets of a treasure pit on a small island in the Pacific. but a sudden death and the events at Pearl Harbour allow its secrets to lie forgotten . . .

Moving on to the present day, and Juan Cabrillo and the Oregon team have been sent to locate the remains of a crashed satellite in the Argentine jungle. While there and coming under attack, they make a mysterious discovery which sends them to the small Pacific island. There, they discover the deadly secrets of an ancient Chinese expedition - by the lost ship The Silent Sea and the curse surrounding it.

Now Juan Cabrillo and his team are in a race against time to find the remains of The Silent Sea, as there will be terrible consequences if someone else finds it first . . .

Review

This is part of a series of books based around the Oregon and its crew, and not reading any of the earlier books leave one not sure if you can just pick it up and enjoy for the novels sake. For the Silent Sea I would say you can, as you read you get the sense that there is more depth to the main characters than you initially pick up on, and to those that have read any of the earlier books, this will not be a problem, and even for those that are new to the series it doesn’t take long for the principal charters to be rounded within your imagination.

As for the plot, it starts in three different places/times and with three different sets of characters, even telling what could be described as a short story in its own right, but then the plots converge into what can be best described as a good old fashioned adventure yarn that has no problem keeping you hooked.

Even taking into account the ever increasing capabilities and skills of Juan and the rest of the crew of the Oregon, the writer’s skill at this type of tale is enough to help you suspend your scepticism and not put the book down until the telling is done.

I’ll be defiantly looking at other Clive Cussler novels.

Rating

I give this book 8 out of 10, really enjoyed this yarn