The Chase

The hero is one Isaac Bell, an independently wealthy private detective. The villain is a bank robber-murderer known as "the Butcher Bandit." Bell, through hot detective work and breathtaking good luck, gets on the trail of the Bandit by page 168 (of 404). The rest of the book -- the better half -- involves a lot of fast driving, a locomotive race, some shooting and robbing, and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

I've always been a fan of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt and NUMA Files adventures as well as Steve Austin and his newer endeavours. I really wanted to like this book, after all it's by Clive Cussler but... The Chase had a good story line but the dialogue is awful. I'm not quoting the book here but imagine something along the lines show more of; Good guy: "I'll get you if it's the last thing I do, you scoundrel!" Bad guy: "You'll never catch me, detective!". Very generic and predictable. I also felt the prologue ruined the rest of the book because it gave away the ending. show less

Generally I find Clive Cussler to be a poor writer, despite his best-seller status. His characters and dialogue are very wooden.

However the attraction of this book is its railway theme, and it's a good detective story to boot. It starts with a railroad engine being raised from the bed of a lake in 1950, and immediately jumps back to 1906, to a thrilling tale of murder and robbery.

It would have benefited from some proof reading. In one chapter the assistant to our hero detective has a name change for a couple of pages from Curtis to Carter, and there's a discontinuity in the dates of the main detective story, which begins in September 1906 and then somehow ends in April 1906. The author has gone to some trouble to include railroad terms show more and practices and doesn't do a bad job, although there are small things which just don't quite feel right.

But all in all, a good relaxing read. show less

A cold-blooded bank robber has had astounding success throughout the western states and the Van Dorn Detective Agency has been hired by the US Gov’t to stop him. Van Dorn sends their best — Detective Isaac Bell, an independently wealthy detective who is hyper-competent and whose intuitions are never wrong.

US cover for The Chase by Clive Cussler. Original painting by Maurizio Manzeiri.
The story was, unfortunately, more predictable than I like. A little bloated too. Of course, you know early on that a train is a main focus for the story — and the fact it has this amazing cover with a train at the bottom of a lake is also pretty cool, but … Cussler left a lot of potential for suspense on the table, I felt. Even with the built-in show more ticking time bomb realizing a large part of the story is set in the spring of 1906 … in San Francisco.

Also, I didn’t love the main character Isaac Bell. I’ve not read a lot of Clive Cussler’s books in my life — I know fans of his read dozens, but I’ve read a couple, and have listened to one or two on audio while road-tripping with my father. Bell is just like the other Cussler heroes, and frankly, I found him kind of dull. I liked the supporting cast (what little we see of them), even though I expected several of them to shout “Golly!” at any moment. The shifting locations helped keep a lively pace. Honestly, I enjoyed reading the villain more than the hero in this one.

The history info dumps are what writers like Cussler are known for — cool car on the scene boom he writes an essay on the car’s technical details. That’s OK with me, I’m here just as much for the history as I am for the story. The random, purposeless historical cameos — not so much. It gives historical fiction a bad name, I think, and these particularly clanked off-key. One was OK (John Barrymore), another (Jack London), was sadly pointless.

So, if you like your historical thriller with some action, but not a lot of mystery, check out The Chase. I’ll probably read more of the series myself (it’s my favorite era at the moment), but it won’t be a high priority, especially with others starting to come out in this era. But the books are easy to get a hold of, and almost always a few to be found when the library starts weeding shelves.
See the full review: https://benjaminlclark.com/book-review-the-chase-by-clive-cussler/ show less

This is the first book by Clive Cussler I've read and I really enjoyed it. Set in America in the 1900s it isn't the era or setting I usually go for however I was pleasantly surprised and found it easy to immerse myself in this epic battle between 'good guy' Isaac Bell and the 'Butcher Bandit'.

Those with a love of trains or early motor cars will love this book and I found this aspect quite interesting, despite not having any knowledge in this field.

As the title suggests, the book feels like a 'chase' and I was certainly on the edge of my seat (so to speak) until the final page.

I even purchased this book for a Christmas gift for somebody else, so it was a great referral, thanks Dad!

My Synopsis:

The Chase (Isaac Bell series - Book 1) by Clive Cussler

(Audio book from the Library)

In 1950 a rusty locomotive is raised from the depths of a Montana Lake. But how did it get there?

In 1906, Isaac Bell, a detective with the Van Dorn detective agency, was charged with finding the elusive, Butcher Bandit. The Bandit had been robbing banks and killing any witnesses to the crimes for over two years. Though, Bell is one of Van Dorn's best agents he is up against his worst foe. The Bandit is cunning and ruthless. He plans each robbery with precision and cold calculation. Blending in with the townspeople and then disappearing as if he was never there. Leaving no witnesses to identify himself, he feels invincible.

Bell and his cronies show more find clues that others have left behind. He soon finds out that the bandit is missing a finger and probably has red hair. He meets a mysterious woman, who appears to be a spy and is eventually led to San Francisco in search of the bandit. Meanwhile the bandit continues to rob and murder as if he is oblivious to the attention of the agents. How is the bandit escaping so easily? Who is the mysterious woman? Where will he strike next? Bell must figure out this and a lot more if he intends to catch the Butcher Bandit.

My Thoughts:

This was my first experience with Clive Cussler, though I had often heard of him. Being a history buff a book set around the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, was very interesting to me. This book was fast paced and really kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next. It was definitely what I would call an historical thriller adventure with fast cars and fast trains, beautiful women, a little romance and whole lot of crime solving. I was enthralled from the first chapter.

Cussler's attention to detail was phenomenal. He was able to set the scene so perfectly you almost felt like you were there when the trains were racing across the country, or inside the ornate ballroom where Bell danced with Margret Cromwell. I found the main character, Isaac Bell a really interesting sort. He was a man of means, and did not need a job to support himself, but he loved to solve crimes and put criminals behind bars. A gentleman, with a touch of rogue in him. The villain was interesting as well. Even though he eventually got all the money he needed, he continued to rob and kill because of the thrill it gave him to outwit those trying to capture him.

The Chase is available now from your favorite bookseller!

I really enjoyed this audio book and I will give it 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag! show less

While driving I listened to this book. Wonderful experience and I am so glad that I chose this book. The reader did an excellent job. The two chase scenes (the car and then the train) were wonderful. I have a bad habit when reading just to skip ahead because I want to know what happened. I couldn't do this while driving and listening. My interest was held all of the way. I loved how the book started in 1950 and then went back to 1906 to tell the story. This history of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was phenomenal in the storyline.

Many years ago I was a Dirk Pitt fan, but I've fallen away from Cussler a bit as he seems to have evolved into someone who runs a stable of writers, and they're just generally not as good as the old ones. (Plus, I have to admit I get a little tired of seeing Cussler's political leanings highlighted.)

My son suggested The Chase to me, and I have to say that I think Cussler has a good one here with this author. (Again, I have no idea how much of this Cussler actually writes, so I just assume it's all the co-author.) Isaac Bell is a great character, and the storytelling is very good. For anyone who drifted away from Cussler for some of the reasons I did, give this new series a try - you might like it.