Corsair

Corsair

In the sixth entry set onboard the Oregon (and the third cowritten with Du Brul), Juan Cabrillo, the one-legged “chairman” of the ancient but technologically sophisticated ship, is hired to dig up the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasn’t just any plane crash: on board was Fiona Katamora, the U.S. secretary of state, who was on her way to a summit meeting in Libya. Although Cabrillo and his crew are able to recover the wreckage, there is no sign of the secretary. 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. A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago. But 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. The action, suspense, and drama are full throttle throughout. Cussler fans used to international intrigue and battles at sea will not be disappointed.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A great outing for Juan and The Corporation…
The perfect Summer Read. Maybe it was the Sea of Cortez, maybe it was the poolside cerveza’s but I loved this book. Pirates, gun fights, terrorists, attempted assasinations it had it all… A great read on the beach!

1 Star I struggled to get through it!
Far-fetched escapes, heroes who seem to be constantly in danger but always get away, and a setting that was hard to understand – that’s my impression of the latest Clive Cussler. This is SO far away from the early Dirk Pitt novels!

5 Stars Wow! DuBrul (and Cussler) knock this one outta the park!
I have noticed several reviews which acknowledge Clive Cussler’s writing on Corsair–but I would like to clear something up: the Oregon Files books are NOT written by Cussler…NONE of them were. The first couple were written by Craig Dirgo (and were abysmal btw), and the rest have been authored by Jack DuBrul. Sure, Clive comes up with the story outline and makes suggestions here and there, but the ACTUAL novel is written by DuBrul.

Okay–enough of that…on to the review: Jack has outdone himself here with Corsair. This is one of those books where you either like it or not (for the most part anyway). Face it, some people have a talent for accepting a story, whether outlandish or not, and some want 100% authenticity throughout or it borders on pure drivel. While I’ll admit that there are some places where authenticity are stretched a bit thin–but honestly, I don’t CARE. Cussler has written several novels that border on outright science fiction (the base on the moon comes to mind…) and yet nobody seems too concerned with that…so perspective, folks…perspective.

DuBrul is a great writer and I’ve said for quite some time now that I’ve felt that if ANYONE in the action/adventure arena has the writing chops to de-throne Cussler, it’s him…and I’d say Corsair goes a LONG way towards proving my point. Paul Kemprecos has managed to mirror Cussler’s writing style MUCH better than Clive’s son has in the last several Dirk Pitt stories. Reading the NUMA Files books are (for ME anyway) as close to reading a Cussler novel the way he USED to write back in the day as you can find. DuBrul’s style is certainly every bit as cinematic as Clive’s but also quite different. He places his own imprint on each story making it as unique to him as the earlier Pitt novels are to Cussler.

Again, the story is well told if not a bit far-fetched in a few places, but for THIS reader, that did NOTHING to alter my pure enjoyment of the latest Oregon Files tale. DuBrul really IS one of my favorite authors writing today and while I really, REALLY like his books with Cussler, I’m waiting to read another thriller featuring Phillip Mercer and his elderly half-drunken sidekick. Please tell me I won’t have to wait much longer…???

Jack: WELL done! Now GET BUSY and bring back Mercer, dangit!

4 Stars well written
I wouldn’t have thought I’d be hooked, but I am. I’m a major fan of Dirk Pitt, Austin and NUMA so a one-legged superhero? Seemed too much of a reach, but it worked; so you write them and I’ll read them. Thanks again.

2 Stars disappointment
I am a casual fan of Cussler and have enjoyed everything of his I have read up to this point. This one is a stinker. It was obviously written to be adapted into a screenplay and unfortunately it leans heavily on action and adventure and less, if any, on character development.

It is just a series of chase scenes and rescue scenes. One after another with little story development in between. When the good guys get into what could be an interesting jam, that invites the reader to imagine the clever way it would be resolved, Cussler simply invents some ridiculous new technology or capability never before seen on planet earth.

The hallmark of a good novel is that it is believable. This one is a far cry from that description. The ship the Corporation uses is too fantastic to be believed. The “PIG”, a terrestrial vehicle they use in the desert is impossible. Any one capability this vehicle has might be believable but add them all up and you have a monster truck on steroids that would, for one, not be affordable and for another, is just stupid.

Wait for the movie.

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