Piranha

I have loved The Oregon Files series, so I was predisposed to love this book, too. While it was good, I didn’t love it as much as the others. This book was filled with action and things blowing up and getting shot, accompanied by a well-described cafeteria of weaponry. For some, I guess that would be a “plus.” I felt that the action and weaponry took over the available space on the page. Unlike previous books, there was minimal character development, not even getting well acquainted with most characters. I missed, too, the descriptions of life on the Oregon itself. The Piranha was worth reading, but, to me, it slipped into the stereotypical car/boat chase to blow up the bad guys to the detriment of getting to know the characters well and seeing them grow and change.

Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon return in another fast-paced adventure.

In 1902, a German scientist is killed when the ship he is on is destroyed in the eruption of Mt. Pelee. Claiming to have found Oz, the scientist was on the verge of a dramatic breakthrough.

Fast-forward to over a century later. Cabrillo and his crew become entangled with a Venezuelan admiral intent on sinking their ship. The female admiral is in possession of stolen American technology known as Piranha; a small undersea craft which can drill perfect holes in the hull of a ship. The admiral received her technology from a traitorous American weapons designer. To make matters even worse, this same person seems to have also completed the work started over a century earlier by the German scientist killed in the volcanic eruption. Now, this person has the ability to see practically anywhere at any time.

Intent on taking control of the U.S. government, the designer’s next target has become Air Force 2; the private plane of the vice-president of the United States.

Meanwhile, Cabrillo has faked the sinking of the Oregon to throw the weapons designer and his accomplices off their trail, but will Juan and his team be able to stop this madman before it’s too late?

I found “Piranha” to be a great read. I miss Jack Du Brul’s writing style, but I feel that Boyd Morrison did an excellent job telling this story. The characters are as lively as ever, and the story is well-conceived and full of action, adventure, and surprises. Highly recommended.

While I am a Cussler fan, especially of the original Dirk Pitt and the Oregon Files novels, you can tell that the “Cussler formula” is wearing thin. While Juan Cabrillo and his merry band of mercenaries aboard the Oregon save the world yet again, the redundant descriptions and foregone conclusions are becoming tedious. Plus, in this outing, the technology and science simply does not hold water. Like, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it is great to have familiar characters act in familiar ways, but like that movie, the suspension of disbelief needed to accept the plot is stretched a bit too far.

Not one of his best by a long shot. I have always enjoyed the “Oregon Files” Series and the characters are compelling, but this time he chose a topic that I couldn’t in my wildest imagination to be believable. I love science fiction with all the special effects but this special telescope used to spy on everyone no matter where they are (unless they are underwater) was a bit hard for me to handle. Loved the characters, as always. But I ‘m not giving up on him, he can’t hit it out of the park every time.

THE BEST CLIVE CUSSLER NOVEL IN YEARS! For many years, Cussler, arguably the best action-adventure novelist of the past century, initially published 17 single-authored novels, starting with Mediterranean Caper in 1973 and ending with Trojan Odyssey in 2006, all in the Dirk Pitt series. He also single-authored the initial novels in the Numa Files series. I’ve read all of these NYT Bestsellers, and every one is excellent, with continuous action, highly-developed characters, and outstanding writing style. Unfortunately, then came the long series of co-authored novels, with each of several series written by different co-authors. These novels are a very mixed bag, some very good (e.g., with Paul Kemprecos as co-author) and others not so good.

HOWEVER, this newest novel in the Oregon Files series, is the BEST Cussler novel I’ve read in years. The co-author is Boyd Morrison, and this book is truly outstanding. In fact, it’s as good as the original single-authored Cussler books. If there is such a thing as a real page-turner, Piranha is it. There is non-stop action from start to finish, character development is excellent , the story line is fascinating, and there are plenty of twists and surprises that keep those pages turning.

If you like fast-paced, action novels, Piranha is a MUST.

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