Sacred Stone

In many ways a very typical Cussler yarn. A thousand years ago Eric the Red finds a meteorite and feeling it has supernatural powers he sets up a hidden shrine that lasts until the 21st century. When archeologists find it the message is intecepted and a famous reclusive billionaire has designs on using it to destroy the Muslim world and sends a crew to steal the stone and kill the explorers. In an unrelated event a radical Muslim group steals a nuclear bomb from Russia and plans a massive terrorist attack. The CIA’s problem, the meteorite is radioactive and may contain a deep space virus, that when coupled with the bomb, could destroy civilization as we know it. So, are the two going to rendezvous or are they set on separate attacks. Other governments must be involved in the take down, but they all have separate ideas on how to do it. Will the efforts ever co-ordinate or will the CIA have to go rouge to solve the crisis? Book has a cast of characters at the front so set your kindle to easily access the cast page or you will get lost on who is who. Elton John even makes an appearance in the book.

Long time Cussler fan here. I was excited when i found out Cussler had begun a new series, having loved the Dirk Pitt novels. I picked up the first in the Oregon Files, Golden Buddha, without a second thought. Unfortunately despite having a great concept with the Oregon and her crew of good guy mercenaries, that was a hugely confusing and drab novel, and the first time I’ve ever not enjoyed a Cussler tale. Everyone has a bad day though, so I went ahead with this book and hoped for the best.

It’s certainly an improvement, but this book suffers from the same problems as it’s predecessor. It’s an extremely convoluted plot revolving around a crashed meteorite piece that has the potential to magnify the power of a nuclear bomb. Some bad guys steal it, some even eviler guys steal it from them, there’s a bomb plot towards London, an even more confusing bomb plot towards Islam and Mecca involving stealing another meteorite and poisoning prayer rugs…. it’s just all over the place. That’s not even counting where the authors decide to have the meteorite contain an ALIEN virus that somehow eats oxygen and could wipe out the planet. Not making that up.

The character count is way too high – so much so that the book contains a cast section at the beginning with names and what they do in the book (54 characters by the way). Makes it really impossible to identify with anyone except Juan, Max, and a few of the higher ups. There’s also a few writing issues that bug me, like the way the authors tend to spoil upcoming events by letting you know at the end of the chapter that someone’s going to die – usually in the cheesiest way possible. (“the man had no way of knowing the next doctor he’d see would be a coroner”). Why ruin things like that?

I think the problem here is that Craig Dirgo had a hand in the first two books of this series. I’m not familiar with him at all, but this is not the Cussler I know and love, so I can only assume most of this came from him. I’ll continue with the series and see if things improve without him. If you’re new to Cussler, don’t start with this and sour your experience – try the NUMA files instead. If you’re a Cussler fan and can find this for a couple of bucks, I’d say go for it, otherwise skip it – no way was it worth the $9.99 I paid

Of all the Cussler books I’ve read, this is a major disappointment. There are way too many characters. The plot line…actually there were two plot lines…was so boring that the book was overflowing with “filler text”. i.e., pages upon pages of dreary scene descriptions. etc. I make a point of finishing every book I start, and that was a hard rule to follow with this book…but I did finish it. Yawn.

Clive Cusslers Sacred Stone, #2 of the Oregon series, ties an ancient legend about a meteorite found by a Norseman to present day efforts to use its radioactivity as a weapon. Juan Cabrillo and his technological marvel, the Oregon disguised as a rusting freighter, stand strong against terrorism. As with other Cussler series, I am now hooked on the Oregon Files for fun adventure.

While this is a typical Cussler book — lots of plot twists and interesting locales — it is also an enjoyable one. The characters he creates are interesting and identifiable and the story, while not necessarily keeping the reader in suspense since, with Cussler, the good guys always win, is engaging.

It’s a definite plus that Cussler has created more than one entity for his stories — this allows them to remain fresh.

While not the best he’s ever done, certainly a worthwhile read.

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