The Silent Sea

This is the seventh installment of the Oregon Files series by Clive Cussler. The series started out as a spin off of characters created in one volume of the Dirk Pitt series, also by Cussler. The characters turned out to be a perfect base on which to launch another successful series of books. To date, I have enjoyed every installment of the Oregon Files series. And The Silent Sea is no exception.

The story starts on a family owned island off the west coast of the United States. For generations, the family members have struggled to reach bottom of a flooded shaft at the center of the island. At the bottom of which is believed to be an abandoned pirates treasure. But while the young men of the family line have struggled for generations to reach the bottom, none have yet discovered its secrets.

How the story spins from the small family owned island of North America to the jungles of Argentina and an ice covered base in Antarctica is something that must be experienced in order to be believed. The story unfolds at an accelerated pace taking the characters on a series of twists and turns that ultimately lead not only the hidden secrets of the family owned island but the discovery of a lost ancient Chinese expedition and a deadly disease.

I’m a big fan of Cussler’s work. After dozens of compelling and entertaining adventure stories, he continues to release creative and original works that center around powerful and captivating characters. The Silent Sea is yet another great example of his work.

On December 7, 1941, five brothers exploring a remote island make an exciting discovery. Fast-forward to the present-day: Juan Cabrillo and the rest of his Oregon crew mates are sent to Argentina to retrieve the remains of a crashed American satellite. The Oregon looks like a dilapidated old freighter when in reality, she is a technological wonder ship, possessing high-tech equipment and weaponry. During the mission, Cabrillo discovers the remains of a large blimp which crashed near the site where the satellite went down. Thus begins a series of events that will take Cabrillo and the other members of the Oregon to Pine Island, the Mississippi River, Argentina, Paraguay, and Antarctica. Throughout the duration of the book, Cabrillo and his friends are running from Argentine members of the ninth brigade. Will Cabrillo manage to stay ahead of them, or will the Argentines catch up? All of the events in the novel feed off one another, and Clive Cussler does a masterful job of tying everything together. The ending of the book is explosive, to say the least.

This is the second Cussler novel I’ve read and, as with the first, I was very impressed. Cussler and Du Brul do a masterful job of creating life-like characters which the reader can easily relate to and, in the case of “The Silent Sea”, root for. I was impressed with the breadth of characters introduced by Cussler. Although there are a lot of characters introduced, each one has his/her own unique talents which adds to the excitement of the story. Cabrillo, of course, was my favorite due to his jack-of-all-trades persona. As for the story itself, being a fan of World War II history, I was immediately intrigued by the reference to December 7, 1941. From there, the events of the present-day unfold at a fast and furious pace. I particularly liked Cussler’s choice of the Argentines as Cabrillo’s antagonists. I thought the ending was the best part of the book, as the story literally explodes.

I give this book my highest recommendation. Clive Cussler and his partner Jack Du Brul have written a first-class thriller that really draws the reader in. Don’t miss this fun and exciting book.

When I was younger I loved the Unexplained of our planet. The Burmuda Triangle, the walking coffins of Christ Church, the Devil of Dovenshirer all fasinated me. But the one that stood out above all others was the Oak Island Treasure Pit. This was/is real and I knew where is was and all about its mystery. Oak Island has been seen in tv shows for years, i.e. Bones. Cussler/Du Brul transplant this mystery to west coast and use it for the hook to get the reader’s attnetion. It works. This leads to a new villian, Argentina, and to the most barren place in the world, the South Pole. All of this blends into a fast paced action series of events that take up more than half of the book. The pace is quite good and the reader is not aware of the speed till the scence changes to the South Pole, which is about two thirds into the book. The South Pole action is a treat for acton seekers. How to destory an oil complex and make it look like an accident is well thought out. Cussler/DuBrul temper the book with death of one of the beloved characters from the Oregon. The ending is leaves the reader wondering how the hero will escape and the last page makes it sound so simple that you wonder why you didn’t think of it if in the first place.

For a couple of years now I have grown tired of Dirk Pitt and I was ready to cross Cussler off my reading list. Then he teamed up of Jack Du Brul for the Oregon Files. That teaming has made a world of difference. The Oregan Files is a smart series of book about hi tech mercenaries of today. The Chairman and his crew are a wonderful group of charactters that engage the reader and make us care about them. The ship is the star of this series and she is a marvel. A reader can start with this book and enjoy with out having read the others. The plots of this series and of this book are current and topical. The writing is musch more realistic than the Pitt novels of late. The daring do stunts sit better with this reader because they are grounded in reality. In short I look forward to the Oregan Files and so should you.

P.S. You should check out Du Brul’s own series of books. They are undiscovered gems.

I have read several Cussler books and always find them enjoyable. This was, too, but the paperback edition I read (same cover as the Amazon entry here) was unfortunately spoiled by several errors. There must have been around 20 small mistakes, such as “he lead them to the car” and “her hair fell passed her shoulders” but there were at least 2 glaring mistakes. One sentence says that “the four older brothers were so similar they could have passed for quintuplets”. Last time I looked, quins were 5, not 4. Then the usually meticulous research of Cussler lets him down badly. He mentions the Maldives, “known by the British as the Falkland Islands”. Er, no. Sorry. That would be Malvinas. the Maldives are somewhere else entirely. Maybe I am nitpicking, but I do think a writer of Cussler’s reputation should make sure these things are correct. The co-writer, De Brul, may be the one responsible, but Cussler’s name is on the cover in large letters. This book would have received 5 stars from me, but the errors are just too noticeable to ignore. Hopefully, in other editions, they have been corrected.

Another Oregon Files adventure by Messrs Cussler/Du Brul.
The “company” battle a ruthless Argentine junta to retrieve a NASA payload, then confront them in Antarctica.
A little geographical confusion.P.20 “forced-labor camps deep into the Amazon” P.28 “About a hundred miles south of Paraguay in some of the thickest jungle of the Amazon”.p.50 “labor camps here in the Amazon”.P.70 “deep in the Amazonian region of his country”. Neither Argentina nor Paraguay share the Amazon Basin.You would need to travel 400 miles north into Bolivia to encounter it.

P305 “when Argentina invaded the Maldives in 1982”. Malvinas meant, probably a typesetting error.
P215 places most research bases on the other side of Antarctica.I believe half are concentrated on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Another good read and highly recommended.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member