The Striker

When I first discovered the Isaac Bell Series, I enjoyed them so much that I decided to read the series in proper order. I was surprised when this book provided a flashback to Bell’s early days as a detective. This had its good points and it’s bad points. The historical background was fascinating, and most readers with an interest in the turn of the century will be familiar with the turmoil as labor fought to organize. One problem was that a reader would know from the beginning that a specific character would die, almost from the moment she entered the narrative.

This sixth book of series gives us a view of Mr Bell at the start of his detective career being given his first assignment, which was to find the people behind the coal miners strikes. What he finds instead, is an alternative story, which introduces him to the first woman who touches his heart,Mary Higgins, sister to head of miners union. Based on what he discovered in the coal mine, after an explosion he barely escaped from, he realizes that there is an alternative force provoking the miners and the coal miner owners against each other, a provocateur. As I am writing this review in 2017, when the idea of revitalizing the coal mines is being discussed, makes this story more interesting. What I especially liked about this book, was the setting story at the beginning of Mr Bell’s career and the story behind the formation of the Van Dorn’s detective agency. Also all the historical references, to the changing landscape in 1902 to what we take for granted, e.g. why the skyscrapers in NYC are in a certain area of Manhattan. Cussler may take literary chances in making the story plot but the landscape is historically correct as is his timing of events.

Adventure author Clive Cussler takes the reader back to Isaac Bell’s first case in “The Striker”.

Long before Isaac became the Van Dorn Detective Agency’s top investigator, he was assigned to hunt for radical union saboteurs in the coal mines of West Virginia. While on the case, Bell is a witness to a terrible accident that makes him believe that something much larger is going on. Bell believes that a provocateur; an instigator sent to stir up trouble between the owners and the unions, is at the heart of the accident. Soon, Bell and his fellow Van Dorn detectives are criss-crossing the country from Chicago to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh trying to find out the identity of the provocateur.

To make matters worse, Bell has fallen for the lovely Mary Higgins, whose brother is a leader in the unions. But is Mary all she seems on the surface, or is she hiding something? Also, a former Van Dorn detective has appeared and has thrown another wrinkle into the case. Ultimately, the final showdown will take place on two old riverboats. Who will win?

I’m a big fan of Cussler’s novels, and Isaac Bell is probably my favorite Cussler character. I also enjoy reading U.S. history and I like how Cussler centers Bell’s adventures in a historical setting. The character development in “The Striker” is excellent. I enjoyed reading about Isaac Bell as a young private detective working his way up. The other characters, including Mary Higgins and her brother, are well-developed as well. The story is exciting and flows with a typical Cussler pace.

I recommend “The Striker” as well as the other Isaac Bell stories. Bell is a hero who is easy to root for. Don’t miss “The Striker”.

Clive Cussler and Justin Scott give us another great read. The first book in the series, The Chase, gave us a wonderful new hero in Isaac Bell and the Van Dorn Agency. We fell in love with Isaac as a cultured, wealthy debutante that wanted to “work” for a living and he choose a job that wasn’t just sit at a desk and crunch numbers to add more money to your wealth. Instead he becomes a detective, not just to solve crime but to care for down and destitute. He truly helps those who need a hero to step in and help.

Cussler and Scott have taken us back to the beginning to show us where Isaac Bell started. I think it is brilliant that that they first gave us books when Bell is mature and at his prime. The action is packed and enticing and draws you in. If you read this book first you might think it a bit slow and clumsy, mainly because it is character development.

But having read the other books I was ready for this read so that I could learn how Isaac began, how Archie began, and why Wish Clarke is so endearing as a lovable drunken detective that always gets it right.

In the Striker we have a story where unions are trying to organize to put bring better pay and better conditions to coal miners. The owners of the coal mines, especially one maniacal egomaniac who wants to control the entire countries supply of coal want to destroy the union and any men associated with it before they can organize the miners and conduct strikes.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency is hired to protect the mines, protect the interest of the mine owners and they do it through stone cold methods of roughing up or even killing anyone who happens to appear to be favorable to the unions or who might be a strike instigator.

Along comes Isaac Bell, undercover, to determine that it is the miners who are getting the wrong end of this deal. He sees how the men are treated and he sees that it is the egomaniacs who own the mines who are undercutting the miners to try and break the unions and keep them from organizing.

The opening scene is crushing, Thousands of tons of coal are on a runaway underground coal tender coming up from the depths of the mine. It is sabotage so that the cable breaks and it tumbles back down the mine shaft, killing several young boys who are the “door tenders” for the mine. It is cold blooded murder, but it is being blamed on a striker / unionist not on the true person who did it.

Isaac convinces Mr. Van Dorn to let him put together a team and investigate the crime that he is sure has happened. The rest of the book is a thrill ride through Isaac and his teams efforts to stave off death and destruction of innocent lives and bring the true criminal to justice.

In typical Cussler / Scott fashion the action is quick, insightful, fun to read, and just down right gives you a book where you want to cheer for the hero and boo at the villains.

If you love Cussler’s books you will love this book. ENJOY!

1902 at the Gleason mines near Pittsburgh, Isaac Bell is on his first solo mission for the Van Dorn Detective Agency to ferret out anti-mining union activists. He is intimately involved with the explosion of a mine in which lives are lost. The act is one of sabotage perpetrated by an agent provocateur. The Union leader is arrested and imprisoned for the disaster. This is the trigger for a titanic clash between the miners and their unions with the owners. These powerful barons of the coal, steel and railroads are hell-bent on destroying the unions thus crushing strike activity, cutting miners’ pay and pushing up the price of coal.

The action rapidly steps up in pace with Bell realising he is dealing with a ruthless, unscrupulous conspiracy to monopolise and consolidate the most important business industry in America i.e. coal. He forms a small squad of hardened agency detectives to find who is behind the scheme involving influential individuals, (two in particular), who use corrupt and criminal methods to achieve their goals. These include control, wealth and political ambition using the miners as fodder. All the miners want is a fair deal.

Cussler deftly develops the narrative into a continuous contest racing against time between the opposing factions. He introduces a string of characters integral to the story. The main protagonists are depicted to provide a clear understanding of their nature in the nail-biting chain of events, with subtle twists, that flow to the climactic finale. The myriad of diverse incidents in this novel interact to provide more than a battle of wits and detective work but also a struggle of life-saving proportions. The descriptions of the characters and scenes were vivid enough to provide a clear picture in my mind of the goings-on with their inherent dangers. Isaac Bell certainly comes of age.

I enjoyed this insight into Isaac Bell’s formative years as a detective. Clive Cussler’s writing spins a colourful yarn of intrigue and subterfuge with plenty of activity. Well worth reading.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member