Book Review – Corsair – Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul

Captain Juan Cabrillo and the Corporation are called in to investigate the downing of a plane carrying the United States Secretary of State which it disappears on its way to a peace conference in Lybia but finds himself involved in a lot more than just a plane crash.

The latest Clive Cussler book brings back the adventure feel of his earlier work. Set in Lybia, an unusual location for an adventure book, Corsair begins as does all Cussler books with a chapter historically setting the plot. This time, its 1803 and the UN Navy and the pirates of the Barbary coast do battle.

Some of the book is set on the ship Oregon, a run down freighter that isn’t what it appears to be. The Oregon could be described as a modern day Q Ship along with all the technology available today. An example of something similar can be found at Gizmodo. The crew of the Oregon comes from all walks of life, well all walks of intelligence, military and scientist life.

While the action sometimes splits into two separate threads, you never find yourself confused as to who is doing what to who, perhaps just wondering why. The action is very much action, so much so that I half expected Dirk Pitt to be in the middle of it. As usual with novels about the Oregon, the main character is the one legged captain, Juan Cabrillio. Resourceful and clever, he would have walked straight out of central casting. As with most of Cussler’s characters, he is a good guy, more so than you and I, and does the right thing for the right reasons even when doing so is dangerous or downright unhealthy.

A good book, Corsair, brings back the adventure and thrills of the early Clive Cussler books.