The Spy

by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott

Book Overview

Detective Isaac Bell, hero of The Chase and The Wrecker , returns in the remarkable new adventure from the #1 New York Times -bestselling author. It is 1908, and international tensions are mounting as the world plunges toward war. When a brilliant American battleship gun designer dies in a sensational apparent suicide, the man's grief-stricken daughter turns to the legendary Van Dorn Detective Agency to clear her father's name. Van Dorn puts his chief...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399156437
• ISBN13: 9780399156434
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Length: 436 Pages
• Weight: 1.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

the spy

Great book, puts me to sleep in about 1 minute

An Outstanding Book at a Good Value

I believe the overall rating of this new book has been adversely impacted by it's initial price in the Kindle Version. While I have no argument that at $14.99, even I waited. However, in 10 days the price dropped to $12.99 and I bought. At either price, it was still cheaper than hardback versions at my local Wal-Mart and Target (both were priced in the mid $19 range). I certainly got my money's worth. This new Isaac Bell mystery is every bit as good as The Chase and much better than The Wrecker. It's somewhat sad that for those who mostly look at the "Stars Rating" instead of individual reviews, they might steer away from a great book based on low ratings by people who never even read it. To those who actually read this...buy it! I can't wait for his next one.

The best Issac Bell adventure yet!

I have read all the books on this series and this is without a doubt the best in the series. From early 20th century NY to details of the dreadnoughts and the Great White Fleet, this is an intense and exciting chase across the country to save the US Navy! Bravo!

Cussler rings a different Bell.

I had been anticipating the release of this new Isaac Bell adventure even before I finished "The Wrecker" last year. Bell is a different kind of hero for Cussler fans to enjoy. A bit of Dirk Pitt, Kurt Austin, and Juan Cabrillo rolled into one. Cussler and Smith have dispensed with the frame story format choosing instead to tell this story in real time. Don't expect locomotives either (Well, not entirely. A good portion of the story does take place in railway cars) because the plot of "The Spy" is about bigger guns. The year is 1908 and the Van Dorn Detective Agency (think Pinkertons) has been hired to investigate what appears to be a suicide, but in fact turns out to be a murder. One of several deaths associated with the project to build Hull 44. The plot is quickly set in motion when agent Isaac Bell is assigned to the case. Bell is a lot like Sherlock Holmes, except in one crucial area: He has no Watson. The novel is meant to be a period piece: some of the language is archaic; the graphics and chapter headings all have an antique-like look to them. You can tell considerable thought went into creating the feel of this book. I hope you will enjoy "The Spy" as much as I did. If you have an eye for proofreading, you will also enjoy the many editing errors. What is the proper spelling of dreadnought? And what about Suisun City? Have fun!

Cussler Hits Another Home Run

If you loved all of Clive Cussler's sea faring novels you will not be disappointed with his new series that stars the Van Doren Detective Agency, specifically agent Isaac Bell. I was so excited about the first two novels and the setting being on Railroad Trains that I couldn't wait for this next edition. Boy was I surprised. We switch from railroad cars to the U.S. Navy and the big guns needed for battleships. While disappointed about not revolving around trains, I was totally sucked into the details of the navy shipyard, the big guns, the people involved and the mystery of who is killing who and why? You won't be disappointed with this book. You don't have to read the first two novels in the series to enjoy this third book, but it wouldn't hurt to read those first two. I don't want to give anything away, but Cussler has hit another home run with this book. You won't be able to put it down. I finished it in two days because I couldn't set it aside. I have to get back to work now and finish my own lesson plans, but I'm still so excited about the adventure that I'm finding it hard to focus on other things. Is it wrong to say, I can't wait for the next book? Well, I can't. Thank you Clive and Justin for taking on a new hero in a new set of adventures for us to fall in love with. Enjoy!

Isaac Bell is the NEW Dirk Pitt--er, well, from a hundred years ago maybe...

Like many, I see the name 'Clive Cussler' and think immediately: Great action, storytelling and adventure all rolled into one...however, as all of Cusslers adventures take place either in the here & now or very near future, with the Isaac Bell series, he has taken us on a trip back to the turn of the previous century--for a large portion of Cussler fans, this is an arena we are quite unfamiliar with--at least through Clive's perspective anyway. I am very much a person focused on the present and/or near future. I LOVE new and technical gadgets (much to my wife's disappointment...) and when I realized that 'The Chase' was a stand-alone adventure novel by Cussler that takes place a hundred years ago--from beginning to end--I HAVE to admit, I wasn't all that excited to read it... ...THAT was a mistake. I should've known. Clive rarely lets me down--and even when he does, in general its still better than most other stuff from so-called action/adventure authors (the first 2 Oregon Files novels comes to mind...), but with the character of Isaac Bell, we get an entirely different kind of character...a detective who is every bit as cool in the early 1900's as Dirk Pitt, Kurt Austin or Juan Cabrillo is in Post Y2K. The Spy centers around the military in the years before America's entry into World War I. One of the premiere Battleship designers kills himself--or so it would seem. His daughter is absolutely convinced her Father did not commit suicide--and at this point, its no stretch to connect the dots that in fact he was murdered instead--but the question here is WHY? This is where the Van Dorn Detective Agency comes in. As Isaac begins the case, more deaths follow and evidence begins to mount that some inside 'Spy' is orchestrating everything...but to what end? Remember in 1908 we were quite a few years away from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 which sparked the origin of World War I, and wasn't until 1917 before America entered the War...so what is happening and why? More than one 'Spy' is featured here, too--which COULD'VE become rather convoluted quickly, but never fear, the course of 'The Spy' is charted and nobody goes off track. We see Germany involved, Britain and even the Japanese, and it ALL seems to be connected to some secret project involving American Dreadnought battleships. For those who have turned away from the Isaac Bell novels of Cussler for one reason or another, I encourage you to re-think your reasoning. These are really FUN novels that provided me with hours of absolute entertainment. Some can argue that as Clive slowly enters retirement and has turned over the vast majority of his writing to Paul Kemprecos, Jack DuBrul, Dirk Cussler and here with Justin Scott (among others) that the 'Magic' has died and is nothing more than a shell of his former glory...well, I won't try to change your opinion, all I can say is this: I am VERY glad I got to know Isaac Bell and look forward to reading his next adventure,