Having finished reading the book I can only hope that others find it to their liking. I was put off by the total abscence of any of the characters one expects. I read it through oftenwondering if I was reading a Clive Cussler novel. There are twists and interludes but I cannot help but think it was too far of a departure from his mainstream novels. I have a friend who is country and western mad and he is enjoying the book.

I have completed Plague ship but that as they say is another story.

Regards

Colin p:

A similar previous post apparently did not transmit.

The Chase was a good read and I didn't mind the new characters.
I was troubled by some chronological errors and a name error, all of which should
be fixed before it goes to paper back.
Chapter 1 , page 12 is dated "January 10, 1906", Bisbee, Arizona,
but yet on the very next page we read "It was warm for June, he guessed the temperature to be in the high nineties."

Chapter 2, page 19, is dated September 15, 1906.
Ok fine.

However, Chapter 11 page 93, is dated March 4, 1906.
This is not a flashback, because Ruskin (Cromwell) is talking about the
Salt Lake City robbery that occurred in previous chapters.

Page 332-- A young boy, Stuart Leuthner" is introduced, but on the very
next page he is referred to as "Warren".

Call me picky, but all of those did cause me to flip back and see if I missed
something.

Welcome to the forum, pilotrab! If I'm not mistaken, Clive is getting new editors or they are going to be making a greater effort to catch these kinds of errors in the future. The last few books have been pretty bad with typos and whatnot.

Enjoy your time here and post often!

Myself I throughly enjoyed this book.
I noticed a few of the errors referred to above, but it did not spoil the book for me.
I hope this is the start of a new series. it was a very entertaining read.

I am bound to agree with Kilroy, 'The Chase' represents a very interesting change of tack, as it were. I enjoyed it a lot (despite the typo's). :P

I wondered if this represents a change in direction for Clive, after all, there is only so many books that can be writen about 'Dirk et al'.

Whatever direction Clive (and Dirk) takes, I am sure that the end result will contain that special magic that draws us all.

Gramps det: det:

I have finally read The Chase, and while I won't say I was dissappointed with it, I will say that it didn't live up to expectations. To me it seemed quite basic, almost a return to Pacific Vortex levels of writing (linear, no real depth to the characters, only a few detailed battle/suspense scenes). Perhaps it's because Clive is just laying the groundwork for future novels with more detail; or maybe he is out of practice now that Dirk, Paul, and Jack are doing all of the actual composing; or maybe his goal was to employ a different style for the Isaac Bell series. Whatever the reason, I thought the story and concept were both good, but the depth and level or writing was below typical Cussler standards. Especially when juxtaposed with Plague Ship, which I'm reading now, that has more depth in the first 50 pages than in all of The Chase.

I give it a 4 out of 10 on the Cussler scale, but 7 out of 10 as a good general read overall.

DH and I both enjoyed "The Chase" - quite a departure in many ways from a Dirk or Kurt story. It held our interest and I, for one, love western history and fiction.

One thing I'd love to see is notes in the back of CC's books on any events, machinery, etc. that either really exist or are used as a basis for something in each book. (If anyone has ever seen the movie "The Abyss" - another favorite story of ours - be sure and read the book based on the screenplay and all the notes at the end. Amazing how much of it was based on reality - like rats and people breathing liquid oxygen.) Back to CC, we love seeing the photos of the antique cars on the back of the covers. cheer*

I, being the OCD member of the family (which should be CDO - in alphabetical order as it needs to be) :lol: , noticed the errors, but knew it an editing issue. I hereby officially volunteer to proofread any future manuscripts!!!!! I was offered a proofreader job by our local newspaper years ago, but it would been such a daunting and time-consuming procedure . . . :blink:

We do understand how some of you would not enjoy such a diversion from CC's other books. We got hooked on Robert Ludlum's adventure books quite a few years ago. When he wrote a book in a humorous vein, we were quite disappointed - couldn't finish the book.

Read The Chase not long ago and found it was an Awesome read, written with verve and a deft touch. This book is well written with an economy. A page turner that ends all too soon. I recommend you take your time because this is a delicious read. th: th: th: th:

I agree it was a fun read. More thoughts, including similarities to the Pitt series, if interested in this article.

I will second that. I love the new character (Bell) and of course the method of transportation (rail). Its nice to get a little (tiny) break from the sea and ships.

I ordered "The Wrecker" and will read this shortly.

:lol: Ha! I just thought of a possible new series; Spaceships! NUMA takes over NASA! rofl