The new thriller in the #1 New York Times–bestselling Isaac Bell series from grand master of adventure Clive Cussler.
As Van Dorn private detective Isaac Bell strives to land a government contract to investigate John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly, the case takes a deadly turn. A sniper begins murdering opponents of Standard Oil, and soon the assassin-shooting with extraordinary accuracy at seemingly impossible long range-kills Bell's best witness, a brave and likable man. Then the shooter detonates a terrible explosion that sets the victim's independent refinery ablaze.
Bell summons his best detectives to scour the site of the crime for evidence. Who is the assassin and for whom did he kill? But the murders-shootings, poisonings, staged accidents-have just begun as Bell tracks his phantom-like criminal adversary from the "oil fever" regions of Kansas and Texas to Washington, D.C., to the tycoons' enclave of New York, to Russia's war-torn Baku oil fields on the Caspian Sea, and back to America for a final, desperate confrontation. And this one will be the most explosive of all. Praise for THE BOOTLEGGER
"The Isaac Bell series continues to tell compelling stories. Tidbits of history are sprinkled throughout the narrative, and it's fun to filter out fictional characters and events from historical facts."-Associated Press
"Cussler and Scott have written another wonderful page-turner . . . This is historical action-adventure fiction at its rip-roaring best!"-Library Journal (starred review)
"As always in this series, the novel is very exciting, with excellent pacing and some very well drawn characters. With his combination of mental and physical prowess, Isaac Bell could easily become a sort of superhero (imagine a blending of Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage), but the authors do a nice job of keeping him from crossing that line. Another fine entry in a strong series. Cussler is a perennial A-lister, popularity-wise, and his Isaac Bell novels are the pick of his prodigious litter."-Booklist
"[A] laudable historical action novel."-Publishers Weekly
Praise for THE STRIKER
"[Might] be the best yet in the series by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott . . . The history of the unions in early 20th-century America along with the hazardous working conditions of the coal mines would be fascinating reading. Add a James Bond style flair with sabotage and villainy and the end result is a great action thriller."-Associated Press
"Fans of the Isaac Bell series will note the same exciting storytelling and vivid early twentieth-century setting, but they'll also note something different: even though it's set only four years earlier than the first Bell novel (2008's The Chase), the book features a much different Isaac: younger, more impetuous, less calmly analytical . . . this origin story (every hero needs one) will give Bell's fans a fresh look at their favorite private investigator."-Booklist Clive Cussler is the author of dozens of New York Times bestsellers, most recently Ghost Ship, The Eye of Heaven, and Havana Storm. He lives in Arizona.
Justin Scott's novels include The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle; the Ben Abbott detective series; and modern sea thrillers published under his pen name Paul Garrison. He is the coauthor, with Clive Cussler, of six previous Isaac Bell novels. He lives in Connecticut. PROLOGUE
1899
PENNSYLVANIA
"Do I hear a train?" asked Spike Hopewell.
"Two trains," said Bill Matters. The heavy, wet Huff! of the Pennsylvania Railroad's 2-8-0 freight locomotives carried for miles in the still night air. "They're on the main line, not here."
Spike was nervous. It made him talkative. "You know what I keep thinking? John D. Rockefeller locked up the oil business before most people were born."
"To hell with Rockefeller. To hell with Standard Oil."
Bill
