This story opens and closes in April 1950 with the discovery and retrieval of a sunken steam locomotive from the deep waters of Flathead Lake, Montana. Inside a boxcar are the skeletal remains of three individuals who had died forty-four years previously, hinting at a long-buried secret and a lost fortune.
The core of the novel rewinds to 1906. For two years, a criminal mastermind dubbed the ‘Butcher Bandit’ has been terrorising western banks. The thief meticulously plans his heists using clever disguises, but his defining trait is his sheer brutality: he cold-bloodedly murders all witnesses to leave no traces behind. Desperate, the US government hires the prestigious Van Dorn Detective Agency, with their top operative, Isaac Bell, to work on the case.
Sifting through scattered data, Bell’s investigations lead him to an unexpected suspect, Jacob Cromwell, a highly prominent and respected San Francisco banker. Cromwell is a sociopath who uses his banking insider knowledge and elite status to plan perfect robberies, aided by his devoted sister Margaret.
Bell attempts to lay a trap for Cromwell. Along the way, he encounters Marion Morgan, Cromwell’s intelligent and beautiful secretary. She becomes an informant for Bell, and eventually his primary love interest. A high stakes pursuit ensues reaching its critical point during the cataclysmic San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
Enjoy this detective thriller for its fast paced narrative and colourful action sequences. The villain’s identity is revealed early on, so the tension switches from a ‘whodunit’ to a thrill of the hunt.
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496 pages in Penguin
First published 2007
ISBN-13 : 978-0241956427
Clive Cussler