The Race (Isaac Bell Series #4)

by Clive Cussler

Overview

20th century detective Isaac Bell protects a promising aviator from her jealous husband in this remarkable adventure from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Clive Cussler.

It is 1910, the age of flying machines is still in its infancy, and newspaper publisher Preston Whiteway is offering $50,000 for the first daring aviator to cross America in less than fifty days. He is even sponsoring one of the prime candidates-an intrepid woman named Josephine Frost-and that's where Bell, chief investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, comes in.

Frost's violent-tempered husband has just killed her lover and tried to kill her, and he is bound to make another attempt. Bell has tangled with Harry Frost before; he knows that the man has made his millions leading gangs of thieves, murderers, and thugs in every city across the country. He also knows Frost won’t be after just his wife, but after Whiteway as well. And if Bell takes the case . . . Frost will be after him, too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425250440
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/04/2012
Series:	Isaac Bell Series , #4
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	137,699
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Clive Cussler is the author of more than fifty books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Fargo. His life nearly parallels that of his hero Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he and his NUMA crew of volunteers have discovered more than seventy-five lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Confederate submarine Hunley, which was raised in 2000 with much press publicity. Like Pitt, Cussler collects classic automobiles. His collection features more than eighty examples of custom coachwork. Cussler lives in Arizona and Colorado.

Justin Scott is the author of thirty-one novels, including The Shipkiller and Normandie Triangle; the Ben Abbott detective series; six thrillers under his pen name Paul Garrison; and his coauthorship with Cussler of The Wrecker, The Spy,The Race, The Thief, The Striker, The Bootlegger, The Assassin, The Gangster, and The Cutthroat. Scott lives in Connecticut.

Hometown:

Phoenix, Arizona

Date of Birth:

July 15, 1931

Place of Birth:

Aurora, Illinois

Education:

Pasadena City College; Ph.D., Maritime College, State University of New York, 1997

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Bell just keeps getting more interesting. Cussler is turning out some of his best work.” —Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Bell just keeps getting more interesting. Cussler is turning out some of his best work.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

Set in 1909, bestseller Cussler and Scott's nifty fourth adventure thriller starring Isaac Bell, ace detective with the Van Dorn Detective Agency (the company motto: "We never give up. Never"), focuses on airplanes. The previous three outings featured locomotives (The Chase and The Wrecker) and a submarine (The Spy). Bell must protect Josephine Frost, an aviatrix competing in the Whiteway Atlantic-to-Pacific Cross-Country Air Race, from her deranged ex-husband, Harry Frost, who's trying to kill her for various complicated reasons. Sabotage among the flying pioneers competing for a ,000 prize for the first one to cross America in 50 days is rampant. A number of subplots provide twists, but it's the battle between the handsome, daring Bell—"His frame was whipcord lean"—and the hulking, diabolical psychopath Frost that will keep readers turning the pages. Evocative period detail, brave men and women and their fabulous flying machines, and nonstop action add up to plenty of fun. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Isaac Bell returns for his fourth adventure (after The Chase, The Wrecker, and The Spy) in another exciting and lively period piece. It's 1910, and the public has grown accustomed to seeing this newfangled piece of technology called the airplane. Newspaper publisher Preston Whiteway offers $50,000 to the first person to fly across the United States from New York to San Francisco in fewer than 50 days. Bell and the team from the Van Dorn Detective Agency are assigned to make sure the race is legit and keep the frontrunner, Josephine Frost, from meeting an untimely end at the hands of her estranged husband. The agency has encountered Harry Frost before, and they know that taking him down will not be easy. VERDICT Cussler and Scott deliver another outstanding adventure that skillfully invokes the time period. All the women are gorgeous, all the men are dashing, and all the airplanes and other new machinery are lovingly described. Fans of this series and of Cussler in general will want to add this to their collections. [See Prepub Alert, 3/7/11.]—Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Library Journal