1908 marks a year of ever-escalating international tension as the world plunges toward war. And with America on the brink, it comes as a devastating blow to learn of the apparent suicide of one of the United States’ most brilliant battleship-gun designers. The death becomes a media sensation, and 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 investigator on the case, and Isaac Bell soon sees that the clues point not to suicide, but to murder. As Bell notices more suspicious deaths among the nation’s sharpest technological minds, he begins to suspect the work of an elusive spy somehow connected to a top-secret project called Hull 44.
But that is just the beginning. As the intrigue deepens, Bell will find himself pitted against German, Japanese, and British spies, in a mission that encompasses dreadnought battleships, Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, Chinatown, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Isaac Bell has certainly faced perilous situations before, but this time it is more than the future of his country that’s at stake—it’s the fate of the world.
Author
Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler was the author of more than eighty books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt®, NUMA® Files, Oregon® Files, Isaac Bell®, and Sam and Remi Fargo®. His life nearly paralleled 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 discovered and surveyed more than seventy-five lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Civil War submarine Hunley, which was raised in 2000 with much publicity. Like Pitt, Cussler collected classic automobiles. His collection featured more than one hundred examples of custom coachwork. Cussler passed away in February 2020.
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Justin Scott
Justin Scott has written more than 30 thrillers, historicals, and mystery novels, including The Shipkiller, Normandie Triangle, and The Empty Eye of the Sea. With many books set at sea, he has been called “the Dick Francis of yachting.” His main pen name is Paul Garrison, under which he has written five modern sea thrillers, including Fire and Ice, Red Sky at Morning, Sea Hunter, The Ripple Effect, and the Paul Janson series based on a Robert Ludlum character. Scott created the Ben Abbott detective series and was twice nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He collaborates with Clive Cussler on the Isaac Bell series (The Wrecker, The Spy, The Race, The Thief, The Striker, The Bootlegger, and The Assassin). He lives in Connecticut with his wife.
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