The Jungle (The Oregon Files) [Mass Market Paperback]

Clive Cussler (Author), Jack Du Brul (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 28, 2012 | Series: The Oregon Files (Book 8)

Clive Cussler's tales of the Oregon and its crew have made fans of hundreds of thousands of readers. And in this latest adventure, a devastating weapon of unbelievable power is sought by a man of unstoppable greed and ambition...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Juan Cabrillo and his crew of mercenaries engage in one daring rescue operation after another with progressively higher stakes in Cussler's high-octane eighth Oregon Files novel (after The Silent Sea), his sixth collaboration with Du Brul. The rescue of a kidnap victim, an Indonesian teenage boy, from an Afghan village, yields a bonus in the form of MacD Lawless, a former U.S. Army Ranger, who proves of immediate value. Betrayals, more rescues, and escapes follow as one mysterious man seeks world domination using a discovery linked to 13th-century China. Cabrillo's handpicked team members, who operate from their state-of-the-art ship, the Oregon, are the only chance to stop a plot that threatens to bring the U.S. government to its knees. The frenetic action moves from Afghanistan to Singapore and the Burmese jungle with lots of derring-do at sea before climaxing in a surprising locale in a fashion sure to delight series fans. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Praise for The Silent Sea:

"Fast-paced and a lot of fun-delivers the wallop Cussler's fans have come to expect."
-Booklist

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (February 28, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042524654X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425246542
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

124 of 134 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars In the jungle March 9, 2011

By Marcus A. Lewis VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

We last saw Chairman of the Board Juan Cabrillo in "The Silent Sea" (3/10), as he was trekking across the frozen wastes of the antarctic. He had become separated from the crew of the "Oregon" and believed dead. The Chairman and his motley crew are all together again in the latest collaboration from Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul.

"The Jungle" begins with one of the better Prologues of a Cussler novel in some time. Set in Eastern China, 1281 A.D. We are eyewitnesses to the battle tactics of General Khenbish, who is in the employ of the great Khan. We learn the history of the three tents that precede each battle; and the first known uses of lasers and dynamite on the battlefield. A walled village is obliterated because its leader dared to provoke the wrath of Khan. It is the independent observer who accompanies Khenbish that is the real surprise at the end of the opening chapter.

The story leaps from the past into the present, just four months ago. The tendrils that connect the two begin to reveal themselves; and the adventure begins.

The summary of "The Jungle" alludes to their many types: real, imagined, physical, and politcal. Readers will enjoy finding their way through all of them. It's easy to see why the "Oregon" files have eclipsed the Dirk Pitt series. The writing here is far superior to what the two Cusslers are generating together. A hat tip to Upton Sinclair, whose book inspired the title.

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent effort March 14, 2011

By Zahara

Format:Hardcover

Cripes....will you people who trash a book because of the price get a clue? Amazon does not set the price of the book and that includes the Kindle version. So stop complaining and review THE BOOK.

Finally a decent effort after a couple of really poor books. It's the Clive we've come to expect. So if you want 'literature' this isn't it. If you just plain like action novels this fills the bill decently.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Chairman Cabrillo and team save the world, again. March 11, 2011

By William D. Curnutt TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I always love a good Clive Cussler book and have really learned to enjoy the addition of Jack DuBrul to the writing team. The Oregon Files are a great series and just when you thought there couldn't be a group to top NUMA along comes The Corporation with The Oregon.

After their last adventure the crew of The Oregon find themselves needing work. Their contracts with the U.S. Government have dried up because the President doesn't particularly like them, especially since they went against everything he asked in the last adventure and succeeded when no one should have. So, now the Corporation is taking on more and more private jobs. But they have one particular preference, they won't work for criminals or people they consider bad. That leaves them with slim pickings. But they receive two jobs right in a row to rescue children (one a teenager and one a young adult) of some very wealthy people. Each case is unique and not tied together. Or are they.

During the first job to rescue a young teenager from a life in the Taliban they team not only rescues the boy but rescues a Private Security Company Employee who was captured by the Taliban and going to be used as their next TV broadcast of a beheading of an infidel. Juan and his team rescue the young MacD Lawless as well as their clients son. MacD proves to be a great find for them as during their escape he proves his calmness under fire and even saves the whole teams lives with a heads up move to divert a sure missile strike.

Juan offers MacD a job since they are one team member short (after loosing a team member in the last book). They have to vet MacD first, but in the meantime they hire him on probation and put him to work.... He proves to be a highly useful tracker as well as an experienced warrior, he is a former Army Ranger. I love the way that Cussler and DuBrul weave in a new character and make him a part of the team so well.

Unfortunately during the time it turns out that MacD is a spy for someone trying to take down the Corporation. Or is he really a spy. That has to be determined.

Then we discover that not only is the Corporation tracking down to missing children but they have stumbled across the beginning of a world terrorism plot. A group has discovered how to create a Quantum Computer that has 10,000 times the computing power of anything the U.S. Government has. This computer can hack into anything and take over control of anything. This group is trying to hold the U.S. Government hostage. They threaten acts of terrorism unless the U.S. President bows to their desires and terms.

Unknown to the President, The Corporation is already at work tracking this threat down. They have figured it out before anyone else, it seems (of course). But then Langston Overholt comes on the scene and the CIA is again asking The Corporation for help.

The plot is wonderful. The pace is fast. The characters are amazing and the new ones that are woven into the story add to the team without distracting from the plot.

Cussler and DuBrul have again hit another home run. This is a must read for any Clive Cussler fans.

Enjoy! Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Will keep you on edge from start to finish March 25, 2011

By Bookreporter

Format:Hardcover

Clive Cussler, in collaboration with Jack Du Brul, has written a new Oregon Files novel that keeps readers on edge throughout. Cussler's knowledge of water-submersible vehicles becomes pivotal in guiding us through his latest adventure, which begins in Eastern China in 1281 A.D.

General Khenbish has been ordered to capture a walled village when the local warlord refuses to pay the Mongol Khan his entire tax burden. The Khan has sent his emissary, Marco Polo, to witness the battle. Two wooden boxes, each containing an octagonal crystal, are pointed in the wall's direction and, when the order is given, fired at the fortress. Blinded by beams from the crystals, fighters behind the wall cannot react when the General's arrows strike and ignite bags beneath them containing Fire Medicine, or gunpowder. Polo decides that the mystery of the crystals may follow him to his grave.

Cussler fast forwards to London in the present time, where an American professor lectures a meager group about his research into Polo's discoveries. He believes that an Italian writer named Rustichello, who was imprisoned with Polo, wrote down Polo's censored information about China's superior achievements in medicine, engineering and warfare. Professor Cantor tells of his limited access to Rustichello's Roman de Roi Artus, where Polo has described the Khenbish battle using a crystal that funnels sunlight into a blinding beam. A mysterious stranger has attended the lecture, offering the professor a ride at the end. Authorities make no mention of the missing Rustichello notes when Cantor's battered body is discovered a month later....

The scene now shifts to northern Waziristan, Afghanistan, where Juan Cabrillo and his Oregon crew are hired to rescue wealthy Indonesian businessman Gunawan Bahar's son from the Taliban's control, as the mentally challenged young man was now groomed as a suicide bomber. Cabrillo's corporation is being paid a hefty sum to return the youngster, Seti, to his father and holds what appears to be a captured and wounded American soldier. With the threat from an unmanned drone above and Taliban fighters on the ground, Cabrillo, Linda, Linc and Eddie secure the two prisoners with stealth and speed. They drive out of the village in a commandeered ancient bus but are halted abruptly at a Taliban checkpoint. They race the old bus past the roadblock into a harrowing series of switchbacks, chased closely by a Taliban pickup armed with a machine gun. Cabrillo, in a quick-thinking move, arms a pre-set bomb and explodes the pickup behind them. MacDougal Lawless, the rescued American soldier, grabs the steering wheel, jams the bus off the road and into a ditch, saving them from eradication by an errant Hellfire missile. Back on board the Oregon, Lawless is formally thanked and welcomed to the crew.

The Oregon's appearance is that of a battered, worn-out cargo ship, barnacles and scraped paint as testimony to many years at sea. Underneath, she is a sleek ship, complete with new-age technology that most nations would drool over. The crew already has a new client, a Swiss financier whose adventurous daughter has vanished in the jungles of Myanmar, formerly Burma. Msr. Croissard believes that Soleil is in grave danger, but insists that his bodyguard, John Smith, accompany the Oregon crew. A reluctant Cabrillo accepts the challenge. Soleil's last communication states that they are close, but to what? At the same hotel, a jihadist terrorist opens fire and Cabrillo's men are drawn into a gunfight. However, the attack is seemingly unrelated to his upcoming mission. Cabrillo soon sets foot on foreign ground, whose dictators do not recognize the American government.

Far into the jungle, they maneuver rapid rivers, waterfalls, tangled jungle undergrowth, and finally come across an ancient holy Buddhist site. Soleil's bullet-riddled tent and mangled camping items suggest a vicious and deadly attack, but there are no dead bodies. The Oregon crew is soon under attack and separated; Cabrillo and Lawless find themselves in a Burmese prison camp. Surviving waterboarding torture, Cabrillo reflects back on recent events and concludes that they've been set up. But why?

Clive Cussler draws colorful word pictures of the surroundings, the jungle, the water travel and his cast of characters. The lone annoyance is Lawless's southern use of "Ah" for "I." Before the final word is read, the bizarre and unlikely puzzles congeal with chilling consequences, and villains and heroes are not necessarily as clear-cut as they may seem. International weapons deals that have deadly strike potential form the novel's undercurrent. Slithering through tough jungle terrain, Cabrillo sorts out the tangled mysteries that endanger his crew and the entire free world. Material in the prologue about Marco Polo becomes pivotal in the convoluted solution of THE JUNGLE, which I highly recommend.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad Read more ›