In the second book in Clive Cussler’s Oregon Files series we find the Corporation up against an antagonist who seems to have unlimited funds, world wide resources to draw on, and connections in multiple key nations throughout the world. Has the Chairman Juan Cabrillo met his match ?STORY ATTRIBUTES:ORIGINALITY (standard, high, stellar) – HIGH – the twist and turns are epicACTION (none, some, lots) – LOTS – catch your breath if you can because the characters are non stop on the gas from start to finishSEX (none, some, lots) NONE PROFANITY (none, some, lots) NONEThe first adventure in the book involves the Corporation in Iceland providing security for the emir of Qatar while also in Iceland a scientist is looking for the cave of Gods which was said to hold an orb from the gods. Which of course has to be a meteorite. John Ackerman was working on his doctorate in anthropology and had been on location for 91 days so far looking for what he thought was a meteorite as referenced in old documents.Ackerman succeeds in finding the meteorite but not understanding that it is highly radioactive Iridium. When he reports his find over what he thinks is a secure line a mystery figure secures the information and sends someone to pick up the meteorite and get rid of Ackerman.While this is going on another group is plotting to kidnap the emir and in fact are successful despite the best work of the Corporation.In another part of the world a stolen nuclear bomb is being transported towards Europe. The meteorite is stolen and connecting the meteorite and the stolen nuclear would result in a so called dirty bomb.The Corporation is soon on the case and eventually determine that the two cases, nuclear bomb and iridium sphere are two different operations.Activities occur in England, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Qatar and other assorted nations in the quest to ensure nothing is done with these two powerful weapons. Yes the Iridium meteorite is in fact VERY dangerous.Will the Corporation find out who is behind the theft of the iridium meteorite ? What are these people planning on doing with it ? What about the group with the nuclear bomb ? How does Elton John fit into the plot of this book ? How about the 1947 MGC car ?Clive Cussler always incorporates what is happening in the world from a political perspective in his books that just lends more credibility to the plot and the action. When added to the plot twists and well developed characters (both good and evil) you have a book that is hard to put down. Cussler's text is always sharp and crisp.Be sure to checkout my future reviews as I have all 8 books in this series to read and post reviews on, plus many other books on my reading shelf
When I picked up the Clive Cussler book Sacred Stone, I was sure that I would enjoy it. I had every reason to: I had read another series by the same author and loved it. This book was not at all like the ones I had previously read, though. The premise was similar, with a man saving the world from a sort of, but not quite realistic danger. In many cases, the villains possess a particular object to carry out destruction. The books were full of action, adventure, and mystery. This book, however, was not. Frankly, it did not have any of those characteristics. The story was bland, unoriginal, and obvious. There was so much foreshadowing that I felt like I did not even have to read the ending. For that matter, I also didn’t feel like I had to read the middle. I knew exactly how it would end and was not the least surprised when I was correct. Part of this, though, was due to the utter lack of action, which was replaced by dialog. Lots of dialog. So much, in fact, that it makes the story extremely sluggish and very easy to follow. Every tidbit of foreshadowing is supplied by uninteresting conversations. I had no trouble keeping track of what was happening and how the book would end. I did have trouble, however, keeping track of the characters. There is a ship’s crew worth, all which are incorporated somehow into the story, mostly through dialog. What confuses the reader even more is the names; 10 commonly mentioned ones all begin with the letter “H”. Where the book’s characters weren’t talking, the author decided to forgo action completely and add descriptions of the characters actions. For instance, '"Get in,' Gunderson shouted. Truitt climbed onto the running board then up into the rear of the Jeep. As soon as Truitt was in back, Gunderson hit the gas and raced up the Strip. (page 232)"This was the single most action oriented scene in the entirety of the book, and I found it hard to get excited about. Even this, the most exciting scene in the whole book, seems shallow and not well thought out, with bad planning and not enough action. It is sadly like this throughout the whole book, and I am sad that I didn't just wait to purchase and read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy instead of this dreary and boring book.Sacred Stone is not an action packed adventure, rather a dull, sluggish description of events. It was a very poorly written novel, with an undeveloped, simple plot. This book is for individuals that are interested in reading a book with very little action, no suspense, and a plethora of uninteresting dialog. In all, for any who plan on picking up this book, my advice for you is this: don’t.
What do You think about Sacred Stone (2004)?
To be honest i kind of liked the idea of someone in the world trying to make a terrorist attack to the muslims... although and don't get me wrong... I think it will be something wrong to do... and not all muslims are terrorists.. but it was kind of fun to think about it at least... Other than that I feel that the book is better than the first one and it had better plot. The only thing that gets me is how they win all their fights... maybe in future books they will have some upsets... this series kind of reminds me of the A-Team..
—Jose
Ancient natives find a meteorite and build a shrine, a possible pathogen could be released from the destruction of said meteorite that would consume the oxygen in our air (and a really cool lab experiment gone awry that discovered that) seems to be a page turning premise as far as I'm concerned. Sprinkle in some middle eastern intricacies, some rocking cool military turned private contractors and it seems like story with something for everyone.Alas, if the author could have blown up a few more things and described just a few zillion more weapons I think I may have tracked down that other worldly virus and set it off myself. Ugh. I can't believe even men want to read this. Must. renew. my. library pass.
—Megan
Again, this is a Clive Cussler book that is not written by Clive Cussler, but by Craig Dirgo. Dirgo needs to study Clive's method more carefully, and learn to focus on one set of main characters, and not fifteen; more action; slightly more plausible plot. Hey, I can accept Cussler's often asinine plots, but this one just had so many holes in it that I thought I was reading a piece of Swiss cheese. The heroes / villains alike would formulate these incredibly elaborate plans to accomplish a goal that, I think could have been solved in a much more efficient manner. For instance, the bad guys sneak in and steal an object (not gonna spoil it here) and do so without too much effort. Fine. The good guys then have to put the recovered object back without anyone noticing, and the plan is so ridiculous to do so, I wanted to tell them to reread what the bad guys did in the first place to save the author thirty pages of writing out a crappy plan. Terrible.
—William
