The Bootlegger is an action adventure that takes place during the Prohibition. The main characters have super human powers and good looks. The story brings up a point that was probably not intended. Many gangs and criminals made very large fortunes from the running of illegal alcohol. Would these gangs have become so powerful, if there was no such thing as Prohibition? The Bootlegger is a good story that included well researched real incidents at the time. Four stars were awarded to this book. ( )

Before I begin with my review of The Bootlegger by Clive Cussler, let me just say that although I've read a lot of Cussler in the past, I've never read his Isaac Bell series, so I had no idea what I would get. I love his style of writing, I enjoy the adventure and suspense, but starting this series with this particular book kind of didn't work for me. Don't get me wrong, you're going to get some Cussler goodness out of it, but it was meh in comparison to some of his other work. I mean, it starts out good and well, but somewhere along the lines it just failed.
I have to admit though that considering the amount of books that Cussler puts out, one out of a dozen that doesn't impress me isn't too shabby. Of course, I have a feeling that co-author Justin Scott did most of the work on this, so ... I don't know ... The Bootlegger just didn't make me go ooh and ah.
The editing's good, I'll give credit where credit is due, so there's that.

Maybe I'm being over-critical because I haven't read the other books in this particular series, maybe I'm not the target audience, I don't know. The point is that The Bootlegger just left me feeling a little indifferent to Isaac Bell.

Should you buy it? Only if you've been following this series, but if you haven't, then I suggest you start with the first book instead. Is there adventure in The Bootlegger? Well, duh! This is still a Clive Cussler book, so yes, you're going to get your adventure fix whether you want it or not. Why do you feel indifferent and still gave the book a high rating? Look, quality is quality and just because I didn't exactly enjoy the plot of this book doesn't mean that you won't like it. I'm unbiased in my reviews and I understand that not everyone will agree with me, so ha! Take that!

(review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com) ( )

A fast paced tale of the beginnings of the Prohibition era in the United States. Isaac Bell, of the Van Dorn Detective Agency, drops his boss, Joe Van Dorn, off at a Coast Guard vessel that is patrolling the NYC Harbor for rumrunners. Unfortunately, a black sleek boat attacks the slow Coast Guard ship. Joe helps out by taking over a gun, but is shot. He is rushed to the hospital in very bad condition. Isaac is left in charge of the gen you and his first duty is to find whoever shot Joe Van Dorn. Isaac has to find some former agents to help in the search, as the Agency is low on detectives due to WWI. Isaac directs the agents to find the black boat, which leads to the Russia connection of Russian Revolutionaries operating in the US trying to subvert the country. The Russians are using rumrunning to support their activity. The action runs from NYC to Detroit and downnto Miami. I found the fast pace refreshing after reading the past two slower moving books in this series. The series appears back on track. ( )

action-adventure, Isaac Bell, thriller/suspense

Nobody does action, adventure, suspense, and a solid historical background in a novel like Clive Cussler! During the time of the Volstead Act and the rise of communism, Isaac Bell takes on the bootleggers who nearly killed Joe Van Dorn. Gripping tale despite my nerdy tendency to check the historicity of the background as the spirit strikes.
Scott Brick does Cussler proud as usual. ( )

While reading:
I don't know if it's the person reading the book or the actual text, but so far this book is horrible. It doesn't have a good easy flow to it.

I think I'm finally finding what's bugging me so much about this book: Too much exposition, not enough dialogue. Too much tell, not enough show. I can't tell who the characters are...
*****

Oh ugh. The reader was trying to sound like James Garner and didn't pass muster. The facts might be accurate but as I said before, too much tell not enough show. The character was set to say something and it's described with the words he said rather than the actual speech.

To be honest, I learned a lot to help my own writing. It felt horrible. The fact that Clive Cussler outsourced this story should also be a telling fact. Staff writer, new writer, what have you. Horrible. ( )