The Cutthroat (An Isaac Bell Adventure) Hardcover – March 14, 2017

This book is filled with history, both in England and the U.S. The characters, from Bell, Marion, the Van Dorn detectives, and even the dastardly villains, are finely tuned. Fast paced and glorious. It didn't get 5 stars from me (no spoiler here!) because the plot dealt with the overdone Jack the Ripper theme. It's one that's grown tiresome through the many variations I've read. If you like that particular saga, you'll enjoy this novel. Recommended!

I've read all of The Isaac Bell books by Cussler & Co. It's one of my very favorite series of books. I really like the early-1900s historical settings and the use of then-current technologies and practices by a national detective agency to solve the most difficult cases. The early books focused primarily on Isaac Bell himself, shown as an unbeatable Jason Bourne or James Bond from an earlier era. Some of the later books expanded the roles of other characters in the detective agency and their outside allies. I found these books a little more realistic and expansive. I enjoy thrillers and action-adventures. I'm generally able to suspend a lot of disbelief for action scenes. But I'm not as accepting when it comes to character motives and plot devices and remarkable coincidences. Specifically, I'm mostly OK with Isaac Bell's remarkable skills at fighting, knife throwing, fencing, shooting, driving, boating, flying, surviving injuries, escaping death, etc. But I need the detective work and research to be mostly realistic for that time. And I need the motives and actions of the villains to be mostly believable. The Cutthroat falls a little short in those areas.SPOILERS AHEAD ---My biggest gripe is that the entire Jack the Ripper connection doesn't work. The entire section involving London and the Ripper case is unnecessary and actually dampens the story. A long-term travelling serial killer in 1890s to early 1900s America is a great case by itself, without the Ripper connection. It would be better if The Cutthroat was just inspired by the Ripper, or maybe a relative or friend. The detective work in London, tracking down people (even an eyewitness!) in England from 1888 more than 20 years later, and then tracking the Ripper's exact name, timeline, and exit path was completely absurd. The English Naval spy angle was a waste.Another problem was the killer's actions. 20 years of killing women in America, and he STILL carves coded symbols on their bodies and wraps them in large capes? Does he really want to remain hidden or does he want to taunt any pursuers? All these killings never reached the attention of the newspapers of the day? And the scene where he goes after Isaac Bell is ludicrous. He's counting on his acting skills and a hidden sword for an attack against a likely armed opponent? And he expects that opponent to try to rescue him from an apparent suicide attempt? He didn't consider that Bell might have many cops and detectives waiting? In most of the other Bell books, it's pretty clear why the Van Dorn agency is involved (and paid) in a case and why the police may not be. Here, the extensive (and unpaid) involvement of the Van Dorns and the general non-involvement of the police are not well-explained.I still liked the book overall. I think it ranks below the average of the Bell series books so far. I noticed a flash-forward to the mid-1950s at the end of this book. There was also a flash-forward to 1950 at the beginning of the first Isaac Bell book, "The Chase". I hope that wasn't a clue signaling that this is the end of the Isaac Bell series. I'd like to read more. I'd love to read more stories based on the earlier career of Isaac Bell as a new detective.

Detective Isaac Bell is one of my favorite Clive Cussler fictional characters.Truth to tell, Cussler is one of my favorite authors, not because he is someday going to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature but because he knows how to develop engaging characters and put them in interesting situations."The Cutthroat," however, doesn't rise to his usual standards, at least in my opinion. It rambles at times, gets more than a little preachy at others, and - in the main - just doesn't hold together well.I won't go deeply into the plot, but I will say that Bell and other members of the detective agency for which he and they work are on the trail of a serial killer who may have been murdering young women for more than 20 years. The narrative takes the reader across the United States and to England and it can be quite breathless at times (a consistent feature of Cussler's novels.)The problem is, at least for me, two-fold: The killer seems to have passed unnoticed by police (Bell has a theory for why that is) for two decades despite the fact he racks up an enormous body count, and no one in his inner circle ever seems to suspect him. That second issue is the one I find hardest to accept because, as a retired journalist, I covered the careers of more than one serial killer and there were always hints about their darker sides. In some cases those hints were revealed in their conversations and their actions toward others, in others they revolved around unexplained absences. The fact is, there was - and is - always something a little bit "off" about these predators who can indiscriminately take the lives of their victims.There are a few other issues I have with the portrayal of this mass murderer but those are the main ones. Suffice it to say I just didn't find this Cussler villain to be as well drawn as most of the author's other antagonists. That was disappointing because Cussler's villains are almost always at least as interesting as his heroic figures.An okay read but not one of Cussler's best.

These adventures and the Fargos are the only Cussler that I still follow. The plot early on tells you who the suspects will be long before Bell works it out. So being able to reveal the killer at the end keeps up the interest. The usual Auto, Train and Airplane are evident. The one issue you have to live with in a series is the boredom caused by knowing things from other novels that are included to ensure it can stand alone.

Magnificent story involving theatre and English murderer Jack the Ripper. Plot takes you from USA to England and back again.

Really great I really enjoyed it it kept me enthralled from start to finish Clive cussler you have done it again thanks

Good read

Bit too much of the same.