Plague Ship

April 14, 2008
In the dependably entertaining if less than top-notch fifth Oregon Files thriller from bestseller Cussler and Du Brul (after Skeleton Crew
), Capt. Juan Cabrillo, who heads the Corporation, a covert military company for hire, and the multifaceted crew of the Oregon
, a high-tech ship disguised to look like a tramp steamer, take on a group known as the Responsivists. The Responsivists publicly espouse a program of global population control, but are secretly planning a devastating attack on the human race utilizing a virulent virus found aboard an ancient ship that may be Noah’s Ark. The authors are up to their usual high standards when in fighting mode, though the chief villain, the doctor who heads the Responsivists, falls short of Juan’s billing as “the single-most-evil human being I have ever met.” Readers may wish that next time out the bad guys put up more of a struggle.

July 28, 2008
Two different narrators tackle abridged and unabridged versions of Plague Ship
—with strikingly different results.
Plague Ship
Clive Cussler
with Jack Du Brul, read by Jason Culp. Penguin Audio
, abridged, five CDs, 6.5 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 978-0-14-314309-3

The fifth installment of Cussler's Oregon series is a thrilling and wildly entertaining adventure in which the top-secret ship comes across a cruise ship in the Atlantic with a cargo of dead passengers littering its deck. Jason Culp reads with a gritty, darker tone geared toward the more mysterious aspects of the tale. The result is a truly involving experience in which the characters are realistic and well played, the atmosphere is dark and brooding, and the story itself unfolds steadily. The only downside here is that crucial plot points tossed overboard for this abridgement take away from the story as a whole. Nevertheless, Culp manages to command his audience and successfully guides them through the treacherous waters. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 14).

July 28, 2008
Cussler, writing with Du Brul, offers the fifth installment of his Oregon series, which follows the exploits of a covert ship that does the government's dirty work as long as the price is right. Scott Brick reads with a flare of the theatrical, at times sending his voice soaring, up, up, up in an attempt to create tension and excitement. Brick's characters are over-the-top and his pronunciation is slightly unbelievable. His reading is certainly entertaining but at odds with Cussler's staid prose that is layered with rich detail and deeply researched information. The story flows well and draws the audience in, but Brick's theatrical performance distracts. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 14).