Plague Ship by Clive Cussler - a Book Review

Juan Cabrillo and the Corporation (a group of secret agents that does not work for any government, but will do pretty much anything for anyone who will pay them) have been hired by the CIA to retrieve a rocket torpedo from a base in Iran. The Soviets manufacture these torpedos, and if the CIA gets their hands on one, they can link some Terrorism that Iran has committed against back to the Russians. After they retrieved the torpedo, the exit Iran and find a ship in open water. They pull up near it and see that the deck is littered with bodies. Blood has excreted through the skin, and the bones have decalcified. They are so squishy, it seems like you can push your finger through his skull.

This is how the book begins. All of this happens in the first five chapters. This book is both fast paced and interesting. There is enough detail to understand what you are reading, but not too much that the book ends up being seven hundred pages long. The personalities of the characters are also very interesting.

Juan Cabrillo, chairman and founder of the Corporation, is an amputee. He has only one leg, but he uses this dissability as an advantage. Because he has a metal leg, he is able to take weapons on planes. When he goes through the metal detector, it beeps and he shows them a card and his leg. He has 2 interchangeable legs: his civilian leg and his combat leg. This is also another way he uses his condition as a plus. Considering a metal leg is both lighter and smaller than a regular leg, he can outfit his combat leg with five different weapons at once. He can also use the motor to swim through water at high speeds.

This book is fantastic, and I suggest it to anyone over the age of 15. It is very graphic and there are a lot of four letter words that should be, let's say, bleeped out. I would rate this book an eight out of 10 for extreme action sequences and a great plot.

CAUTION: When I say that this book is graphic, I mean it is truly horrifying the things it makes you imagine. There are some things you would never think about in your life without prompting. A few of these things are in the book. DO NOT READ if you are under the age of 16. You will be scarred for life.