The Silent Sea: A Novel of the Oregon Files. Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul by Clive Cussler

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


What spoilt this book for me was the sloppy editing. If you’re buying a self-published book for 99p off Kindle you might expect a few typos – but if you’re paying rrp £18.99 for a first edition hardback, you expect quality and professionalism. You can barely go 8 pages without a typo – some of them glaring. And not just the editing – the authors made one or two real clangers themselves. Try this for size: (p75)
‘…converging on a levelled-off section of hillside at least two acres across….’
That’s like saying ‘I trod in a puddle that was six gallons deep.’
At another point it became evident that much of the story had been dictated, as a similar sounding word but of completely different and irrelevant meaning had been inserted. Overall the quality of editing gave me the impression of a rushed production.
The story: Usual Cussler production line. Entertaining, plenty of action, technically plausible, but variation on the same old theme. Something gets lost a long time ago; clues lead to its rediscovery today; good guys chase bad guys to find it first; confrontation; good guys win. All very predictable.
Don’t get me wrong – I like Clive Cussler novels. They’re pure escapism and if you don’t mind reading the same plot over and over, with just the settings and some of the characters changed, they’re good fun. However, the sloppy editing in this one spoilt it for me, and for that I give it a 2 star rating.




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