Quantum Tempest

Oregon Files #19

by Mike Maden

Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon are back in this explosive new adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Action, Mystery, Audiobook, Suspense

432 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2025

About the author

I grew up working in the canneries, feed mills and slaughterhouses of California’s San Joaquin Valley. A lifelong fascination with history and warfare ultimately lead to a Ph.D. in political science focused on conflict and technology in international relations. Like millions of others, I first became a Tom Clancy fan after reading The Hunt for Red October, and began my published fiction career in the same techno-thriller genre, starting with DRONE and the sequels, BLUE WARRIOR, DRONE COMMAND and DRONE THREAT. I’m honored to be joining “The Campus” as a writer in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Jr., series.

Reviews

[PamG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quantum Tempest is the nineteenth book in the Oregon Files action thriller series started by Clive Cussler and continuing by Mike Maden. Central America is a hotspot with a government crackdown on cartels in El Salvadore leaving many criminal leaders locked up in prison. In response, Amador Fierro, a crime boss, forges the seven largest groups into an allegiance. To defeat the United States, they need an artificial general intelligence computer that can overwhelm America and others.

Chairman Juan Cabrillo and his crew aboard the Oregon are hired by the CIA to stop Fierro. However, they have multiple problems including having two team members unreachable in the Darien Gap on assignment, a surprise guest, regular cargo deliveries, and other forces who want the new computer as well.

Cabrillo is always eager for the hunt and can improvise quickly. He’s intelligent, killed linguistically, and has good action skills. There are a lot of characters in the book but there is a character list at the beginning for readers to use. Those familiar with the series will find many returning characters, including members of his crew.

Shocking, suspenseful, alarming, and pulse-activating; this book as aspects of political and military thrillers as well as espionage and action thrillers. There are several twists to the multi-layered plot that will keep readers rapidly turning the pages. The author continues to bring great characters, entertaining story lines, and lots of action together in exhilarating novels. The world-building was excellent making this reader feel as though she was experiencing the events along with the characters. The story largely takes place in El Salvador and the Pacific Ocean off the coast of it. However, there are several chapters set in Panama and Columbia as well as single chapters in other countries. My biggest quibble was that there were so many disparate scenes to start with that the flow wasn’t there until they started to come together. Additionally, there was a secondary thread related to one of Cabrillo’s team that wasn’t fully resolved.

Overall, this book was intense, suspenseful, riveting, fast-paced, and thought-provoking. If you enjoy action thrillers that have both strong male and female characters, then this may be the series for you. I’m looking forward to reading more of this series.

Putnam – G. P. Putnam’s Sons and Mike Maden provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for November 18, 2025.
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My 4.14 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon.

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still good, but this series has lost something, but I’m not quite sure what.

[Deborah A. Purtell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too convoluted

Writing with this same collaborator, I find too many people, situations and wordy explanations that wander aimlessly. After following two main characters throughout the story, one abruptly kill’s herself (Zhang), and Fierro unexpectedly gets his neck broken. That storyline ends with a thud. Then the ending was forced. Nuns being burned alive? Where did that come from?

[Grandma Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed and intense. There are always several parts unfolding at once and the author makes these easy to track and understand. I always give the books in this series, 5 stars. However, I believe this has been my favorite so far. The ending was actually heartwarming. The characters are unique and memorable. Outstanding narration. Highly recommend. Looking forward to the next in the series.

I was blessed with an ARC. Thank you NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own and unbiased. I’m looking forward to rereading the series.

[Cheri Colborn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst Oregon book yet

Nowhere near the quality of a Clive version or even a Jack Du Brul. Totally devoid of the special operator theme, minimal action, tons of pointless characters. Pages of pointless AI content. I look forward to these books every year to 18 months and found myself skipping entire paragraphs and even pages to get to something entertaining. If anyone in the Cussler franchise reads these reviews….find another ghost writer, let’s be honest, these aren’t Pulitzer Prize winners, they’re supposed to be action packed page turners.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a relatively fast read. It held my interest from start-to-finish. As much as I enjoyed it, it still felt a little "off" to me. Nothing I can really put my finger on.

The book bounces around between essentially four storylines (involving the team of two in the Darien Gap, the Chinese, the drug cartel, and the Oregon). On the one hand, it is a lot. And there are some moments that feel forced. Like when Link and Raven go "off-mission" to save some young women being kidnapped during the trek through the Gap - it disrupted the flow of the story. Or when they are then sent "off-mission" again to find some kind of "super-hacker" who is killed by a hit-team right before Link and Raven can save him. It is almost implied that had Cabrillo been there, then the guy they were trying to save would have survived, but I don't think so. And then they "accidentally" find the Iranian Quds Base they were searching for during the trek and that base is taken out "off-page" - kind of defeated the whole purpose of their mission being in the book, in my opinion. I fully expected the Oregon team to be involved in taking out the Iranian training base, but instead it was somebody else. So that whole build-up and "satisfaction" (not sure of the right word) was left unfulfilled at the end of the book. It was like, "what was the whole point of including that in the book if you're not going to give the reader the payoff at the end of the book"? Not a sense of being "betrayed" but very disappointed.

Then you had Amador Fierro and Linlin Zhang. There was this huge build-up throughout the book regarding these two characters, how important they were and how smart they were, how clever they were. And the same thing happens - no payoff by the end of the book. They are both unceremoniously killed - Amador has his neck quickly snapped and broken. It was unexpected but unsatisfying. Sure, he was "betrayed" after a fashion, but he also betrayed those with whom he had been collaborating, so perhaps it was a "just death" after a fashion, but it was still unsatisfying and disappointing.

Linlin's death was even more unsatisfying. As smart as she is, as clever as she is, as strong as she is, her death is via suicide. And even then, her death is "pointless" because the "villains" (her superiors) are able to use a recording of her voice to defeat her phone's security and acquire the information for which they are seeking. I thought for sure she was going to escape and come back in a later book as an even more dangerous villain. Nope. Not only that, but I feel like she should have known that her voice could have been used against her to hack her phone, her devices, so her committing suicide seemed out-of-character for her, too. I was surprised to learn that she was working with the Guardians, so that was a nice twist, but that weak-@$$ death was such an insult to her character that I could not believe it to be true. When I read about the security guy appearing covered in blood, I thought maybe she had died fighting him trying to escape, but, nope - she killed herself. I realize people die pointless deaths every day, and one could she was trying to prevent them from acquiring any information from her, but she also should have known that her recorded voice could be used against her and she should have planned accordingly, in my opinion. Honestly, as smart as she was and as quickly as she hacked through the Oregon's security system, I honestly thought Cabrillo might offer her a job at the end of the book, hahahah! But, yeah, so sad (disappointing) how her story ended.

Another wasted moment for me, too, was Senior Captain Zhao Meili. She sounded like a complete bad-@$$ not to be trifled with, and she was quickly killed without even being able to show her worth, knowledge, or experience. There was this huge build-up for her as a character, too, and it was so much potential wasted. I was expecting some kind of three-way battle between the Oregon, Baktun and Fuzhou only for the Fuzhou to be quickly and summarily destroyed by the Oregon's naval blitzkrieg when the Baktun's systems were hacked. I could not believe it. Part of me was laughing at the shock of it all, and part of me was like, "are you kidding me?!? That's it?!? All of that tension and unmet expectations only to be deeply disappointed like that!" hahahah!

The rail gun was missing! I cannot believe they removed it! Such a disappointment.

I did like the introduction of the Guardians into the mix. It will be interesting to see if they show up in later books. That was one of the positives about the book - I was glad that their "main cell" (command cell?) was not discovered, nor that any other cells were discovered by the MSS agents. They were a pretty cool addition to the stories, and I could see a group like them possibly coming into existence. We shall see if anything else comes from them.

I also liked that the Guardians hacked into the North Korean ballistic missile and sent it on a collision course to take out the Baktun - that was pretty hard-core! Much respect for them (although I thought the Oregon should have been damaged in the process, to be honest. Clearly unrealistic on my part, but that is okay).

It was crazy that MacD figured out that Eidolon had provided a backdoor that allowed the Oregon team to hack into the Baktun's system and then fire all of the vessel's weapons at the Chinese destroyer Fuzhou. I was shocked when that happened and could not believe it was destroyed so thoroughly like it was. No lie - it was another great twist I did not see coming. But...it was almost comical because of how easily the destruction of this modern destroyer happened. In some ways, it reminded me (distantly and vaguely) of the Dirk Pitt story when Dirk and Al were on that initial iteration of the Oregon when it battled a Chinese destroyer as well.

That ENDING, though! UGH! It was just too freaking convenient that that crewmember just happened to have enough material for the U.S. of A. to gain a strategic advantage regarding AGI technology. I think it would have been a better ending if the information had "gone down with the ship" and nobody had it.

I guess that's not "the END" of the book, but it was still too much for me to accept, hahahah!

The "final ending" involving the "loose end" of Vargas was meh for me as well. I had actually forgotten about him by that point in the book. At the same time, I thought it was great that Kevin Nixon took Cabrillo's place in facing off against Vargas - I thought that was some solid insight into the high regard that the Oregon's crew has for Cabrillo, how much Cabrillo's team respected him and loved him as their leader and friend. Probably one of the better moments in the series if not that book, to be honest.

I would rate this 2.3-2.5 stars, rounded down to 2 stars. I wanted to rate it 3 stars, but in retrospect some of the "problems" I had with the story worked against that for me. However, that "ending" was so crazy and amazing I will rate it 3 stars because of how much it actually impacted me (which I did not expect, hahahah!). If I reread this book in the future, I would probably lower the rating, but I will be generous for now.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Oregon files used to be my favorite Cussler series, but this latest book dropped it to the bottom of the list. The story was padded with repetitive descriptions—characters (their appearance, back stories and motivations), organizations, even entire countries were explained again and again. The story was disjointed and never really came together. A supposed “twist” at the end, had no impact on the plot or the action. I have no idea why it was there. It was so bad, I skimmed pages of descriptions to get to something interesting.
It took me over three weeks to finish. I read 3 other books during that time – all 4 star reads. I had to force myself through this one, and after years of following the series, I’m sad to say, unless they find another writer, I’m done.

[Jim Rickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books just keep getting better and bettet

I really liked this book and watching the different sides come against each other. Also the chairman showed us who he was

[Linda Holway · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was choppy, did not read as smooth as Clive Cussler usually does...

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clive Cussler Quantum Tempest by Mike Maden was a nail-biting glimpse at war. Present or future? Thankfully I don’t know that. One needs to stay in focus while reading this book as there are lots of moving parts that eventually come together in one amazing climax. Maden explores the dangers of rug cartels and the Chinese and their relationships. He also opens the door on the idea that the US government doesn’t always do their own “dirty work.” It is an exciting and through-provoking read.

If there is a lead, and that is somewhat questionable, it is Juan Cabrillo who had once been a CIA asset but was now a CIA contractor. He is the chairman of a corporation that owns and operates a state-of-the-art battleship, disguised as as a cargo trawler, which accounted for its many trips around the Pacific. He is a man with a history and one that directs his actions. He is a quick thinker and creative and surrounds himself with a crew that is unique and every bit as creative. It was quite the journey.

I was invited to read Clive Cussler Quantum Tempest by Putnam. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Putnam #MikeMaden #CliveCusslerQuantumTempest

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quantum Tempest has the same plot as 2 other books in this series [The Jungle (#8) and Shadow Tyrants (#13)]. Read those books for a better time instead of this one.

This audio book was hard to get through. If this was your first time reading the Oregon Files, I'd recommend starting with books 10-15, Boyd Morrison did a great job with the writing.

Back to the book:
None of the characters matched their personas from previous books.
The parallel plots involved in this story did not blend well together. Another plodding series of events between different groups of people with nothing connecting them. It wasn't until a few hours into the audiobook that there was a connection between one group of bad guys and the Oregon Crew.
Lastly, a lot of the writing felt like descriptive filler. More time was spent describing things than moving the story forward.

Also, they took the rail gun off the ship, minus 1 star right there.

Hoping the next author can bring back the spirit of the Morrison and Du Brul installments, and come up with some new plots.

[Cynde · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this the 19 book in the Oregon Files series, Juan Cabrillo and his crew are involved in multiple assignments in South America. Two crew members have been sent undercover to locate an Iranian base in the jungles. A crew member rescues an old girlfriend from danger but is she a friend or a foe. A cartel boss is secretly funding the building of an AGI (artificial general intelligence) computer which if successful will give him control of the world.
AI is becoming the most important tool in the world is wanted by all governments - most desperately by the and Chinese and the USA and everyone is willing to kill for it. The book is non-stop adventures with death-defying terrain. can they stop the cartel boss from realizing his dream of world domination and can they thwart the Chinese from stealing the technology???The book is a thrilling nail-biter! It will be enjoyed by any of Cussler's readers and those who love exotic locations and lots of action.

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy that this series is being continued but this installment took me a while to get into. It seemed all over the place at first -ghost ships in the Pacific, two Cabrillo agents in the Darien Gap searching for Iranian Quds force for Overholt, cartels in Central America headed by Amador Fierro joining forces to become more powerful, the building of a super Artificial General Intelligence machine to take down the US , protecting the president of El Salvador and a mole on the Oregon, not to mention an old enemy of Cabrillo's makes an appearance.

Whew what a list! How many jobs can Cabrillo take on at one time? It is action packed but didn't coalesce for me until two-thirds of the way in.

[Karri Hoopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Maden must have finally read the earlier books by Clive Cussler. He nailed it, other than using "stay frosty." (Still can't see that working with this group.) In this book the team is a team again, not a one-man show. The integration was terrific. We got to see Eddie Singh, Lincoln, Raven, Murphy, Eric Stone, Linda Ross, Kassim, Gomez Adams, Kevin Nixon and the others in action and contributing in meaningful ways. The suspense well done and well paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is hope! and I almost missed it by not reading this one. Scott Brick did a great job narrating, as always.

[Sue H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Juan Carrillo is my favorite Cussler character and Mike Madden does an excellent job continuing Cabrillo and his extraordinary crew’s adventures! Too bad we don’t actually have such a tech-savvy, fearless, patriotic, risk-taking individual’s on the government’s payroll. This story shows another opportunity for individual’s to make billions while putting the world’s innocent people at risk. If you enjoy thriller adventure stories employing lots of technology, the Cabrillo series is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and G P Putnam for providing an ARC to enjoy!

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been a Clive Cussler stan for 30 years now. I've read and enjoyed every single book save for the children's publications. This is the by far the worst. Soap Opera backstory rather than historic intrigue. ridiculous side-quest adventures in Central America with the most tenuous of connections to the 'plot'. Authorial and/or editorial failures when it comes to basic naval and military terminology. More secret double and double double crosses than a mid-series Mission Impossible film.

A failure in all parts and in sum.

Let it be an aberration and not a sign of things to come.

[John Belcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story! Poor Murphy was taken advantage of using his feelings against him. The secrets of the Oregon are compromised due to the person using Murphys heart for espionage. Murphy redeems himself by cracking the one mans code to save them. The concept of the story is close to reality that it will stop and make you wonder if it could be possible. The book was captivating and very hard to put down and definitely worthy of five stars.

[Katherine Denise Bynum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clive Cussler books never disappoint. Mike Maden writing is fabulous as always. The Oregon crew always expanding their abilities and the ship’s ability. Great crew. Great twists and so many double agents that it was quite interesting and sometimes intimidating. The knowledge needed to write about the Oregon and its crew takes a lot of knowledge and inspiration. Excellent writing and excellent characters.

[richard wasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not in the Cussler style. The author did a ton of research but unfortunately for me, spent way too much time on background. There was no suspense in the first two hundred pages. I had a hard time staying with it. Then the rising action and climax happened in no time at all and the resolution had only a couple of pages. It could have been so much better with less background and more action. This, after all, is espionage, is it not?

[Mike Summerlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read

I am never disappointed by any of Cussler's books.
This one is action packed and the character development was excellent.
One highly recommend this book to anyone who is fascinated by the detail and descriptions of equipment and characters will not be disappointed.

[April Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm disappointed in this one as a long time Cussler fan. The villains are maga propaganda talking points: South Americans and Chinese drug traffickers and AI schemers with propaganda supporting motivations. CECOT and the president responsible for it are presented as terrorism suppression, not legally questionable.

[Db2567 · Rating 2 out of 5]

AGI and AI are the enemy in this novel.
The book synopsis gives you no idea about what the story is about.
Note to self it's time to give up on this series now as the Clive Cussler name on the book is a long way from his novels.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great thriller with the Oregon Crew. Lots of A.I. in this one, kind of scary what will be possible in a short time, if it is not already. US, China and who knows who else, racing to be first.

[Bob Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always,good story- AI running amok- Super AI project in final stages- Financed by a cartel,who want the catastrophic power to destroy the US- Chinese want it,America wants it too- throw in North Korea and get quite the conundrum-

[Baili Valencia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept reading, hoping it would surprise me, but it didn’t. The story feels disconnected, with the Oregon added as an afterthought, and the characters feel nothing like themselves compared to the rest of the series.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not interesting unless you are techno nerd

There is over abundance of technical information. The characters are lost in that. I really love Juan and the crew but they were lost in the techno and spoiled the book.

[Fred D Stoye Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quantum Tempest is Great

Another great book in the series. Good action with plenty of surprises. My only criticism is that at times the story line gets hyper technical which detracts from the narrative. Overall, very good!

[Les Leon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Oregon Files book.

Enjoyed the story greatly. It is amazing how closely the authors follow the now current events of drone warfare. I’m sure there is much more technology going on with drones than we know but just reading this scary.

[PottWab Regional Library]

O

[John H. Parmenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quantum Tempest

Mike Maden, if Clive Cussler were here, he would tell you, "Job well done." Great fast-paced action from opening through the finish.