The Lightning Stones

I first learned of Jack Du Brul as a co-author with Clive Cussler, and he’s written a number of books on his own with Philip Mercer as his Dirk Pitt-like protagonist. The Lightning Stones is his latest grand adventure in true Cussler style. The mystery begins back in 1937 with the disappearance of Emilia Earhart, the cause of which was attributed to a mysterious cargo she took on board on the leg before her airplane disappeared. Fast forward to the present time when Mercer, a geologist by training and a man with many other skills, goes to visit an old mentor, Abe Jacobs, in a deep mine in Minnesota. However, he finds that Jacob has just been killed and the chase is on, but Mercer fails in his initial pursuit to grab the killers. You can already see the connection, a senior geologist, the mysterious cargo, and the title of the book. Mercer is surrounded by the usual cast of characters, including his special forces pal Sykes, and Du Brul introduces some great new bad guys. The book is fast-paced and mostly believable, although some of the science that Du Brul uses to explain the plot is a bit suspect. This one would entertain you on a cross-country flight, so I would put it in my category of airplane books, not great literature, but definitely a fun fantasy. Many thanks to John Pitts at Doubleday for sending this book my way.