The Jungle

May 30, 2011
The crew of the Oregon is engaged for
a rescue mission that takes them deep into the Burmese jungle where the natural perils are hardly more deadly than
the manmade ones. Their quest for the missing daughter of a Swiss billionaire, takes them all over the globeâand Juan Cabrillo and crew are caught up in a
harrowing race to save the world. This
installment in the Oregon Files adventures requires a narrator who can make the most of the drama and suspense
without taking it over the top, and
Jason Culp is up for the challenge. His voice's rich timbre makes for easy listening, and male characterizations are
spot-on. Female voices, however, are not his strong suit: they're either nasal or throaty and make for uncomfortable
listening. Fortunately the female
dialogue is scant, and this flaw does not detract from what is a fantastical,
exciting audiobook. A Putnam hardcover.

January 24, 2011
Juan Cabrillo and his crew of mercenaries engage in one daring rescue operation after another with progressively higher stakes in Cussler's high-octane eighth Oregon Files novel (after The Silent Sea), his sixth collaboration with Du Brul. The rescue of a kidnap victim, an Indonesian teenage boy, from an Afghan village, yields a bonus in the form of MacD Lawless, a former U.S. Army Ranger, who proves of immediate value. Betrayals, more rescues, and escapes follow as one mysterious man seeks world domination using a discovery linked to 13th-century China. Cabrillo's handpicked team members, who operate from their state-of-the-art ship, the Oregon, are the only chance to stop a plot that threatens to bring the U.S. government to its knees. The frenetic action moves from Afghanistan to Singapore and the Burmese jungle with lots of derring-do at sea before climaxing in a surprising locale in a fashion sure to delight series fans.