The Gray Ghost

May 21, 2018
Bestsellers Cussler and Burcell’s refreshing 10th Sam and Remi Fargo adventure (after 2017’s The Romanov Ransom) benefits from a clever flashback device. In 1906, Isaac Bell, the hero of the Cussler series featuring the men and women of the Van Dorn Detective Agency, apprehends a group of thieves who have stolen $1 million and a prototype Rolls Royce known as the Gray Ghost. In the present day, the same car is again stolen, and treasure hunters Sam and Remi agree to search for the immensely valuable car for two reasons: this sort of offbeat case is catnip to the Fargos, and the owner, Albert Payton, the seventh Viscount Wellswick, happens to be a distant relative of Sam’s. Many of the clues to the Fargo investigation are found in a close reading of a journal kept by Albert’s grandfather, the fifth viscount, detailing Bell’s exciting 1906 case. This imaginative mix pumps new energy into a series that has shown signs of tiring in recent entries. Agent: Peter Lampack, Peter Lampack Agency.