Corsair

From Publishers Weekly When a plane carrying the U.S. secretary of state, en route to a Middle East peace conference, disappears over Libya, the techno-wizards aboard the supership Oregon try to track it down and recover any survivors. Juan Cabrillo and his crew discover a terrorist presence that reaches to the highest levels of the Libyan government. This exciting story translates well into audio format, and Scott Brick's performance enhances the action-adventure. His moderate tone makes for easy listening, and his clarity renders the scientific and political elements—and intrigues—at the heart of the book comprehensible. Brick has narrated previous Cussler novels and his renditions of the characters will be familiar to fans, who will find themselves in the company of old friends. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 26). (Mar.) Copyright В© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist In the sixth entry set onboard the Oregon (and the third cowritten with Du Brul), Juan Cabrillo, the one-legged “chairman” of the ancient but technologically sophisticated ship, is hired to dig up the remnants of a crashed plane. But this wasnвЂTMt just any plane crash: on board was Fiona Katamora, the U.S. secretary of state, who was on her way to a summit meeting in Libya. Although Cabrillo and his crew are able to recover the wreckage, there is no sign of the secretary. The Libyan foreign minister seems to have plans of his own, which is why the CIA thought to hire Cabrillo rather than to trust the Libyans to investigate the crash. A corsair is a variety of pirate, known for fights off the Barbary Coast more than 200 years ago. But theyвЂTMre back with a vengeance here, infesting the waters of Asia and Africa and becoming a terrorist threat like no other. The Libyans are after something, something centuries old, and only Cabrillo can find the answers. The action, suspense, and drama are full throttle throughout. Cussler fans used to international intrigue and battles at sea will not be disappointed.