The historical detail is the appeal of the story, and the reason it manages not to be a cardboard cutout action tale. It would be nicer if all the then current tech wasn't presented as 'the next great thing that just came out'

There were spots the whole thing didn't hang together for me, it gets quite disjointed at times when the focus shifts around the couple of main characters.

Nonetheless, a very fast read and a fun romp.

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It is 1902, and a bright, inexperienced young man named Isaac Bell, only two years out of his apprenticeship at the Van Dorn Detective Agency, has an urgent message for his boss. Hired to hunt for radical unionist saboteurs in the coal mines, he is witness to a terrible accident that makes him think something else is going on…that provocateurs are at work and bigger stakes are in play.

Little does he know just how big they are.

Given exactly one week to prove his case, Bell quickly finds himself pitted against two of the most ruthless opponents he has ever known—men of staggering ambition and cold-bloodedness who are not about to let some wet-behind-the-ears detective stand in their way.

1902 Pittsburg and W Virginia coal mines were a hotbed of activity. Isaac Bell was sent in undercover to search for radical union saboteurs causing mayhem in the mines. What he found instead was corporate greed versus the working man. And he found a formidable opponent in a former Van Dorn detective, a man personally trained by Van Dorn himself. The chase leads Isaac up and down the Ohio River and to Chicago and back again to coal mining country. I found the first half of the book tedious. However, by mid book, it picked up the rollicking pace of a typical Cussler novel. ( )

I don't believe I've read Clive Cussler before, but I intend to look for more books from this series. Isaac Bell is an apprentice detective at the Van Dorn agency around the early 1900's. Van Dorn is like the Pinkertons and Bell is a blueblood who wants to work for a living.
He becomes involved in a case in the West Virginia coal mines where the miners are trying to form unions and management will do anything to keep that from happening. Bell brings in a team of detectives from the agency, a colorful cast of characters, to help him discover the provocateur who is at the bottom of a series of disasters.
The history here was interesting, not a period I know much about but now I want to find out more. The style of writing is easy flowing with a lot of detail that adds to the story. I really enjoyed it. ( )

Yet another Isaac Bell success story. Bell is a great character with tremendous energy, highly skilled in all matters, although it was interesting how much time he put into developing a new defensive skill involving a small pistol and a hat! As usual he is well matched against a very worthy opponent, who is supported by big business looking for ever increasing profit and gain. The book is set during his early career so his lovely wife does not really feature apart from in Prologue and Epilogue, both of which are a feature of all the series. ( )