''The Silent Sea'' is the seventh novel of Clive Cussler's

Oregon Files The ''Oregon Files'' is a series of novels written by author Clive Cussler and several co-authors. Craig Dirgo was a co-writer for the first two titles, Jack Du Brul was a co-writer for the next seven titles, Boyd Morrison took over as co-writ ...

series. The hardcover edition was released March 9, 2010. Other editions were released on other dates. Like the rest of the series, this book details the exploits of the Corporation, headquartered in ''The Oregon'', a ship that from the outside looks as if it is ready for the scrapyard. In reality this is a ruse, as the ship is as high tech as can be.

Plot

The Corporation is hired to hunt for and recover the plutonium energy source from a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

satellite that went down in the jungles in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. What the members of the Corporation find leads them to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, where they try to foil a multinational plot around a converted scientific station that is actually a vast mining operation that has a large military base built to protect it. Along the way, there is a search for a mythical Chinese Admiral's

Chinese treasure ship A Chinese treasure ship (, literally "gem ship") is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The size of Chinese treasure ship has been a subject of debate ...

called the "Silent Sea". That ship had to be scuttled along with its crew due to a

prion disease Prions are misfolded proteins that have the ability to transmit their misfolded shape onto normal variants of the same protein. They characterize several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases in humans and many other animals. It i ...

, caught by the crew when they traded for meat from the native cannibals. The Corporation is forced to move the ship to deeper waters, since the Chinese, in cooperation with the Argentinians, are using the presence of the ship to claim the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

as Chinese territory.

Inspiration

The fifteenth century admiral is one Tsai Song. Although he is said to be inspired by the travels of the real Chinese Fleet Admiral

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...

, it is clear from the time line, that he's based on Zheng. However unlike Zheng's south Asia and Middle Eastern voyages, Song had traveled to the Pacific coasts of the American continents and to Antarctica.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

said, "The action seesaws from subtropical jungles to the bitter cold of the Antarctic as Juan leads his band . . . into action against a host of nefarious enemies. A cliffhanger ending will leave fans panting for more." Marge Fletcher wrote for

Book Reporter A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arra ...

, "Of the last few ''Oregon Files'' novels I've read and reviewed . . ., ''The Silent Sea'' is the most interesting and captivating." Craig Smith wrote for Rated Reads stating, "The mystery aspect does not disappoint, although the resolution of the overshadowing political predicament is somewhat weak."Rated Reads
which gave ''The Silent Sea'' a 'mild' rating, based on some use of profanity.

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

states the novel is "Fast-paced and a lot of fun". AudioFile praises Scott Brick's ability as he narrates the audio version of the book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Sea 2010 American novels Novels by Clive Cussler Novels by Jack Du Brul The Oregon Files G. P. Putnam's Sons books Collaborative novels Michael Joseph books