River of Ruin

Table of Contents

 

 

“Starts at 100 mph and then gets faster . . . intricate, intelligent, high-octane adventure.”

—Lee Child,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Without Fail

 

 

 

“A rare treat—a thriller that blends some of modern history’s most vexing enigmas with a hostile, perfectly realized setting. This is one thriller that really delivers great characters combined with a breakneck pace and almost unbearable suspense.”

—Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, coauthors of
The Ice Limit
and
Relic

 

“Combining plenty of thrills and a touch of romance, Du Brul’s action-packed contemporary adventure zips along like an out-of-control locomotive. . . . A well-researched foundation of facts and details grounds the reader in this frosty setting. . . . Mercer’s love interest, Dr. Anika Klein, is his fitting counterpart and a strong heroine, and their romance adds a degree of warmth to this swift, sensational tale. Those who enjoy a good adrenaline rush will find plenty here to satisfy.”

—
Publishers Weekly

 

“Have you been casually looking for a new thriller writer in the tradition of Clive Cussler? Would the idea of a touch of Jack Higgins intrigue you? Do you like your reading to move quickly, have a grand plot, and the good guy gets the girl? Browse no more! Jack Du Brul is here. . . .
Pandora’s Curse
hit all the buttons. Read it and run to your favorite bookstore for the others. . . . A dandy read.”

—
News & Citizen
(Morrisville, VT)

 

“[
The Medusa Stone
’s] nearly 500 pages of fast-paced prose propel Du Brul closer to the front ranks of thriller authors.”

—
Publishers Weekly

 

“With novels like
Charon’s Landing
,
Vulcan’s Forge
, and now
The Medusa Stone
, Jack Du Brul is one of the leaders of adventurous intrigue novels. The story line of his latest thriller continually ebbs and flows, but each new spurt builds the tension even further until the audience realizes that this is a one-sitting novel in spite of its size. Philip is a fabulous lead character and the support cast brings to life Eritrea and some questionable activities in the Mediterranean area. However, in hindsight what makes Mr. Du Brul’s novel a strong candidate for adventure book of the year is the brilliant fusion of Eritrea, its people and customs woven into a dramatic plot.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

 

 

“A pleasure . . . A densely detailed and well-paced thinking man’s melodrama.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

 

“Jack Du Brul has to be the finest adventure writer on the scene today. Romance, violence, technology are superbly blended by a master storyteller. Du Brul creates a fast-moving odyssey that is second to none.”

—Clive Cussler

 

“Du Brul’s well-calculated debts to Fleming, Cussler, Easter-man, and Lustbader, his technological, political, and ecological research, and his natural gift for storytelling bode well.”

—
Publishers Weekly

 

“Wonderfully outrageous [cliffhangers]. . . . Finely tuned, buoyed by strong, fresh writing.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

 

“An exciting, well-honed thriller that will have Clive Cussler fans taking note of the new kid on the block.”

—William Heffernan, author of
The Dinosaur Club

 

“Du Brul has created a high-tempo action pace. . . . The reader is constantly intrigued. . . . An action-packed and intriguing thriller.”

—
The Mystery Review

 

“The writing here is good, the pace very fast, the characters believable. . . . A welcome addition to the ranks of thriller writers.”

—
The Sullivan County Democrat

 

“A fun thriller.”

—
Oklahoman

 

“An intricate tale filled with action and intrigue where the stakes are high. Mercer is an action character with a brain, a penchant for beautiful women, and the ability to think fast and inspire respect and trust. . . . A fast-paced story well told by an upcoming new talent in the spy thriller genre. Du Brul has earned an avid fan.”

—
Cape Coral Daily Breeze

Also by Jack Du Brul

RIVER OF RUIN*
PANDORA’S CURSE*
THE MEDUSA STONE*
CHARON’S LANDING
VULCAN’S FORGE

 

 

ONYX

Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand,
London WC2R 0RL, England

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Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2

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Auckland 10, New Zealand

 

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

 

First published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.

 

First Printing, December 2002

Copyright © Jack Du Brul, 2002

Map copyright © Jeffrey L. Ward, 2002
All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

 

 

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WHEN USED TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO PREMIUM MARKETING DIVISION, PENGUIN PUTNAM INC., 375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-09801-1

In loving memory of my
father, David Du Brul. No
work of fiction has produced
a greater hero or a better man.

The auctioneer’s gavel came down with a stinging crack that carried across the ornate
salon.
“Sold for forty-seven thousand francs to bidder number 127.”

A digital board on one side of the elevated stage showed the exchange rates for each bid as they were acknowledged. The book held aloft by a white-gloved assistant standing behind the auctioneer had just been purchased for nearly seven thousand dollars.