The Saboteurs

Prologue
October 14, 1912
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
 
 
 
            They gave him the gun in New York, he was pretty certain, and he thought some money too.  That had allowed him to stalk his prey across eight states, often staying in the same hotels and riding the same train.   Most importantly, though, they d helped him hear the ghost once again.  And the ghost gave the same command he d given eleven years earlier, only John hadn t the strength to act then.  Today was different.
John Flammang Schrank spent most of the afternoon in a bar across from the Gilpatrick Hotel where he knew his target would eat dinner before motoring to the Milwaukee Auditorium to deliver a speech to further his unholy quest.  A former bar owner himself, the Bavarian-borne Schrank downed six schooners of beer but felt nothing but calm as the crowds outside the nearby hotel swelled in anticipation of getting a glimpse of their hero.
Traitor, he thought sullenly, the weight of the gun tugging at his coat pocket.  Traitor and murderer. 
He paid the barman and crossed the street.  It was nearing eight and light spilled from the hotel s windows.  The air was crisp, so people wore long coats and hats pulled low.  Shrank was a portly man, round in the belly with a friendly enough face dominated by a large jutting chin.  He had little trouble pressing his way through the happy throngs of people.
How could they show such adoration, he wondered.  Didn t they know the truth?
That truth had come to him shortly after his target had taken office.  It was the ghost s first appearance in a dream, a vivid dream that he d never been able to shake.  And now, with the help of his new benefactors, the dream had returned, only this time his target had been wearing the robes of a priest, but it made no difference.  Schrank recognized the

Clive Cussler was the author of more than eighty books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt®, NUMA® Files, Oregon® Files, Isaac Bell®, and Sam and Remi Fargo®. His life nearly paralleled that of his hero Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he and his NUMA crew of volunteers discovered and surveyed more than seventy-five lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Civil War submarine Hunley, which was raised in 2000 with much publicity. Like Pitt, Cussler collected classic automobiles. His collection featured more than one hundred examples of custom coachwork. Cussler passed away in February 2020.

Jack Du Brul is the author of the Philip Mercer series, most recently The Lightning Stones, and is the coauthor with Cussler of the Oregon Files novels Dark Watch, Skeleton Coast, Plague Ship, Corsair, The Silent Sea, and The Jungle, and the Isaac Bell novel The Titanic Secret. He lives in Virginia.

"Fast-paced fun that's fraught with peril."--Kirkus Reviews

"Top-notch...Cussler fans will be well-satisfied."--Publishers Weekly

Thrilling [and] an excellent read. --Mystery & Suspense