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Vulcan's Forge (Onyx Novel) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jack Du Brul
Publisher: Onyx
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.82
You Save: $7.17 (90%)
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Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 223614
Media: Paperback
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0451412109
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780451412102
ASIN: 0451412109
Publication Date: December 6, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: EX-LIBRARY; used item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned for refund. Buy with confidence - your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics!
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Product Description
It begins deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, where a nuclear bomb strikes at the fiery hot heart of the earth. Churning, spewing boiling lava, a volcano rises with unnatural speed from the ocean floor--the source of a new mineral that promises clean, limitless nuclear power.
It continues in hot spots around the globe: Hawaii, where a secessionist movement is about to turn violent and the American Army may be asked to fire on U.S. citizens; Washington D.C., where the subway system becomes the site of a running gun battle; the Far East, where disrupted diplomatic negotiations jeopardize world peace; a rogue Russian submarine, circling the infant volcano.
Caught in the middle if Philip Mercer, a geologist and a one-time commando with shady contacts in all the right (or is it wrong?) places. When Mercer learns that the daughter of an old friend is being kept under armed guard in a local hospital, he vows to rescue her, not knowing that this is the first step in unraveling the fantastic secrets of...Vulcan's Forge.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
 Vulcan's Forge June 18, 2008
Guy Dombrowski (Quebec Canada)
Typical DuBrul
Non stop action where Philip Mercer has to use every thing he has to eliminate all the bad guys.
highly recommended
Guy Dombrowski
 Setting the pace for future novels... February 24, 2008
Chris Van Deelen (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
It's not often that I don't start reading a new series of novels from the beginning. Usually if someone recommends a writer to me, I do my best to try and find the first novel that author wrote and then work my way through the rest of his books.
Frankly, if you're talking an author like Clive Cussler, that'll be next to impossible, considering how many novels he's written over the decades.
But, that's not the case with author Jack Du Brul. I read his latest novel Havoc recently, and I found that I enjoyed it greatly.
See, that's the situation here. That was the sixth novel he had written, not his first. Fact is that I enjoyed it greatly and I was lucky enough to find his first piece of fiction at the Chapters closest to where I live.
At the same time I found two of his older novels and picked them up as well. I waited until I had read several other books that I had on my shelf before getting into his first. I wanted to savour the moment... I wanted to give myself time (and truth be told, time to find more novels to fill out my to read list) before I got into it.
Well, I finally read it.
I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as Havoc, but lets be honest - it usually takes a new author a couple of books to set his pace, to get the feel for his characters and his or her own unique writing style. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I hated the book, but it didn't grab me the way Havoc did.
Still, it was a good adventure novel and even if I would have read it first, I still would call myself a fan of Jack Du Brul.
As many people know, I'm the kind of man who prefers a well filled out fictional universe, well developed characters and exotic locals.
Vulcan's forge does cover several of these aspects for me. First and foremost it deals with a conspiracy that began slightly after the end of World War 2, one that was started by a favoured villain of word smiths during the cold war era... the Soviets.
The novel introduces Philip Mercer, a character who will go on to star in all of Mr. Du Brul's future novels, as well as a cast of supporting characters who are all unique and entertaining in their own ways.
If I have a complaint when it comes to characters these days, it's how improbable they tend to be.
Which is the case with Mercer. He's a geologist, a genius, rich, well connected, and very well trained. To the point it seems that he could be a member of an elite Special Forces unit.
These characteristics seem to be rather unlikely today. I myself prefer heroes who are just every day working class people. Sort of like myself. But let's face it, those kinds of people usually wouldn't last too long in the situations that the protagonists of these novels invariably find themselves in.
So, I have to take these characters with an ounce of disbelief and just sit back and enjoy the adventures the authors take them on.
Maybe it's just jealousy, I don't know. Lets face it, we have an academic type that has a dash of Indiana Jones and James Bond thrown in for flavour.
Anyhow...
The novel, as I already stated, deals with a conspiracy that began just after the end of the Second World War. It spans the decades and involves some very unique twists. For starters, would you honestly expect it to deal with the possibility of Hawaii succeeding from the states?
Or for that matter the sinking of numerous ships over the decades a few hundred miles off the island chain?
How about a racist Japanese billionaire?
And let's throw in the Koreans and the Russians for a little spice as well.
As improbable as these different factors seem, they all mesh together and the entire novel comes off brilliantly.
Now, I found that the novel dragged a little in places, and it dealt with a subject that I am far from comfortable with reading about (sexual abuse). For me that was really un-necessary, and it was clear that this particular villain was vile enough. Because of this, I couldn't give it a five star rating.
Still, despite that, the book was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who asked me.
4 out of 5.
Du Brul starts a Great Series!!!!!! June 27, 2007
Brian Siegel (New Jersey)
This is the first book in the Philip Mercer Series and the first novel I have read by this author. The format is very similar to the Dirk Pitt series by Cussler. Rough and tumble hero saves the day and wins the girl or girls. I thought the idea behind Vulcan's Forge was ok if not a bit far fetched but again there has to be a suspension of disbelief when reading these adventure novels. If you want profound characters and in depth dialogue then you are in the wrong place. This is a fast paced enjoyable book with lots of action. My only gripe would be Mercers sidekick Harry's connection to the story. I thought that was a little too neat for my taste but overall I enjoyed it.
The first installment September 6, 2006
Terry R. McMillan
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
DuBrul does a decent job with his first book in the Philip Mercer Series. The action is little wan, and several situations that Mercer takes over, I found myself envisioning a guy in a blue suit, red cape, with a big "S" on his chest. Forge is not bad as a first book, but it certainly does not compare to later hits like, "Medussa Stone" or "River of Ruin". But good nonetheless. DrBrul does present a sense of history for some of his characters which flows through to other books, and gives the characters like, Harry and Dick Henna a sense of worth and understanding when they materialize in the other books. Overall, this is a good read, and one worthy of Mercer fans.
Roller Coaster Excitement September 2, 2006
Michael L. Slavin (New Jersey)
Geologist Philip Mercer is quite a guy. He's a likeable if not believeable hero. He engineers a raid on a KGB front office in New York, leads Navy Seals in a commando raid in Hawaii, takes over a submarine that is disguised as a boat at sea singlehandedly after being dropped by a helicopter into the ocean nearby. A non-stop action thriller.
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