This book was a lot of fun to read, overall. Granted, the "super soldiers" plot kinda reminded me of Typhoon Fury except that the super soldiers in this story were altered using CRISPR technology as well as other alterations to their body based upon transhumanism, trying to shift certain groups of humans to "Humanity 2.0" yet being able to control those who are genetically enhanced. It moved at a fast pace; it held my interest; it was a lot of fun to read. Unfortunately, this series is starting to run into the same issues as other thriller series. The authors believe the stakes have to be extremely high (i.e. even though this is such a sophisticated ship, there is something in each new novel that will sink it), Juan goes solo on missions (which makes no sense, considering the level of talent of the crew and the myriad of injuries he sustains and miraculously can continue to function through the rest of the novel), and, oh yes, he also gets captured somehow in the middle.

Nonsense. The board of inquiry found you completely innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever. No one holds you accountable in the least-except yourself."Despite having dropped out of school at a young age, Cussler nevertheless received a PhD from the Maritime College at the State University of New York. According to NUMA, the Board of Governors accepted his non-fiction work, The Sea Hunters ‘in lieu of a PhD thesis,’ granting Cussler his degree in May 1997. The "wet cousins" of the better-known Special Air Service, the SBS was a commando unit of the Royal Marines specializing in coastal insertions-hence the mission tonight running a Zodiac deep upriver. Excellent. I'll have my adjutant make the necessary arrangements. In the meantime, take a few days off and enjoy Singapore. It's a truly marvelous city." The book starts with a horrific situation that never pays off. Apparently, it was just intended to show the reader how bad the bad guys are without the situation being necessary for the plot. Although Clive Cussler's novels were pretty generic, they were plotted out well, with almost every situation being necessary to the plot. Not so here.

It also seems as if you have quite a flair for the finer things in life." Bromley held up another letter. "Something of an amateur sommelier" this officer states." What drew me to The Oregon Files and made it my Clive Cussler favorite series are the ship and her crew. They feel like family. The Oregon is not only a vessel but is a main character, an extension of every great character on board. With a new author, what captivates me was brought down to a great extent and the story has become more technical closer to perhaps Tom Clancy's variety which the author also writes.The suffocating heat came on as suddenly as the pounding rain had stopped and raised a shroud of fog from the waterlogged ground.

I really enjoyed the previous Oregon Files books written or co written by Clive Cussler. I did not enjoy Fire Strike. While the prior books focused on the ship, its crew and their clandestine operations, this one spends little time on the ship, little time developing the character of the crew, and was not engaging. Maybe it would have been acceptable as a standard military action novel, but it does not carry on the enjoyable legacy of the prior Oregon Files novels.Admiral Bromley glanced up from the file folder on his burnished teakwood desk and crushed out his cigarette in a silver art nouveau ashtray. Your best friend is dead because a fiendish communist cutthroat killed him. I urge you to see things as they truly are."