This action novel introduces Philip Mercer, a geologist and occasional government agent. The story starts in the 1950s during the Cold War. A Soviet submarine creates a small volcano during a nuclear blast somewhere in the South Pacific. Fifty years later the volcano is rising as a small island but also contains a new metal that might be worth billions.

There are three various story lines in this book. The first focuses on rogue KGB agent Ivan Kerikov and his attempts to keep the island secret until he can find a way to become rich. The second involves Takahiro Ohnishi, an agent planted in Hawaii during the Soviet era, who is encouraging riots among Hawaiians demanding the state secede from the U.S. The third is Mercer's attempts to get things under control.

I picked up this book based on du Brul's collaboration with Clive Cussler on the Oregon Files series, which I enjoy very much. I thought it was not a bad book for his debut attempt. There was plenty of action but it did have a very slow start. While I felt like the main character was quite unbelievable in many cases, unbelievable heroes are very common in this style of book. I won't rush out and get his next book but I'll keep it in mind for the future. ( )

If you're after a book that resembles real life you'll be rather disappointed with the James Bondesque world of Philip Mercer who (nearly) single handedly saves the United States from war/losing a possession.

There's a few little errors like saying a nuclear submarine is dead silent (uhm reactor noise?) but then later, when the plot needs it (another submarine comes near) the book then acknowledges that the reactor makes a racket and needs to be slowed to 5% power limiting the ships ability to manoeuvre & also is reasoning for another plot point which I shan't reveal.

Overall, like an action film if you can overlook the little things and the absurd plot lineage it is an entertaining and interesting book. Bedded in geology it's not your typical run & gun action adventure book either.

I personally enjoyed it and will be picking up the next in the series. ( )

A great book. Not quite as good, as say, "Charon's Crossing" but still a great fast-paced, no-hold-barred read. ( )

Not exactly believable, but a decent action thriller with a geologist hero! ( )

This is the first in Dubrul's Philip Mercer series. He can be likedned to Clive Cussler - and he has indeed teemed up with Cussler to help further his works - but with a little harder edge and maybe a little bit more believable slant.

Vulcan's Forge is a non-stop bullit train ride with conspiracy on top of conspiracy. It tells the story tells of a 40-year plot contrived by the Russians, who want to own a newly risen underwater volcano 200 miles off Hawaii. Physicist Pytor Borodin and an American physicist who's studying the oceanic Bikini A-bomb test have independently discovered the same fact: that enormous underwater thermal heat, when mixed with lava, can produce the hardest fuel known to man vsllrf bikinium, which, once put to use, gives off more energy than is needed to burn it. Back in 1954, Borodin had also discovered that the thinnest part of the tectonic plate in the Pacific is just 200 miles past Hawaii. So the Reds secretly sink a ship carrying an A-bomb. The plan is to detonate it on the seafloor, creating a volcano whose lava can then be processed very cheaply for bikinium. But during the 40- year wait for this secret volcano to break to the surface, at which point it can be claimed as Soviet territory, the USSR empire collapses and a KGB officer decides to sell the whole plan for Vulcan's Forge to North Korea for $100 million. Enter Philip Mercer. A rich Japanese racist plots the secession of Hawaii, and Mercer, empowered by the US President, finds himself in cliffhangers nearly more outrageous than Clive Cussler or Ian Fleming could think up. For a first installment, this book is finely tuned with some strong, fresh writing. ( )