Jack Du Brul Books In Order

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Publication Order of Philip Mercer Books

Publication Order of Isaac Bell Adventures Books

with Clive Cussler, Justin Scott

Chronological Order of Isaac Bell Adventures Books

with Clive Cussler, Justin Scott

Publication Order of Oregon Files Books

Born on October 15th, 1968 in Burlington Vermont, Jack Du Brul is the author of the Dr. Philip Mercer novels.

The Philip Mercer series of books began in 1998 with Vulcan’s Forge and Jack released a new Philip Mercer novel annually up until 2003. However Jack Du Brul started writing the Oregon Files with Clive Cussler taking the place of Craig Dirgo who had written the first 2 novels in the Oregon Files series of books. The Oregon is a ship called Oregon which was actually created in an old Dirk Pitt book back in 1997.

Jack has still went back to write the occasional Philip Mercer novel most notable the book Havoc in 2006.

Jack currently lives in Vermont, where he grew up. He lived in Vermont as a child however moved to Connecticut for a few years during high school, and then to Florida before returning to Vermont.

Jack Du Brul is an author who gets the respect of many fellow authors such as Lincoln Child, Brad Thor and Steve Berry. Steve described Jack as one of the most “acknowledged masters” in the thriller genre, while Lincoln Child states that Jack gets better with every new book that he writes.

The first book in the Philip Mercer series was actually written while Du Brul was waiting tables in Florida and being a bartender. He wrote on the side and wasn’t actually published until he had moved back to Vermont. He moved back there to work with his father in construction.

It’s quite interesting that Jack Du Brul is able to write so well in the thriller genre without having the history of being a special ops soldier or even in the military. It says a lot about both his writing ability, and the research he no doubt does.

Philip Mercer Series of Books

The first novel in the Philip Mercer series is Vulcan’s Forge.

Philip Mercer, or Dr. Philip Mercer I should say, is both a geologist and mining engineer. A very interesting role for the main character in thrillers. Don’t worry if you don’t understand too much about geology though as the writing style is excellent and doesn’t complicate things.

The first novel features underwater nuclear testing where a nuclear bomb goes off in the Pacific Ocean. The bomb has a successful result – a volcano comes out of the ocean floor and it becomes a new mineral source. This new mineral means unlimited nuclear power.

Many people felt the first book was a bit rough around the edges. While it showed promise and had a lot going for it, there were quite a few issues. Considering it was his debut novel though, it’s easy to look past those issues. It has quite a fair amount of plots going on and can be a bit hard to keep track of it all.

Later novels receive a lot more positive praise as Jack Du Brul really finds his groove and gets to perfect the Philip Mercer character. That’s not to say the first novel was bad or anything – just that if you’re struggling with it be sure to keep reading because the series gets a LOT better.

In the second book Charon’s Landing there was plans that the Soviets had written up which involved the destruction of the Alaskan oil pipeline. Someone has stole those plans – an ex-KGB agent named Ivan Kerikov who is working with an Arabian oil minister. However their plans are hopefully going to be formed by Philip Mercer.

Kerikov was introduced in the first novel and was a worthy adversary of Mercer so it made sense for them to battle it out again. Even people who really enjoyed Vulcan’s Forge felt this was a much better book and that it shines on all fronts. This one is just the page turner to end all page turners and it’s the type of book you need to book a whole weekend for – because you’re going to be reading it day after day after day.

Oregon Files Series of Books:

Not listed above are the first two Oregon Files novels which are Golden Buddha and Sacred Stone. Both of those are written by Craig Dirgo with Clive Cussler. Jack Du Brul took over the Oregon Files from Dark watch onwards, although there are books released after Mirage which were actually written by Boyd Morrison. We have a separate entry for the Oregon Files which covers all of the authors.

As mentioned the first book in the series written by Du Brul was Dark Watch. This one sees the captain of the shp, Juan Cabrillo, take on a bunch of modern day pirates working for a new and interesting client. The story takes the Oregon ship to Asia to deal with them.

When the Oregon gets there however they realize there’s a lot more to it than just some pirates and there’s actually a big international conspiracy – something that Juan Cabrillo isn’t going to let sit.

I will warn you that the first two novels in the series written by Dirgo weren’t as well received. They do have generally positive reviews but it wasn’t until Du Brul took over that the real positivity came in. You’ll see people who say the first couple of books were just average but giving high ratings to the novels written by Du Brul. Much like the Mercer series and how he writes that – once he gets in a groove with the characters they are tremendous.

If you enjoy the writing style of Jack Du Brul while reading the Philip Mercer novels you’d do yourself a favour by checking out the Oregon Files. The first two aren’t really required reading in regard to getting acquainted with the storyline or characters etc so you can skip those if you wish, and pick up right where Du Brul starts writing.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Jack Du Brul

9 Responses to “Jack Du Brul”

1. Tom Rudderow: 12 months ago

   Are you going to be writing more Mercer novels? I’ve read them all and would certainly enjoy more

   Reply
2. Robert J. Riegler: 1 year ago

   Read the first two Mercer books. Nicely done. Can’t find Medusa Stone, River of Ruin and Deep Fire rising used in Hardcover ANYWHERE….print in the paperbacks too small for these 69 year old eyes……. Any ideas?

   Just scored Havoc in hardcover so alittle outa order!
   Keep’em coming. R. Riegler, Waterville Vt.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 1 year ago

     Places like ebay might have them

     Reply
3. John: 2 years ago

   I’d love to see more Philip Mercer stories. How about a book where he works with Juan Cabrillo?

   I enjoy Du Brul’s writing style as much as character Mercer.

   Reply
4. Carolyn: 2 years ago

   More Philip Mercer books PLEASE.

   Love this capharacter and Jack DuBruls writing.

   Reply
5. Lynn Treers: 2 years ago

   More Philip Mercer, please! I love this character.

   Reply
6. kirby layman: 3 years ago

   More Mercer!!!!!!!!!

   Reply
   • Rudi Heintz: 2 years ago

     More Philip Mercer, pleace!!!

     bitte auch in Germany veröffentlichen!

     Reply
7. Mike Madelen: 3 years ago

   Read every book you’ve written, enjoyed them all, waiting for more Mercer.

   Reply