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SAM REILLY

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Full Name: Sam Reilly
Nationality: American
Organization: None
Occupation Adventurer

Creator: Christopher Cartwright
Time Span: 2015 - 2024

ABOUT THE SERIES

Sam Reilly is an adventurer.

Obviously he does not earn a living in that profession, per se. When we first meet him, he is working as a marine diving expert for the international sea salvage company, Deep Sea Expedition (DSE), and had just finished his first year with them. But considering the sorts of things that Reilly will get involved in, the variety of them, it is hard to not use the term 'adventurer' to describe him. It is also the appellation that shows how fun it is to follow his activities. Many of the large number of these adventures will land him in the middle of international intrigue and making him 'qualify' for inclusion in this compendium.

Reilly is described as being "six feet exactly, he was only slightly taller than the average man, but his arms and shoulders were wide from years of physical labor, and his legs were as strong as tree stumps, giving him a solid, yet wiry appearance". Elsewhere it is stated that "physically, he was the product of hard labor, which the sea demanded of him".

We also read that "he had pensive, dark blue eyes, and the sort of cheeky smile that says, I can have it all. If life had taught him anything, it was that he of all people, could. His gaze showed determination, and the calluses on his hands displayed the tenacity required to make things happen. He was amiable by nature, but he suffered from a general distrust of his fellow man. Sam felt at his most calm when he was on his own".

Reilly worked for DSE because he wanted to, not because he needed the job. He "had more money than he would ever get to spend in his lifetime" thanks to his family money from his father's ownership of the powerful and successful Global Shipping. That wealth did not stop him from joining the U.S. military as a helicopter pilot and serving for a time in Afghanistan before heading to MIT to finish his education.

Now in his position with DSE as Director of Special Operations, he has the ability to pick and choose what he gets involved in which, in just the first few adventures will include salvaging a 1939 airship with a dangerous cargo, investigating a large amount of dead sea life, looking into what destroyed the island of Atlantis and how it might be happening again, and taking on those who want to use an EMP device against the West. As time goes on, those interests will also take him into more contact with government agencies and even the White House.

BOOKS

Number of Books:27
First Appearance:2015
Last Appearance:2024

1 The Last Airship The Last Airship
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2015

In 1939 an airship carrying some very important people, each with their most valuable possessions, one of which was extremely dangerous. The airship never got to its intended destination. In modern time, Sam Reilly finds a clue to the location, one which brings some of the most dangerous people in the world after the treasure.
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2 The Mahogany Ship The Mahogany Ship
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2015

The Emily Rose was a ship that wrecked on the southern part of Australia two centuries ago. The survivors were forced to walk a 1000 miles to reach what would be their home in Sydney. Along the way they came across something that should have have existed. Today Sam Reilly and his team are investigating a large amount of deaths of sea life in the Gulf of Mexico. The two events are somehow connected.

3 Atlantis Stone Atlantis Stone
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2016


The secret of what happened to Atlantis remains a mystery except, apparently, to a small group of people. Now the horrific event that doomed that civilization is likely to happen again unless Sam Reilly can figure things out in time.
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4 Rogue Wave Rogue Wave
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2016

Four high-end scientists have come up with a powerful new energy source which could replace the demand for fossil fuels. They have been offered $20 billion to help squach the technology. Or they could be killed. At the same time someone is offering a major new weapon which then goes missing. Sam Reilly accidentally lands in the middle of both problems.
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5 The Cassidy Project The Cassidy Project
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2016

In 1962 a project called Starfish Prime was created to develop an EMP weapon to destroy an enemy nation's communication system. There was a second objective to the project that was far more classified. In modern times, on a cruise ship off the coast of Antarctica, a woman awakens to find she is the only one left on the ship despite it be in fine working condition. When Sam Reilly gets involved in the latter mystery, he will also get involved in the Cassidy Project which dredges up the former.
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6 The Nostradamus Equation The Nostradamus Equation
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2017

The legend was that back in 1562 Nostradamus took a small party on a trip into the Sahara for reasons lost in time. In modern time, Dr. Zara Delacroix calls on Sam Reilly to help in a hunt in that desert for an ancient manuscript called the Book fo Nostradamus which she believes was buried on the trip to protect mankind.
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7 The Third Temple The Third Temple
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2017

In 1655 explorers ventured into the Namibian Desert on a legend of a relic said to be hidden in a secret temple. None returned. In modern day Turkey, in the subterranean city of Derinkuyu, a placard was found with ancient writing. Sam Reilly had seen such writing before and it pointed back to the earlier foray and suggested an ancient race still existed. The interest for Reilly is whether that location might also be where Dr. Billie Swan was being held.
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8 The Aleutian Portal The Aleutian Portal
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2017

The disappearance of a Russian cargo ship in the Bering Strait is the reason Sam Reilly is asked to the area in the hopes he can find the ship and rescue the crew. What Reilly will learn is that the ship's problem was connected to an incident during the tunnel building operation between Russia and Alaska in which a huge burrowing machine went missing.
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9 Code to Extinction Code to Extinction
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2017

All over the world the weather has gone crazy. Earthquakes in Europe, wildfires in Canada, flooding in Las Vegas, and a horrific hurricane in New York. The cause is something that has the scientists stumped. Then a message found hidden on a 13,000 year old stone might hold a clue, if Sam Reilly and his team can break the code.
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10 The Ironclad Covenant The Ironclad Covenant
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

During the siege of Vicksburg in 1863, an ironclad was used to convey a special document to Washington but the vessel and document never arrived. In modern times, Sam Reilly is asked by a Senator to track down his son who disappeared while searching for something magical called the Meskwaki Gold Spring in Lake Superior. Reilly will find the two events are related.
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11 The Heisenberg Legacy The Heisenberg Legacy
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

The aircraft that flew from Stuttgart early in 1945 carried a top secret weapon of incredible power. Very few knew the weapon existed. Very few knew where it was going. The plane never arrived. In modern times the wreckage of the plane is discovered but not the weapon. Sam Reilly is brought in to use his expertise in finding lost items.
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12 Omega Deep Omega Deep
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

The revolutionary USS Omega Deep cost $30b but the Navy was certain it was worth it since it was virtually undetectable. Then it disappeared. Soon after the Russian spy ship the Vostok disappeared. Then the Chinese aircraft carrier Feng Jian. At the request of the President, Sam Reilly and his team are asked to look into it before the three nations launch another World War.
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13 The Holy Grail The Holy Grail
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

Sam Reilly is naturally not happy about being kidnapped but when it is done by an obviously frightened man with purple eyes, his curiosity beats his annoyance.
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14 The Phoenix Sanction The Phoenix Sanction
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

Imagine you go to sleep on an airliner and when you awaken, the cockpit is empty and all passengers are unconscious. That is the situation with Andrew Goddard. Around the same time an elderly prospector finds in a cave in the Monarch Mountains of Colorado an obsidian chamber and inside it a horrific stone mask. Sam Reilly will discover the two events are connected.
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15 Habitat Zero Habitat Zero
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2018

There are a lot of islands in the Pacific but the one that the tech billionaire on his luxury yacht came upon was floating free. Two weeks after discovering it, the yacht sails back into harbor in San Diego with no sign of life. As words get spoken between the US and Russia and tensions rise, Sam Reilly is asked to investigate.
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16 The Hunt for Excalibur The Hunt for Excalibur
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2019

When the Japanese fishing trawler brought up something dangerous in their catch, they raced back to shore hoping for the best. They did not make it. Nearly a decade later the wreckage washed ashore in Oregon and people in nearby towns started to die. Sam Reilly is asked to learn what is killing so surely, as well as why the evidence points to the legend of King Arthur.
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17 Ghost Ship Ghost Ship
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2019

In the harbor of the resort town of Vernazza, Italy, a rowboat is discovered floating free. In it is a woman shot dead with bullet holes in her forehead. Also in the small vessel is a man covered in blood. He has in his pocket a Russian handgun with two bullets missing. Like everyone the man has questions but his starts with "who am I?"
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18 The Tomb of El Dorado The Tomb of El Dorado
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2019

Sam Reilly's intent to find an ancient tomb which may hold the last hope of learning the secret of El Dorado comes up against an ancient tribe determined some secrets remain untold.
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19 The Labyrinth Key The Labyrinth Key
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2019

A US Navy SEAL enters a secret chamber beneath the streets of an ancient city in Syria and discovers a strange artifact made of stone. When Sam Reilly hears of it, it sparks a cord in his long-held desire to learn more about the Master Builders.
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20 The Obsidian Chamber The Obsidian Chamber
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2020

Sam Reilly leaves his exploration of the Shackleton wreck to go on a dangerous search for the Obsidian Chamber.
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21 Shangri-La Shangri-La
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2020

"An ancient order concealed in shadow. A hidden battle that’s raged for millennia. A secret meeting of unimaginable significance. Shangri-La. For generations, few people have known whether that mythical paradise was real, or just a legend. But now a clandestine assembly between some of the most powerful organizations on the planet has been called, and Sam Reilly must disentangle the truth from the myth - and there are dangerous people who will go to any length to keep Shangri-La’s secrets buried."
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22 Alexander's Treasure Alexander's Treasure
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2020

The legends have talked of Alexander the Great's enormous treasure which he had had turned into gold coins with his likeness, handed to trusted followers to move to a secret cache. That stash has never been found but now Sam Reilly is on the hunt.
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23 Valhalla Found Valhalla Found
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2021

"In 980 AD a Viking fleet, banished from their native Greenland, sailed west across a savage and icy sea. After making the perilous journey, they found a world abounding with lush meadows, rivers teeming with salmon, and wild grapes so suitable for wine that they called the region Vinland. But there was something else they discovered... They weren't the first Europeans to make the treacherous journey. And they were not alone. In present day, Sam Reilly is called in to investigate the death of a group of archaeologists researching the ancient Maya city of Chichén. What he discovers might just reveal a deadly secret thousands of years in the making, and the missing link to the ancient origins of Valhalla."
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24 Medusa's Curse Medusa's Curse
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2021

"In 1829 the Spanish slave ship, Midas, left Mendiland (modern-day Sierra Leone) loaded with slaves, cannons, and muskets, headed for the Americas.  
During the dangerous Atlantic crossing, the slaves revolted, taking control of the ship. In the years that followed, Midas became a pirate vessel, attacking Spanish slavers and merchants alike, until the rogue captain and crew decided to return to Africa with their spoils. The Midas was never seen again.
In present day, while hunting for the Midas, news reaches Sam Reilly of an escalating number of mysterious deaths, superstitiously whispered to be the fault of Medusa’s Curse. . . and the only clue to stopping it is deciphering a Greek myth thousands of years in the making...
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25 Dragon's Breath Dragon's Breath
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2022

"In 1974, local farmers outside Xi'an, China, discovered an army of more than 8,000 life-sized ancient terracotta warriors buried in a series of pits. Historians believed that the warriors were placed there to guard the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
The historians were wrong. The Terracotta Army was there to prevent the evil buried within from ever surfacing again.
Now Sam Reilly must disentangle fact from fiction, and discover what ancient danger has been uncovered… …and if there is any way to stop it."
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26 The Vostok Enigma The Vostok Enigma
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2022

In East Antarctica, a team of scientists drilled a hole in the Vostok ice sheet to take a sample of the subterranean lake 2.2 miles below the surface. It was the deepest drill ever performed through ice anywhere in the world.
When the results of the core sample were published, it was highly scientific, and revealed a unique snapshot of the Earth’s atmosphere 15 million years ago. Within hours, elite military teams from the U.S., Great Britain, Russia, and Australia had converged on the site – which meant somebody had revealed what they had really discovered buried beneath the snow…
Something that the world was never meant to know."
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27 Skeleton Crew Skeleton Crew
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2023

"A freak accident causes one of the largest cargo ships in the world, the Trident GS, to run aground while transiting the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Maritime salvage expert Sam Reilly is flown in to find out what went wrong, and how to re-float the ocean-going behemoth. Something about the accident just doesn’t seem right… 
In Sudan, a team of archaeologists exploring the ancient tombs buried within the Pyramids of Meroë discover one of the greatest archaeological hauls since King Tutankhamun’s tomb was uncovered in the Valley of the Kings.
But Sam isn’t the only treasure hunter interested in the historic discovery…"
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28 The Midas Vault The Midas Vault
Written by Christopher Cartwright
Copyright: 2024

"A group of cave divers exploring the deepest recess of a previously unexplored section of the Chevé Cave Mexico – one of the deepest caves on Earth – sent a message up from the bottom of the flooded cave, via a sealed bottle that floated to the surface. HELP!
A rescue team, made up of some of the world’s leading cave diving experts were sent in. When they failed to return, an international call for help was sent to the global community of cave diving experts who might possibly have been able to reach the bottom of the cave. The most experienced name came up: Sam Reilly."
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MY COMMENTS

When I started reading the Sam Reilly adventures a couple years ago, I got the same sort of feeling of adventure and excitement that I remember from my first introduction to Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt several decades ago. As much as I enjoyed them, however, I hesitated for some time putting it into the compendium because they did not quite fit my very broad criteria. Eventually, I decided to go ahead.

These are fun, exciting, and quite interesting tales throwing all sorts of legends and rumors and theories into the mix and making them seem not only plausible but also probable. Well done to the author.

GRADE

My Grade: B+

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