Category Archives: Dirk Pitt

2013.8 REVIEW – Iceberg by Clive Cussler

Feb 10

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Iceberg
by Clive Cussler

Copyright: 1975
Pages: 340
Read: Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 2013
Challenge: 2013 Eclectic Reader Challenge, Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 8
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: The luxury yacht had disappeared long ago, on its way to a secret meeting at the White House. Now, it has been discovered – within a million-ton mass of ice …

The only clue to the ship’s demise – and its missing cargo – are the corpses of its crew, and a set of ornately carved rings. The only man who can find the answer is Dirk Pitt…

Review: This is the 3rd book in the Dirk Pitt series. Overall I enjoyed this book. But it definitely wasn’t perfect. First of all I didn’t really like the technical details about the underwater probe that went missing. And while that wasn’t a huge portion of the book, it was definitely a central theme. Luckily, there was enough action in the book to keep me going. I find it amazing just how much trouble Dirk Pitt finds himself in time after time. You’d think that the man would have died 50 times by the third book – but he always manages to find his way out of the trouble he’s in. The ending really surprised me, there was a twist to it that I really never saw coming. And I’m not sure how Dirk made the connection, either, to be completely honest.

It’s really hard for me to review this book without giving away a large portion of the plot. So I’m just going to leave it at this … I liked it.

While these books aren’t for everyone, I thoroughly enjoy them. But what I like about this series is that (so far) they stand well on their own – you don’t necessarily have to read them in order to have a complete understanding of what is going on. I look forward to continuing on with this series in the future.

Posted in 2013 Eclectic Reader Challenge, Adventure, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, Military, Off the Shelf Challenge 2013, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

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2012.19 REVIEW – The Mediterranean Caper by Clive Cussler

Aug 1

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The Mediterranean Caper
by Clive Cussler

Copyright: 1973
Pages: 248
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 21 – 30, 2012
Challenge: None
Yearly Count: 19
Format: Print
Source: Personal copy

Blurb: On an isolated Greek island, a World War I fighter plane attacks a modern U.S. Air Force base…a mysterious saboteur preys on an American scientific expedition…and Dirk Pitt plays a deadly game of hunter and hunted with the elusive head of an international smuggling ring. Dirk Pitt, intrepid hero of Clive Cussler’s smash bestsellers Dragon, Sahara, and Inca Gold, is hot on the trail of a mammoth drug conspiracy controlled by a missing Nazi War criminal. On land and in the depths of the Aegean, Pitt trouble shoots his way through one of his most daring, desperate adventures!

Review: This is the second in the Dirk Pitt series. I had recently acquired I it and picked it up because I was needing a book that was short and full of adventure. This book fit that bill to a certain extent.

This is the third Dirk Pitt book I have read. And like the other two books, I was left feeling a little “blah” about this book. It wasn’t necessarily bad, because it really wasn’t. It’s just that it wasn’t anything amazing that I will remember 3 months from now.

To be completely honest I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out how on earth Dirk put everything together at the end. It made me wonder if I had missed something in the book, was there some clues that I overlooked?

Now my confusion really doesn’t take away my overall opinion of the book. However, the numerous typos throughout the book really didn’t help what I thought of the book at all. I am such a stickler for grammar and for some reason this book really needed more editing. Maybe this is something that gets fixed in later editions, seeing as how my copy isn’t the most recent. I must say that the sheer amount of typos probably dropped my rating of this book down considerably.

Now that I have been a little negative about this book, let me tell you some of the more positive aspects. It was definitely a fun read. It’s such a great adventure. I find it amazing at the sheer amount of trouble Dirk manages to find himself in. How he gets out of some of the spots he finds himself in is quite amazing. I wouldn’t necessarily call it unbelievable, but sometimes it could be considered to be very close to that description.

Overall, I liked this book. Had it not been for the grammatical errors throughout the book, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. But I still enjoyed it and look forward to hanging out with Dirk Pitt again soon in the future.

Posted in 3/5, Adventure, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, RATING, Read in 2012, SERIES

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REVIEW: Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler

Jul 14

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Pacific Vortex!
by Clive Cussler

Copyright: 1982
Pages: 270
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 11-14, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010; Random Reading Challenge; RYOB 2010
Yearly Count: 35

First Line: Every ocean takes its toll of men and ships, yet none devours them with the voracious appetite of the Pacific.

Dirk Pitt, deep-sea expert, is put to the ultimate test when he has to plunge into the Pacific Vortex, a fog-shrouded sea zone where dozens of ships have gone missing without a trace. The latest victim is the Navy submarine Starbuck. An awesome super-sub with a nuclear arsenal, the Navy must find the Starbuck before the Russians do. Pitt has to find it and salvage it. The job sounds easy, but his time is limited. He will encounter a beautiful and dangerous woman and will find an ancient sunken island along the way, but it will end up being a race against time to make it out of the sea alive.

This is the first in the Dirk Pitt series. I have read another Cussler book in the past few years and really enjoyed it. This one was not as good in my opinion. The storyline was really strange, with an almost sci-fi-ish slant to it. Very strange, indeed. Overall it was just an okay book for me. I will probably continue on with this series, but this book will not stand out in my mind by any means.    

Posted in 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, 3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Celebrate the Author 2010, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, Random Reading Challenge, RATING, Read in 2010, READING CHALLENGES 2010, RYOB 2010, SERIES, Thriller

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Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler

May 31

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Raise the Titanic!
by Clive Cussler
Copyright: 1976
Pages: 435
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 28-31, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: The man on Deck A, Stateroom 33, tossed and turned in his narrow berth, the mind behind his sweating face lost in the depths of a nightmare.

The President is on a mission to secretly produce a defensive weapon that will change the world forever. To make the weapon work, a very rare, radioactive element is necessary – byzanium. Unfortunately, no trace of the element has been found to date. But Dirk Pitt has traced a stash of the element all the way to the watery grave of the Titanic. When the President gives the go-ahead, a massive undercover operation is begun that will ultimately try to raise the Titanic from the bottom of the ocean – an unheard of, unthinkable feat.
This book was really good. It had my attention from the first page. I have always been fascinated by the Titanic and loved the incorporation of it’s story into this story. I was also intrigued to see that this book was published some 10 years before the Titanic herself was actually found. Kudos to Clive Cussler for making the Titanic come to life even though in reality she is still in her watery grave.

Posted in 4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Dirk Pitt, Fiction, Mystery, Read in 2008, SERIES

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