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jbrito's review against another edition
4.0
As in nearly all series Pitt #23 also complied to the mandatory "event checklist" and even if Clive's personal appearances have long since lost the element of surprise (for me that is) I still loved it.
tomwklose's review against another edition
3.0
Same formula, good action, great unbelievable events, nice historical perspective.
jpv0's review against another edition
4.0
“When power is up for grabs,” Pitt said, “the first casualty is often liberty.”
Oof.
I'm starting to feel like a broken record. Didn't already do Cuba, seafloor mining, and Aztec treasures? Admittedly not in the same book. And they do mention that Dirk Pitt (Sr) met Fidel Castro once upon a story. So there's something.
Overall, there area lot of threads going on that don't really feel all that related. The mining plotline isn't that interesting. The Aztec treasures are pretty cool, although feels like a much smaller plot o the book.
And while for the most part Cussler has gotten much, much better about misogyny throughout his books:
"I saw a bright light," she said in a weak voice. "I thought it was an angel calling me, then I realized it was something else."
"What's that?" Pitt asked, leaning close.
"It was you," she said, reaching up to her father's face and stroking away a tear.
Daw... but eep? Just about all of them keep getting captured over and over again. Dirk Pitt Sr? Dirk Pitt Jr? (still confusing) Al? They can rescue themselves. But Summer? Needs dear old aging dad.
Ug.
Overall, it's more of the same, but enjoyable enough.
sally_loves_animals's review against another edition
5.0
Dirk Pitt, his family and friends - always awesome. I learn so much from each book as well. Excellent!
brettt's review
3.0
In spite of the fact that he's spent quite a bit of time saving the world and uncovering ancient mysteries, Dirk Pitt's day job has to do with oceanography and exploration of the sea. In that capacity, he and some other researchers of the National Underwater and Marine Agency are investigating several "dead zones" near Cuba, places where large numbers of fish and other aquatic wildlife have died.
But the dead zones may not be natural phenomena, and there are some people who would rather Pitt and NUMA not learn anything else about them. And there's the added complication that Pitt's children -- twins Summer and Dirk, Jr. -- have found themselves opposed by potentially lethal forces who want to uncover the secrets of some pre-Aztec relics the pair have been seeking. Will the two mysteries intersect in Havana Storm?
What do you think?
Of course they will, and of course in back of everything will be a ruthless baddie bent on either destroying, ruling or exalting his position in the world. One doesn't read Clive Cussler (and/or son and co-author Dirk) in the interests of introspective self-analysis. One expects a quick-paced adventure yarn with evil plots, derring-do and a few last-minute escapes, which Cussler has been delivering for about 40 years. The best-written of these kinds of books zip by without making you stop for anything other than a page-turn, a snack or putting on sunscreen, and that sums up Havana Storm quite nicely. As usual, Cussler offers a little bit of maritime knowledge in his story and this time adds a dash of Mesoamerican archaeology for fun. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a book like this, even though there's absolutely nothing about it that sticks with you (I read it several weeks ago and had to check Amazon to remind myself about a couple of plot points). Because that's precisely what it's designed to do, and that's precisely what it does.
Original available here.
But the dead zones may not be natural phenomena, and there are some people who would rather Pitt and NUMA not learn anything else about them. And there's the added complication that Pitt's children -- twins Summer and Dirk, Jr. -- have found themselves opposed by potentially lethal forces who want to uncover the secrets of some pre-Aztec relics the pair have been seeking. Will the two mysteries intersect in Havana Storm?
What do you think?
Of course they will, and of course in back of everything will be a ruthless baddie bent on either destroying, ruling or exalting his position in the world. One doesn't read Clive Cussler (and/or son and co-author Dirk) in the interests of introspective self-analysis. One expects a quick-paced adventure yarn with evil plots, derring-do and a few last-minute escapes, which Cussler has been delivering for about 40 years. The best-written of these kinds of books zip by without making you stop for anything other than a page-turn, a snack or putting on sunscreen, and that sums up Havana Storm quite nicely. As usual, Cussler offers a little bit of maritime knowledge in his story and this time adds a dash of Mesoamerican archaeology for fun. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a book like this, even though there's absolutely nothing about it that sticks with you (I read it several weeks ago and had to check Amazon to remind myself about a couple of plot points). Because that's precisely what it's designed to do, and that's precisely what it does.
Original available here.
audreyintheheadphones's review
2.0
Pretty standard Dirk Pitt-ing (scuba! explosions! international espionage! big-ass boats! inability to let go of the Cold War!) with the addition of Pitt's two adult children, who sprang, fully grown from Pitt's Zeus-like head a few books ago.
Summer, his daughter, is an oceanographer and Dirk Pitt Jr (yes, that does get really confusing) is a marine engineer. Strangely, in this book they do neither of those things, and instead turn into amateur historians who save Mesoamerica, which possibly was unaware it needed saving.
So there's the main plot (Dirk and Al fight rogue Cuban anti-ocean terrorists) which unfortunately is just not as interesting as Dirk and Summer Save Mesoamerica. I say unfortunately because the split here is 70% anti-ocean terrorists, 30% DASSM.
Standard series characters roll out on their tracks like clockwork for tiny cameos, and after 200 pages each chapter falls into a predictable rhythm: main character, being held hostage, makes heroic effort at escape, and is foiled by villains who might just, one day, some time, I guess, actually shoot them with one of the guns they're waving around.
And herein lies the biggest problem I had with the book: out of the four main characters -- Dirk Sr, Dirk Jr, Al Giordino and Summer -- three of the four get to be active agents of their own saving, and one gets saved by the others every. single. time. Now, can you guess who needs saving all the time?
Misogyny is old, people, and it chaps my heiny.
There's also definitely a creepy I'd-date-her-if-she-wasn't-my-daughter vibe here, and Summer does nothing to help with it:
*HUBLARRRRRRRRRRRRF*
(15 pages later Summer starts out on another situation similar to rescue #7 and her father reminds her how he saved her life last time she did that. Dick move, Pitt Sr. Dick move.)
Summer Pitt could unfortunately, at all stages of the book, have been replaced by a Sexy Dive Lamp with no noticeable change to the plot.
One bright spark is the meaty and crucial role played by St. Julien Perlmutter and his cat, Admiral Raphael Semmes, who are awesome. I vote they get a whole book to themselves next time.
I confess, I liked Dirk Pitt (Dirk! Pitt!) better when he was a suave 70s ladies man, turning them all romantically out the door at the end of each book so he could return to Al Giordino's side. This new Dirk-Pitt-as-a-father business just isn't the same.
Summer, his daughter, is an oceanographer and Dirk Pitt Jr (yes, that does get really confusing) is a marine engineer. Strangely, in this book they do neither of those things, and instead turn into amateur historians who save Mesoamerica, which possibly was unaware it needed saving.
So there's the main plot (Dirk and Al fight rogue Cuban anti-ocean terrorists) which unfortunately is just not as interesting as Dirk and Summer Save Mesoamerica. I say unfortunately because the split here is 70% anti-ocean terrorists, 30% DASSM.
Standard series characters roll out on their tracks like clockwork for tiny cameos, and after 200 pages each chapter falls into a predictable rhythm: main character, being held hostage, makes heroic effort at escape, and is foiled by villains who might just, one day, some time, I guess, actually shoot them with one of the guns they're waving around.
And herein lies the biggest problem I had with the book: out of the four main characters -- Dirk Sr, Dirk Jr, Al Giordino and Summer -- three of the four get to be active agents of their own saving, and one gets saved by the others every. single. time. Now, can you guess who needs saving all the time?
Misogyny is old, people, and it chaps my heiny.
There's also definitely a creepy I'd-date-her-if-she-wasn't-my-daughter vibe here, and Summer does nothing to help with it:
"I saw a bright light," she said in a weak voice [after rescue #7]. "I thought it was an angel calling me, then I realized it was something else."
"What's that?" Pitt [Sr.] asked, leaning close.
"It was you," she said, reaching up to her father's face and stroking away a tear.
*HUBLARRRRRRRRRRRRF*
(15 pages later Summer starts out on another situation similar to rescue #7 and her father reminds her how he saved her life last time she did that. Dick move, Pitt Sr. Dick move.)
Summer Pitt could unfortunately, at all stages of the book, have been replaced by a Sexy Dive Lamp with no noticeable change to the plot.
One bright spark is the meaty and crucial role played by St. Julien Perlmutter and his cat, Admiral Raphael Semmes, who are awesome. I vote they get a whole book to themselves next time.
I confess, I liked Dirk Pitt (Dirk! Pitt!) better when he was a suave 70s ladies man, turning them all romantically out the door at the end of each book so he could return to Al Giordino's side. This new Dirk-Pitt-as-a-father business just isn't the same.
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