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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Readers of this blog and those who know me personally will know I love Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series. Treasure of Khan is his most recent addition and was cowritten by his son, also named Dirk. While I was a little hesitant about reading a father/son collaboration, the book didn't fail to entertain and was the perfect read during those days when I was suffering from a migraine and a nice reread during our recent trip to Eureka and points north.
The typical Dirk Pitt mystery has the following elements: a sunken treasure, a multinational mystery (earlier ones were usually cold war countries and now they are mostly international corporations), some other team of experts getting into trouble and ultimately needing rescuing by NUMA (usually Dirk and Al). What I like about these books is that the characters age and change over time. I prefer the older more mature Pitt to the younger and more arrogant one of the earlier books (although I do count Raise the Titanic! as one of my favorites).
In this book, the world is crippled by a sudden oil crisis. A series of natural disasters and accidents have taken large pieces of the oil supply out of production. Can an unknown oil company in Mongolia somehow be responsible? Of course! The fun is in finding out how.
The typical Dirk Pitt mystery has the following elements: a sunken treasure, a multinational mystery (earlier ones were usually cold war countries and now they are mostly international corporations), some other team of experts getting into trouble and ultimately needing rescuing by NUMA (usually Dirk and Al). What I like about these books is that the characters age and change over time. I prefer the older more mature Pitt to the younger and more arrogant one of the earlier books (although I do count Raise the Titanic! as one of my favorites).
In this book, the world is crippled by a sudden oil crisis. A series of natural disasters and accidents have taken large pieces of the oil supply out of production. Can an unknown oil company in Mongolia somehow be responsible? Of course! The fun is in finding out how.
I picked up a bunch of Cussler's books at Goodwill, man was that a mistake. I've been trying to get through them (since I bought them) but it's a slow go at it.
It had been awhile since I last subjected myself to a Dirk Pitt book, and "Treasure of Khan" didn't quite reach the level of "do not like" as some of the others did. The basic plot is good, though you don't really find it until page 200 or so and the whole thing could probably have been about 250 pages shorter.
The plot in a nut shell:
Pitt miraculously rescues a group of people after an earthquake. These people then disappear while Pitt stops a boat from sinking. More earthquakes happen. Oil economy stuff. Pitt investigates. Side quest with Russian spy. Goes to evil guy who is causing earthquakes' lair, escapes only to be lost in a desert (did like the call back to Sahara). Saved from desert, more investigating. Goes back to evil lair and saves day (with help this time). Finds treasure because he is the smartest ever
The main character is far too perfect. Pitt is always happy, always comes up with a plan, and has the abilities of an Olympic athlete in his prime even though "he feels so old now".
Every woman is described kinda creepily, Cussler makes sure the reader knows that even though she is a scientist, she is also super attractive.
Every time a boat or classic car shows up the way too detailed description it just pulls me right out of the story.
I do like the mix of history, science, and action but other authors do it better. Thankfully I only have one more Dirk Pitt novel.
It had been awhile since I last subjected myself to a Dirk Pitt book, and "Treasure of Khan" didn't quite reach the level of "do not like" as some of the others did. The basic plot is good, though you don't really find it until page 200 or so and the whole thing could probably have been about 250 pages shorter.
The plot in a nut shell:
Pitt miraculously rescues a group of people after an earthquake. These people then disappear while Pitt stops a boat from sinking. More earthquakes happen. Oil economy stuff. Pitt investigates. Side quest with Russian spy. Goes to evil guy who is causing earthquakes' lair, escapes only to be lost in a desert (did like the call back to Sahara). Saved from desert, more investigating. Goes back to evil lair and saves day (with help this time). Finds treasure because he is the smartest ever
The main character is far too perfect. Pitt is always happy, always comes up with a plan, and has the abilities of an Olympic athlete in his prime even though "he feels so old now".
Every woman is described kinda creepily, Cussler makes sure the reader knows that even though she is a scientist, she is also super attractive.
Every time a boat or classic car shows up the way too detailed description it just pulls me right out of the story.
I do like the mix of history, science, and action but other authors do it better. Thankfully I only have one more Dirk Pitt novel.