I’ve read a lot of these Cussler books, and while I’ve enjoyed them all, I have to tell you, this one is my absolute favorite.Critics of this series will be quick to point out that Dirk Pitt is just too hard to believe. He’s a myriad of super heroes all rolled into one flawless man. But my experience tells me that once in a while, it’s ok to give into flights of fancy and to believe unabashedly in flawless super hero types.A nasty oxygen-devouring red tide has spawned off the coast of west Africa, and it threatens the world’s oxygen supply. Because Congress won’t agree to do anything about the threat, a tiny cadre of people from the National Underwater Marine Agency must take some kind of action. At the very least, they must understand where the contamination is coming from that spawns this red tide and how to stop it.Meanwhile, there are reports of people going mad in Saharan villages—engaging in cannibalism and murder for no apparent reason. A team of United Nations biologists and chemists are headed into Africa to better understand the problem. One of them, an American, is assaulted and nearly murdered by someone who doesn’t want her to learn any more about the disease. Our super-hero Dirk saves her, of course, and there begins a love story that likely won’t go any farther than this book. But such is nearly always the case with Pitt. In that way, he reminds me a bit of the great James T. Kirk of the fictional Enterprise fame. Old J. T. always got his girl, and he always managed to move on to the next interstellar love conquest without much pain of heart or difficulty of soul. Although Pitt’s feet are much more firmly planted on terra firma, he manages to get his girl and keep her at least to the back cover, and in the case of a Colorado congresswoman, even beyond.I think I enjoyed this so much because of the descriptions of the stark Sahara desert. I also loved the subplots of this book—the mysterious disappearance of an Australian flyer in the 1930s and a very different end to Abraham Lincoln than the one we generally accept as historically accurate. All of these subplots, which are great stories in and of themselves, are wonderfully tied together at the end, making this a great read.
I'll temper this saying I have never read any Clive Cussler before. This must put me in a minority as the trade paperback I'm reading says there are 125 million books in print. I'm only at the beginning and the backstory created interest and it appears to be developing into a pretty intriguing story. The reason I'm commenting so early is I have some gripes with the editing or, the lazy effort by the author.In one scene, the heroine's car is being torched. The description of the arsonist says he is wearing a long white headscarf worn so only his eyes and nose are visible. Three pages later she is describing the incident and an associate asks her what color the scarf is. "Dark blue," she replies. "Almost Indigo." The story can't keep continuity for 1000 words??After hearing the description, the associate replies "Tauregs!" Another person present pipes up, "What." The speaker repeats "Tauregs." Then the speaker goes on to tell the reader what/who Tauregs are. He is not speaking but the author is informing the reader. However, once the explanation is made the person who asked what they were goes on to ask why a nomadic band of natives from the South Sahara would want to attack the heroine. Point being, its like the character was listening to the author's explanation to the reader.None of this really detracts from the story but, a major author, published by a big time publisher, is either being extremely lazy or decided the book didn't need an editor. If this continues and the mistakes don't make me lose interest in the story, then I'll drop this to 2 star.11-4-11. Finished the book and concluded it was just OK, typical fare from the testosterone aisle of the bookstore, everything works out for the death defying hero. I skipped the last ten pages or so (no spoiler ahead) as the story had concluded and the author started enviro preaching about how we are on the cusp of running out of oxygen. Still rates three stars
What do You think about Sahara (2005)?
During the closing days of the Civil War a Confederate ironclad runs the Union gauntlet, the enemy guns silenced as a highly recognizable figure steps out on the ironclad’s deck. In the mid 90’s a Saharan tourist group disappears. 5 days later, Dirk Pitt comes across a beautiful woman alone on a North African beach and saves her from would be assassins.Couple that with a red tide spreading across the globe that will, in a matter of months, extinguish all life on Earth by depriving the atmosphere of oxygen.So begins an adventure that will send Dirk Pit and Al Giordino on a life-threatening romp across the desolation of the Sahara that rivals the best that Clive Cussler has to offer. It is an intriguing tale employing a cast of characters Cussler readers have come to know well.The only aspect of this novel I wasn’t pleased with is the same issue I’ve had with Cussler’s other novels: The plot prop of waiting until the last possible second before they cut the right wire… In this case, Dirk and Al are taking their last step across a barren wasteland, having consumed no water or food for at least two days while enduring torturous temperature swings from the ice cold of night to the frying pan heat of the day. Here they are, both on death’s door, not an ounce of energy remaining when they stumble across a downed aircraft. Somehow they are able to build a land yacht from the wreckage and sail another day across the desert sands to where a truck driver miraculously appears, just when they have, once again, reached death’s door.All I can say is, please Clive, give us readers a break. You write great tales and they don’t need a constant feed of TVesque ‘a moment beyond the last possible second’ scenarios to make the read great. I know this is fiction and meant to simply entertain, but I’d much rather see these tales a tad more realistic. Sure, bring things to a boil, edge of your seat, but not every transcendental moment requires this kind of prop.Overall this was an entertaining read, perhaps one of the best, and I do appreciate Clive sharing his creative talents with us. However formulaic they are.
—David Erickson
This is my second Clive Hussler book and I loved it. Dirk Pitt is the epitome of machoness and cunning. From devising strategic plans for getting out of impossible situations to creating workable instruments out of the barest scarp - Dirk Pitt is truly Mcgyver meets James bond. I really enjoyed his sense of humor and wit along with the casual rapport he shares with his childhood buddy Al. The book offers a great adventure starting from the Nile to direst corners of the Sahara desert. The plot does seem a bit far fetched but it was highly entertaining. Crazy villains like General Zateb, crazed cannibals and modern day slavery, these are all the ingredients for one insane adventure which casts Dirk and his pal to the brink of death, but Dirks ingenuity always prevails yet for him to be thrown in another wild predicament. Maybe its been a while since Ive read such a fast paced adventure with guns and infinite body count - but I found the action and suspense to be a good change from what I normally read. There were some parts which seemed to lag, specifically those where the author would get too technical describing a boats mechanics, but all in all I found it to be a fun read.
—Sana
This was a fun exciting read. It was my first Clive Cussler novel, and I usually struggle reading a book if I've already seen the movie, but I didn't have that problem with this one. It was very different from the movie. I really liked the whole book, but I did feel like the whole TEXAS boat incident was a little out of place. It seemed like it didn't really have anything to do with the story, and it was just thrown in at the beginning an the end as a way to try to include it in a novel that has nothing to do with it at all. I also got a little bogged down in the constant car and airplane detailed descriptions. Other that those 2 things, I really enjoyed the book.
—Eric Bingham
