This was [and still is] an interesting, if dated book, in my opinion. My first acquaintance with this book was my uncle's bookshelf when I would spend the night at my grandparent's house - I was always fascinated by the covers of many of his paperbacks. This one was always eerie - the glowing cabin in an airplane at the bottom of a body of water. Always stood out to me. It still moves at fast pace and has all of the essential elements necessary for a Dirk Pitt novel to take place. It does have dated references to blacks, South Africa, and attitudes towards sex and women.The plot, as usual, starts out with a journey to yesteryear. In this case, it is 1954, when a MAT aircraft is taking off from Buckley, CO, during a blizzard. The aircraft crashes in the Rocky Mountains soon after take-off and disappears. The US Military and government hide the crash.Jump to 'now' [1988] where we find our here, Dirk Pitt, enjoying an extended vacation with his love/lover, Congresswoman Loren Smith. He discovers some old aircraft parts in her father's garage, which sparks his inquisitive nature. Unable to let sleeping mysteries lie, he begins his quest to discover where the wreckage came from. He speaks with Loren's father's nearest neighbors for a bit before calling in the FAA. I enjoyed the description of Abe Steiger - essentially the 'twin' of Al Giordino. A chance remark by Abe points Dirk to searching the nearby lake, whereupon he discovers the sunken aircraft. When the Air Force and government refuse to investigate further, he absconds some of NUMA's equipment to bring the C-97 Stratocruiser to the surface. A friend in the FBI who loves crossword puzzles figures out who sent the aircraft on its final journey, and just prior to raising the aircraft Dirk pays the retired admiral a visit. He learns a horrible, undetectable, perfect, lethal pathogen [of sorts] was created in the 1950s and this bacterial strain still exists on an atoll in the Pacific. In order to determine if any of the canisters are missing from the downed plane, Dirk essentially forces his boss to ensure the aircraft will be lifted from the lake bed. Once raised, they discover eight canisters are missing.Dirk, Abe, and Al confront the Rafferty's [neighbors of Loren's dead father] about Loren's father's death and discover how the canisters were brought to the surface. From there, they track the canisters down to a private weapons depot which has sold some of them to various buyers. They track down all but two of them.Meanwhile, in South Africa, a ranch is attacked and the inhabitants brutally murdered. The husband/rancher/father is the only survivor, and the South African government convinces him to pilot a battleship up the Potomac River to attack Washington, D.C., in retaliation for the murder of his wife, children, and ranch hands. Crazy, right!?! The largest group of Black rebels will be blamed for this crazy operation. Obviously, only a Black Congressman [Daggat] and a beautiful black woman [Felicia] are capable of supporting the leader of the largest 'resistance movement'; the leader of this movement is obviously a former black criminal [Lusana] who has seen the light and decides to become the Black Messiah. Poor Loren is deceived by her friend Felicia and invites Dirk to join her in a special 'love nest'; unbeknownst to the two of them, Daggat has hired a photographer to take pictures of them copulating for extortion and blackmail. Obviously it is up to Dirk to come to the fair Loren's rescue. Had this been a later book, I am sure Daggat would have had more than a pound of flesh removed for his attempted blackmail. In this earlier novel, Dirk lets the man off the hook with a promise to never attempt to blackmail him or Loren ever again. A retired American battleship is purchased and refitted so that it can sail up the Potomac. Admiral Bass has given Dirk the information needed to ensure the pathogens in the chemical shells are safely disposed of. Parts of Washington, D.C., are destroyed. Yet, in the end, civilization [in D.C., anyway] is saved at the end of the story. I think one of the best descriptions in the book occurs when Al and Abe are rowing a boat across the lake in Colorado while Dirk handles an underwater camera/sensor: Abe is described as showering Dirk with a four-letter stare before commencing with the rowing. I found it pretty funny. The author definitely had a way with wordplay in his earlier novels I had forgotten about - I think it is something definitely missing in his later [more recent] novels.
My Rating Scale:1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.Times Read: 1I love Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino.Characters - The characters are great and what make these stories come alive. I have to say Dirk Pitt is one of my favorite characters in a book series. His buddy Al always puts a smile on my face. I really like the characters. Story - The stories are average and fairly typical. I really like the NUMA settings for the stories. In general these are just entertaining situations to place some really fun characters (Dirk and Al).Overall - I started reading these when I was 16. I enjoyed them up until about age 35. My tastes have changed from Military intrigue to Fantasy / SciFi. I would recommend reading these especially for younger males.NOTE: I am going to rate these all the books in this series the same (except for Treasure which was the first one I read and what caused me to read all the others). Some of the stories are a bit better or a bit worse but I can't find 1 (except for Treasure) that would rate a 2 or 4.
What do You think about Vixen 03 (2006)?
So many loose ends not tied up with this one, mainly surrounding Pitt's girlfriend, Loren Smith. The story is sort of far fetched too. First, Loren. Does she find out her father was killed and did not die in an accident? What of the nude pictures of Pitt and her? The blackmailer/congressman colleague destroy them as promised? She has agreed to marry someone that is not Pitt but does she follow through with it? As to the story, South Africans (?) plan an attack on the U.S. and plan to make it look like the work of blacks in South Africa so that the white majority government is looked more favorably upon. Of course there is the usual coincidence - Pitt stumbles on the Quick Death virus, submerged in a Rockie mountain lake for 40 years just weeks before it is almost used in the South African planned assault. Making the jump to South Africa is a bit of a stretch but done ok. Just a very week early novel.
—Andy
Vixen 03 lives up to Clive Cussler’s estimable reputation. It’s intriguing and fast-paced, with wonderful political subterfuge and treachery. Dirk Pitt makes a surprise discovery in a Colorado lake – a World War II era airplane, complete with skeletons and several gray canisters. These canisters contain a deadly bacteria developed during World War II, for which there is no known cure. A tiny droplet of this stuff would wipe out Manhattan and make it uninhabitable for three hundred years. Unfortunately, some other folks have gotten to this plane before Pitt, and some of these canisters have ended up with a rogue terrorist government. Their target for this gas? Washington, DC. And only Pitt can stop them! The plot’s a bit far-fetched, but the novel is so fun to read, you don’t really notice. This is my second Cussler book. The first, Raise the Titanic, wasn’t very good, I thought. But a friend told me that Cussler’s books get better, so I finally broke down and tried another. Luckily, my friend was right.
—Eric
Wow! This book is fast paced, akin to James Patterson. Even though the prints are small :p, I still manage not to flip few pages for the sake of ending the story too early. Thanks to Ainaana for lending this to me. I had put off reading this as soon as I get the book from Ainaana, since I'd dozens of books to be read. Shame on me though. Dirk Pitt's adventures in this book is interesting though. He made a surprise discovery while vacationing in Colorado. He found a plane which is buried inside a lake, surprisingly, which contains few deadly canisters containing Quick Death organisms. The story is broken into few parts, involving few other people as we get along the story. Massacre by other people, which is blamed on African army Revolution, you don't know the culprit involved until almost the end of the story.I finished reading this book, with question lingering; who's Emma though?
—Cik Aini
