Sahara

Rating:
Summary: Dirk vs. the desert
Review: This is possibly my most favorite Dirk Pitt Adventure. Is it possible that Abraham Lincoln was actually kidnapped by the Confederate Army? Cussler makes you wonder if it could have happened...just maybe. I was thoroughly entertained throughout this book - the villians were excellent, Cussler made a personal appearance, I loved the way Kitty Mannock came into the equation, and the last stand at the fort was exceptionally face-paced. Can Dirk and Al save the world's seas from an environmental catastrophe and still have time to save the girt? Of course! And that's what makes it so much fun.

Rating:
Summary: Wow this is hot
Review: This book is off the hook. Non-stop action to the max. Dirk Pitt is the new and improved James Bond. Dirk Pitt can get himself out of any situation, and can always come up with a solution. What is great about Clive Cussler books is they start with something in the past. This book starts during the Civil War when a confederate ship the Texas. Then a plane crashes over the Sierra desert during the 1920's. Then the book comes back to present times, but those events will help shape the plot. Clive really knows what he is taking about since he has discovered many ships and been on many adventures during his lifetime, but he explains everything so it is easy to understand. Pitt and his best friend Al, soon find a killer red tide forming on the Niger river, that if given a year will kill the entire ocean, which will kill all oxygen on the earth, killing all life. Soon the are traveling up the Niger rive on a gunboat, unsuspecting of what is going on in Mali. A general and very rich French man are in on many dirty plots, that will soon surround Pitt and Al. Pitt and Al must escape Mali to save the earth, and a UN team of sciences who were captured to forced to work to death in a mine. The book is non-stop action, and is imposable to put down. Also, they discover the Texas in the middle of the desert and uncover the biggest cover-up in American History.

Rating:
Summary: Sahara is HOT
Review: This book in the Dirk Pitt series is probably the most action-packed, full of adrenaline and gun-blazing frenzy! Instantly addicting. And it has probably become the most talked-about with the movie being just around the corner. Check it out before the movie is released! It'll make you thirsty for more!

Rating:
Summary: Total Waste Of Paper
Review: This book was near the beginning of the end for Cussler as far as I'm concerned. It's quite simply too stupid for words. Here his dialogue reaches new lows and the storyline is even too ridiculous for him. Ouch....bad book, bad.

Rating:
Summary: Dirk takes on the desert
Review: Quite possibly my most favorite Dirk Pitt adventure. Is it possible Lincoln was kidnapped by the Confederates? Cussler makes you answer...hmmmm, maybe. I was thoroughly entertained throughout this book. The villians were excellent. Cussler made a great appearance. I loved the way Kitty Mannock came into the equation and the stand made at the fort was exceptionally fast-paced. Can Dirk and Al save the world's seas from an environmental catastrophe and still have time to save the girl? Of course! And that's what makes it so fun.

Rating:
Summary: Dirk Pitt at his best
Review: With a great historical plot twist, Clive Cussler has gotten back in line with a wonderfully written Dirk Pitt novel. Pitt is back with his NUMA cohorts to save the world from an environmental threat caused by cold and callous human beings. Cussler would make X-Files creator Chris Carter proud with the historical twist regarding the Lincoln assassination. It's a stretch but believable. Worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: The **BEST** Cussler Book Ever!!!!
Review: This is by far and wide THE BEST Clive Cussler novel he has written. Sahara is a somewhat complex plot of intrigue, lost treasures, tyrants and human suffering where Dirk Pitt and his NUMA pals need to discover the cause of a deadly marine red tide that could spell the end of all oxygen breathing life on earth. This book is just about impossible to put down - they should make a waterproof version so you can take it in the shower with you!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous as ever
Review: My Grandad got me into Cussler. I'd eagerly wait for him to finish the latest installment, so I could then read it.
Now I can buy my own copy and with Sahara, Cussler is as brilliant as ever. Dirk foils a plot to wipe out all sea life, rescues the beautiful Eva Rojas and takes on a bunch of cannibals. It is all delivered with the direct panache of all Cussler novels and even though you know it's all going to end well, its how Dirk achieves it that makes it so much fun. A true thriller.

Rating:
Summary: A bit too long, somewhat sub-Cussler
Review: Not sure what happened with this book but I think in all, as the title says, it was about 100 pages too long and is clearly off the mark for a Cussler novel. At the end, you get the feeling that Dirk Pitt is eventually going to save the Earth from crashing into the moon with a straw and 4 pounds of cabbage.

Not to trash Cussler too much because he has written some solidly mind-numbing escapism novels before that have made you feel the old "USA USA" chant run through your head. But this one seems to be a little further over the edge of reality than his normal work.

I read Cussler as a way to not think when I read and he usually does a good job. But this novel went on a bit too long and after a while, too many things came together for the story to unfold as it did. Yeah, I know that there is always some form of historical infringement on Dirk Pitt's adventuire. But this was way too much convergence in one place.

Ok, so that's that. But really this is a typical Cussler novel with a bit more "stuff" than usual. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying it has more Cussler. Maybe he had switched from decaf that month. Maybe he had a page quota. Who knows.

Anyway, Dirk and Al are there. And of course they meet up with an impractically impossible situation. And they defeat it. It's the usual stuff for these 2 guys who always seem to find their way in and out of trouble. It's fun. It's crazy. And as usual it's entertaining in the way that Cussler speaks with these 2 guys. Dialogue is always so deadpan and self-assured.

And while I think that the historical stuff is a bit overdone, it still is pretty neat and it takes a good twist to bring it all together. Just because it's too much does not mean it doesn't work for the desired effect. Especially if you have no problem suspending disbelief. A lot.

Would I recommend this book? Yeah, I think so. But not before you read some of the other Cussler titles first. One other reviewer said that he actually laughed at some of the plot development. Well, that's pretty much basic Cussler. Some of the coincidences are crazy, but that's the author's style.

Rating:
Summary: Review of the abridged audio cassette of "Sahara"
Review: The audio cassette of "Sahara" was so bad, in my opinion, that it does not deserve a review from someone of my caliber.

My wife and I put it in the car when we went on an overnighter to get away from the kids a week or so ago. We listened to it for about 20 minutes into the drive and then shut it off, it was so lame.

I finished it a while later on my commute to and from work. After having finished it, all I can say is that I am glad I do not have to listen to Tom Wompat try and sound like the sexy Eva Rojas anymore, it was almost nauseating.

This is my second Clive Cussler book in the last month and I have to say he is not as good as I remember him. I remember really liking "Treasure" quite a few years ago when I was still a kid.

I have now listened to "Sahara" and have read "Shock Wave" in the last month and both have been so unbelievable that they were actually funny at times.