Rating: 
Summary: read it before it becomes a movie
Review: Cussler is never better in his storytelling than when he incorporates an historical event into his novels and at the beginning of 'Sahara' we are smack in the middle of the Civil War. At first you may wonder what it has to do with Dirk Pitt and events in Africa, but don't worry...Clive has a rabbit up his sleeve and when he produces the surprise, it'll give you goosebumps! 'Sahara' has one of Pitt's most nasty adversaries (but then again, aren't they ALL bad??) and has more action per page than any other adventure novel available today. Action after suspense after thrills--this novel literally has it all. The deadly plague infesting the ocean certainly sounds catastrophic, but with Dirk and Al on the case, one thing is for sure: a good time will be had by anyone who cracks the pages of this fine action/adventure/thriller. There are a few gaping holes of reality herewe all know that Clive takes certain liberties , but for all the action and excitement we cut him some slack. You will see Cussler at the top of his form in a story as exciting and fun as anything else in his amazing list of accomplishments. A darn good read.
Rating: 
Summary: I never knew a trip to the Sahara would be so much fun...
Review: 'Sahara' was the first Cussler book that I did not purchase in hardback...I was strapped for cash and it seemed every penny I had was promised to someone else, so I agonized for an ENTIRE YEAR before I could purchase it in paperback. Now for the die-hard Cussler fans, you KNOW what sheer torture that was for me, especially since it was such a fantastic story! I am happy to say that the wait (albeit excruciating) WAS WORTH IT!Cussler is never better in his storytelling than when he incorporates an historical event into his novels, and at the beginning of 'Sahara' we are smack in the middle of the Civil War. At first you may wonder what it has to do with Dirk Pitt and events in Africa, but don't worry...Clive has a rabbit up his sleeve and when he produces the surprise, it'll give you goosebumps! 'Sahara' has one of Pitt's most nasty adversaries (but then again, aren't they ALL bad??) and has more action per page than any other adventure novel available today. Action after suspense after thrills--this novel literally has it all. The deadly plague infesting the ocean certainly sounds catastrophic, but with Dirk and Al on the case, one thing is for SURE: A good time will be had by anyone who cracks the pages of this fine action/adventure/thriller. Cussler at the top of his form in a story as exciting and fun as anything else in his amazing list of accomplishments. A darn good read. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: Are they making a movie from this? I'm waiting to hear. Enough said.
Rating: 
Summary: Dirk Pitt and Sahara are................The Pitts
Review: Clive (Jive) Cussler is allegedly an Adventure/Action author. In reality he's somewhere between Fantasyland and the Outer Limits. Lol(leap of logic), this guys stories are sometimes bizarre to say the least. Am I being too harsh? Hell, I haven't even started. I have tried to read three of Cusslers books and three times I have failed to finish them. Thats right I haven't even finished this book. I get to the point where I think this is so stupid, to continue to read this drivel, is to make me as stupid as I must be, to have bought this insult to my intelligence.(did you follow that? good you might dislike this book too!) So, if you're dumb enough to read this book after my 1/2 star review, you don't really want to know more than I'm going to tell anyway. What's really excruciating is that Cussler can come up with some great imaginative plots and then he just blows them up by going over the top. I've seen him do it in three books. What he thinks is clever is really incongruous. I understand and want my Adventure/Action to be exciting, even improbable but Cussler doesn't do improbable, he's into three other I's, Impossible, Inane and Idiotic. I know, you're wondering if I'm ever going to tell you about the book? If I have to, but first let me address why this book gets good reviews. To do that, I'm going to explain this phenomenon in a scenario that Jive/Clive himself could appreciate. This is probably fiction but who knows? In any case you could find something this improbable in a Cussler book. Cussler is an Alien! Not from another country, silly, another Galaxy. He is the vanguard for a race of Aliens that hope to conquer and enslave us. They plan not to confront us, but to subvert us. Our Jive aliens persona is our famous author, which is coincidently the method by which they hope to subvert us. The hero of all of his books is a jive-assed turkey named Dirk Pitt, this is important. The words Dirk Pitt, when read over and over, hypnotize the reader, making them think what they are reading makes sense, hence the four and five star reviews. The occasional one or two star review come from those such as myself, that can't be hypnotized, so if I suddenly disappear, you'll know why. Back to my scenario. With everyone hypnotically primed to react positively to the name Dirk Pitt, another Alien emerges on the scene named Dirk Pitt, announcing, after serving a short stint as Dog Catcher of Wonderland County, that he is running for President. Voila! he is unstoppable and we're all slaves. Impossible, don't laugh, hey it explains the good reviews and it's maybe just a smidgen more impossible than some of the scenarios in Cusslers books. Zie Wonderbar Plotzie This is going to be quick. Some sort of ocean going pollution is causing the destruction of all marine life. A by product of this is a disease, a raging epidemic that is driving thousands of North Africans into madness, cannibalism, and death. Our hero, Dirk Pitt and a beautiful UN scientist are off to Africa in a luxury yacht to investigate this phenomenon. They are sailing the yacht up the Niger River when they come to this city on the river......No! On second thought, I'm not going to describe the book. He lost me in this book, when Pitt and his companion discovered the remains of a Confederate Ironclad in a dry river bed in the middle of the Sahara Desert. I cannot think of anything more obtuse, except what is discovered upon investigation, the mummified body of Abraham Lincoln. The thing is, Cussler starts out very credible with some very good plots but can't maintain and eventually blows a potentially good read with totally off the wall stuff. There you have it in a nutshell. If you can be hypnotized you will like not only this, but all Cussler novels and if you can't (be hypnotized)you won't like this book. (and you might help save the world from the aliens)
Rating: 
Summary: I don't know how I feel about this one.
Review: I don't know how I feel about this one. I enjoyed reading it in the same way I might enjoy watching whatever made-for-tv movie might be playing on USA on a random weeknight. My main complaint about the book was its totally bad way of giving information by way of really bad exposition. Most authors seem to be able to reveal things in a clever way that comes naturally in the story. Often it is the equivelant of writing a character who comes out and says "It's good to have you home; I see that you have sucessfully driven to work and accomplished your tasks there. By the bag in your hand I can tell that you have gone to the store and purchased the bananas, tomatoes, and pie crusts that we needed."
Rating:
Summary: This is a better Dirk Pitt
Review: I have read almost all of the Pitts except for Treasure. This book was very good. I give it 4 stars. Its gonna be a movie next spring!!!
Rating:
Summary: classic cussler
Review: if anymone came to me asked me, 'sir, which clive cussler book would you recommend to me?' i would doff my bowler hat back and reply: 'Sahara'. Sahara without a doubt in my mind is one of the best cussler moves written at his height. this is more gungho than the others and is more American, like a rambo movie.its got great ideas as well as some great historical ideas. if the only critism i have it is that it is bit overlong,but still great.
Rating:
Summary: A pretty entertaining read - one flaw I can't let slide
Review: OK, I have read EVERY Dirk Pitt novel Clive Cussler has written, so I definitely qualify to review his books. I enjoy how Cussler pushes the technological envelope in each new story, even a little over the top; I also enjoy how Dirk Pitt is the ruthless hero (only to baddies, not to beautiful women) we've all wished our movie action heroes could be. If you've read more than one Dirk Pitt novel, you know what I'm talking about. No need to elaborate so as not to ruin it for others less fortunate. By the way, I appreciate how he writes himself into nearly every novel. Don't criticize - you'd do it too if you knew how to make a living writing. I enjoyed Sahara immensely. Cussler has a way of getting you to say, "Hmmm...could that be what really happened?" I usually leave a LOT of room for authors to play with the rules of technology and even the laws of physics now and then. However, despite Cussler's quality, I can't ignore this one: If you are dehydrated to the point of death - no, wait, even if you are dehydrated significantly less than to the point of death - you don't simply drink quarts and quarts of water and in a matter of minutes fully recover, shake the dust off, and sally forth on your merry way. Even somewhat dehydrated, you will be on a table with an IV in your arm for several hours. I know this firsthand. Technology is one thing; medical accuracy is another.
Nonetheless...
A very good book, typical Cussler.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but predictable
Review: This being my third Clive Cussler novel, I was both entertained and annoyed while reading it. The historical parts interested me, and Cussler has a clever way of making you forget things you read at the beginning of the book, so that it's surprising at the end. Other than that, it follows the classic formula Cussler uses for all of his novels. Suave, charming hero with the same repetitive one-liners, faithful but uninspiring sidekick, near death experiences, and finally winning the day with some unbelievable and ridiculously clever (to the extent that it hurts) plot. Good for a laugh, but not much else.
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.
| 
