Rating: 
Summary: NOT a Clive Cussler Book!
Review: I cannot believe Clive Cussler wrote a word in this book. It is even harder to believe he endorsed it with his name. I have been a Clive Cussler fan since I first read his works many years ago. This is does not come close to what I have come to expect from a Clive Cussler book. I am very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Brokenhearted
Review: Like others, I have been a faithful reader of anything Mr. Cussler puts his name on. Sadly, he has evidently decided to put his name on garbage. Perhaps the loss of his wife impacted his judgement, but nonetheless, this is an awful book. So awful that i quit halfway. That is the first book I have ever given up on in that genre. The one good thing is that I am encouraged to write something of my own. It could be no worse, though unpublishable, as this thing of his should have been.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible! Boring! Confusing!
Review: I used to love Cussler's books, but this one was so painful I will think twice before buying another. I forced myself through about 3/4 of it before I gave up. I couldn't read more than about 8 pages at a time - I kept getting lost (and bored) Too many characters (none of which really had any character), too much jumping around from one group to another, and a really badly presented story. I read about 50 books a year, and this was the worst I have read in several years. Too bad, Clive - maybe re-read your first 8 or 10 and start using them as a guideline for the next.
Rating:
Summary: This one bites the dust
Review: Here are the facts. I never write reviews and I am a huge Cussler fan. I have read everybook published by Cussler and yes over the last few years they have tailed off some. But this one just blows. I kept rubbing my belly and praying that it would end. A huge waste of time and paper. Dirt and Al would have been able to take care of this business before breakfast.
Rating: 
Summary: You need a playlist to read this one
Review: I am a HUGE fan of Clive Cussler and happily ran home with my latest Cussler treasure from the book store. Even better was the idea of a new Cussler novel with a whole new (but related) story line to Dirk Pitt and NUMA.
My first clue that all was not as expected was the fact that the first pages include a "Cast of Characters." Not including the main protagonist, the "good guys," included no less that 23 characters. No wonder a "Cast of Characters" is necessary. Other characters listed amount to ten more.
Following this story line was every bit as frustrating as reading government listings in the phone book. My favorite ever author does not even take time to let the reader get to know the characters, so following this massive list of characters was distracting and difficult.
Even the story line itself was not up to Mr. Cussler's usual standard. The crew of the Oregon must effect a re-patriation of the historic Golden Buddha statue in order that the Dalai Lama can resume control of Tibet. A terrific premise. But the book gets all caught up in the details of the plot, using devices not clearly explained, in settings not clearly laid out and with characters to numerous to keep track of. The plot amounts to, "get the statue, bring it to the Dalai Lama, everybody lives happily ever after." So what.
Mr. Cussler, please stick to what you do best. Get on with stories about Dirk Pitt and his new found family, and other NUMA goodies.
Rating:
Summary: Junk don't waste your time or money
Review: Sorry Clive, you have finally lost me. I have been reading you since 1978 and never missed a book. The last 3-4 Pitt started a downhill plunge culminating in this piece of pulp nonsense. This was so bad it prompted me to a first. I saw a new Pitt novel available and did NOT buy it. I suffered through this book and it took me a month to finish it. I would like to list through the things about it that I didn't like, but it would be a shorter list to recap what I did like about it: nothing or maybe the fact that it ended even though it felt like it would never end. I like "bigger than life" stories that flirt with the fringe of unbelievability, but this story never did even approach anything even remotely credible. The crew of the Oregon can shoot up Chinese warships with no inplications, use "Mission Impossible" style makeup and fly across the water with a technology that would not even pass muster for a Star Trek episode. They can call in any resource from the US Government at will, and buy off any politician as needed. If these guys had a magneto-hydrodynamic drive that used no fuel and energy they could all have been multi-billionaires on the royalities instead of risking their lives - no scratch that, of course they can take on any enemy with no risk - to be mercenaries. No job is too big or impossible for Juan and his folks. I kept expecting Cabillo to tear off his shirt and expose his "S" before taking off on the next task. No character in this made any sense at all - nor did the story. No problem was too great or too easy to solve. They should have added Roy O'Bannon to the crew. A typical 1964 episode of Johnny Quest was more realistic than this story and that was a freaking cartoon! All right there you evil alien Pod Being, who are you and what have you done with the Clive Cussler that I used to know and love? I think I'll go re-read Iceberg and Raise the Titanic then pretend that Clive retired.
Rating: 
Summary: Timid Tibetan freedom scheme
Review: Clive Cussler with a heavy dose of Craig Dirgo collaborated on the only marginally satisfying action thriller Golden Buddha. They create yet another Impossible Mission Force type team called the Corporation. The Corporation, a group of well paid and highly specialized mercenaries is headed by chairman Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. The group is headquartered on the Oregon, a highly technologically sophisticated cargo ship disguised to appear as a rust bucket. With the unofficial backing of the U.S., the Corporation is commissioned to restore the Dalai Lama back on the throne of Tibet, freeing the country from the yoke of Chinese oppression after 55 years. Part of the plot involves the pilfering of the Golden Buddha, a 600 pound jewel encrusted solid gold statue and icon and symbol of Tibetan freedom. The plot marches forward inanely at times in a confusing manner branching off into too many tangents. The shallow character development give them a cardboard quality creating an action thriller that was not an easy one to finish reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A FRESH IDEA FROM THE MASTER OF FORMULA
Review: Clive Cussler's organization is a money machine. For years, it has churned out Dirk Pitt books with regularity. A few years ago, with Pitt aging, Cussler (or his business advisers) realized that someone new was needed. The first attempt was the creation of Pitt-Giordino clones Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. OK stories, but too obvious. The appearance of Pitt's long-lost children at the end of Valhalla Rising seemed contrived, and it took a second novel to move them to being Pitt-Giordino replacements. The attempt represented by Golden Buddha, however, works. Cussler's ghostwriter, Craig Dirgo, fleshes out a set of characters introduced briefly in a Pitt novel. Juan Cabrillo is the Chairman of the Board of The Corporation, a consortium of mercenaries who specialize in high-tech jobs that combine the old and new Mission Impossible. The Corporation moves about the world on board the Oregon, a state-of-the-art ship disguised to look like a rustbucket. Part of the Cussler formula involves the recounting of an event from the past and connecting it to the activities of his heroes. Placing Pitt and Giordino in the scene has sometimes involved a stretch. Here the past event is the exile of the Dalai Lama from Tibet. The Corporation arrives on the scene in the most basic way: They are hired by the CIA to restore the Dalai Lama to power. Along the way, they must contend with larcenous art dealers and greedy multimillionaires, not to mention the governments of Russia and China. While some details seem unbelievable (hauling a 600 pound statue on a motorcycle? Not on any bike I ever rode), the story mostly works. Don't get lost in the large cast of characters--It's worth checking the playlist at the beginning of the book on a regular basis to see who's who. All in all, a good effort. Craig Dirgo is a better collaborator than Paul Kemprecos, though his books have been getting better. Still, I'll buy the next installment of the Oregon Files ahead of the next NUMA Files.
Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY THING GOLDEN ABOUT THIS BOOK IS THE NAME!
Review: SET AROUND THE THEFT OF A SIX HUNDRED POUND GOLDEN STATUE, LOADED ONTO THE BACK OF A MOTORCYCLE? COME ON CLIVE, THIS STORY GOES FROM THE REDICULOUS TO INSULTING, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DOES WITH THIS BOOK...INSULTS THE READER! THIS BOOK IS JUST PROOF, THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BAD THE BOOK IS, IF IT HAS A FAMOUS AUTHOR'S NAME ON IT TO SELL IT. I CAN'T BELIEVE CUSSLER EVEN WROTE THIS TRASH, IT'S NOT HIS STYLE, OR WRITING QUALITY. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN CRAIG DIRGO, WHO WROTE IT, AND CUSSLER JUST PUT HIS NAME ON IT, TO SELL IT.
WATCH WHAT YOU PUT YOUR NAME ON, FROM NOW ON, CLIVE, OR YOU'LL LOSE A LOT OF DIE HARD FANS, LIKE ME, AND A LOT OF OTHER MIDDLE AGED MEN, WHO IDENTIFY WITH THE AGING DIRK PITT.
THE STORY JUMPS AROUND FROM CHARACTER, TO CHARACTER, SOMETIMES WITHIN THE SAME PARAGRAPH. THOROUGHLY CONFUSING, AND UTTER TRASH! I TORE MY COPY UP, AND THREW IT IN THE GARBAGE CAN, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHERE THIS PIECE OF TRASH BELONGS!
TRULY, THE ONLY REASON IT GOT PUBLISHED WAS BECAUSE OF CUSSLER'S NAME, AND REPUTATION. IF AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR TRIED SUBMITTING THIS TRASH, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN LAUGHED OUT OF THE PUBLISHER'S OFFICE! IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF YOUR WRITING CONTRACTS, AND RETIRE, THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO DO IT; WRTIE TRASH!
READ INSTEAD; INCA GOLD, FLOODTIDE, SAHARA, SHOCKWAVE, AND VALHALLA RISING. MUCH BETTER BOOKS BY CUSSLER.
MAYBE IT IS A GOOD TIME TO RETIRE, CLIVE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU CONTINUE WRITING TRASH LIKE THIS!
Rating:
Summary: The only thing Cussler about this book is the cover.
Review: WOW, what a dissapointment. It was a struggle to finish.
| 
