FLOOD TIDE

Rating:
Summary: Reliable derring-do.
Review: Dirk Pitt goes up against a particularly vicious and clever adversary in this complicated and multi-layered action tale.
Pitt, acting under orders from the President, teams with old partner Al Giordino and beautiful INS agent Julia Lee, to combat the brilliant and wealthy Qin Shang, in a fast moving narrative which involves human cargo, murder, sunken treasure, and a race against an impending disaster which can kill thousands.
Cussler is a master of the form, and this latest paperback is sure to please old fans, and anyone else looking for some first class action entertainment.(The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

Rating:
Summary: Cussler delivers as always but not his best
Review: I had read reviews of this book before reading it and was predisposed to not enjoy it as much as others. I did enjoy it, as always getting caught up in the escapism and the action; yes its been done before, yes the characters never change, the settings do, but as always its Dirk versus whoever and as always Dirk comes out on top, satisfyingly so. Not Cussler's best but for easy, fast paced reading, its good entertainment that will not disappoint

Rating:
Summary: Flat, One-Dimensional and not well researched
Review: In the usual drive for a time-waster while travelling, you normally can't beat a Clive Cussler novel for delivering the goods. However if your objective is a good enjoyable time diversion, "Flood Tide" is a book better left alone. The book is similar to reading crappy science fiction novels where the author obviously lacks knowledge of basic physics, chemistry and biology. There are "glaringly ancient", Fu Manchu vintage one dimensional sterotypical "baddies" lacking decent modern padding; and "embarressing" comments on Asian culture implying the reference material used (if any) was decades out of date. While racial steriotypes seem part and parcel of Cussler's previous novels, ones presented here are extremely one-dimensional, and flat resulting in a very superficial story environment; compared to the normally rich story environment of previous novels. I was also expecting to read a good adventure novel, not xenophobic ranting. To compare: while Cussler's "Inca Gold" delivered as an engrossing adventure, even with a similar sub-theme about a leaking national border, "Flood Tide" did not.

Rating:
Summary: The book was great, it wouldn't let you put it down.
Review: The book Flood Tide, by Clive Cussler was a non- stop action mystery, with a never ending suspense. I could't put it down. The book was about a Chinese billionaire- Qin Shang- who was smuggling illegal immigrants into the country. He was doing well until the hero, Dirk Pitt, stepped into his operation. The book goes on like this, having Pitt and his partner Al Giordino incountering dilemmas, which Pitt and his partner, have to overcome. Of course, Pitt meets a girl during one of his adventures- Julia Lee who is part of the INS ( Immigration and Naturalization Service)- and almost instantly, they fall in love. I would hardly call this book trite, because it has new aspects to it. After Pitt stops Qin Shangs operation, he still has to look for the long lost liner, the Princess Dou Wan. He has to uncover the ship that was sunken in 1948, and retrieve the Peking Man. The Peking Man lived about 700,000, to 1,000,000 years ago, and is consitered priceless. I will not tell you the outcome, so you can find out for yourself. In the end Pitt and Julia live happily ever after, and plan a vacation to Mazatlan, Mexico. I would certinly recommend this book to anyone who likes action, or who can read. The only age limit I would say would be that you have to at least be 12 or 13 to read it. This is because it's long, and has a little profanity and graphic violence. Other than that, it would probably be a great book to anyone that reads it, and understands it.

Rating:
Summary: A decent attempt to continue the Dirk Pitt saga
Review: I have read all of Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures, and this one is the least action packed of all. I think there was too much fluff, and not enough action. I found it rather difficult to keep focused on the book, unlike all of the other books. I will continue to read Cussler's Dirk Pitt books, but my anticipation of the books has started to fade.

Rating:
Summary: This was an exceptional piece of escaptist fiction.
Review: What does the CIA, INS, NUMA, US COAST GUARD, ARMY CORPS OFENGINEERS, THE WHITEHOUSE, CHINESE ANTIQUITIES, and the Missippi River have in common? They are ingredients of an exceptional piece of escaptist fiction. While on vacation Dirk discovers a gruesome grave of mass-murdered victims and back in Washington Admiral Sanddecker is discovering the President is playing footsy with the Chinese under the table. This is an enjoyable read, very fast paced.

Rating:
Summary: This was an exceptional piece of escaptist fiction.
Review: What does the CIA, INS, NUMA, US COAST GUARD, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, THE WHITEHOUSE, CHINESE ANTIQUITIES, and the Missippi River have in common? They are ingredients of an exceptional piece of escaptist fiction. While on vacation Dirk discovers a gruesome grave of mass-murdered victims and back in Washington Admiral Sanddecker is discovering the President is playing footsy with the Chinese under the table. This is an enjoyable read, very fast paced.

Rating:
Summary: Cussler should stop writing himself into the books
Review: As others have said, not the best of the Dirk Pitt books. But the thing that's really becoming irritating is how Clive Cussler thinks he's being witty by writing himself into the last 4-5 novels. It's stupid. It's contrived. It's self-indulgent. Stop it.

Rating:
Summary: Cussler seems to be reaching....
Review: Clive Cussler seems to have run out of plot lines. This latest in the Dirk Pitt series has a tedious, contrived plot that gets in the way of the fun. This is not one of Cussler's better Pitt sagas.

Rating:
Summary: Clive is showing his age...
Review: What has always worked best for Cussler is Dirk Pitt -- a character he introduced to fans of the action genre over 25 years ago. The problem is that Dirk hasn't really aged or develop very much, revealing the author's fascination with youth and his own middle aged self-loathing; Cussler refuses to let go of his macho stereotypes, he seems fully entrenched in a world where every man has a full head of thick hair, gleaming teeth and a hair trigger! The only fobiles Dirk Pitt has developed is an antique car fetish and a fear of intimacy. Cussler is a fantastic and prolific writer but I cringe at some of his discriptions, his ethic stereo-types and his thinly veiled fear of human frailty -- subjects when shored up properly would make his latest work outstanding instead of mediorce.