Rating: 
Summary: my first Cussler book
Review: This book was my introduction to Dirk Pitt. I really enjoyed it. Cussler's Hitchcocky cameo was a nice touch. The action scenes are very realistic, and you really do think Pitt is done for in a couple spots. While I wouldn't really recommend this being the first Dirk Pitt book to read, if you like Cussler read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable and Racist
Review: It had the potential to be a great story, but the annoying, snide British tone of the dialogue for a wannabe American hero sure spoilt it. This is a racist, misogynic book.
Rating:
Summary: I hope it was written on recyclable material
Review: This book not only seemed to have a flimsy plot, but it also was demeaning to anyone but a white male American. Cussler seems to demonstrate in many parts of the book a fear and ignorance of the Chinese culture.The book starts out with Dirk Pitt on vacation rescuing Chinese immigrants who have been bound & dumped into a lake. Apparently the incredibly smart and devious villian of the book thought it was a good idea to take Chinese immigrants clear across the Pacific Ocean and dispose of them in a US Lake. Things get real goofy after this point. The heroics and lines of Dirk Pitt are so cliche that it seems like you have stepped back into the 70's (or maybe even the 50's when there was a 'Red' scare?). I bought this book because I saw the hardbound version of it on sale for .... Although I wasted my time reading it, the only positive thing I will take with me is to never buy any other Cussler book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This book is, like all Cussler novels, very farfetched. But, as I have said in some of my other reviews of his books, it's good to get out of reality sometimes. This book has a very good plot, but I think the best parts are at the beginning and end. It also brought out a good point that illegal immigration is a ver big problem in the United STates. There are actually smuggling rings that smuggle illegal immigrants in the U.S. It is a problem that really needs to be dealt with.
Rating:
Summary: horrible writing, plot??
Review: Can I rate this book with negative stars? When I was younger I liked 'Raise the Titanic' and some of the other novels. But now, maybe I have grown up or Cussler's writing has gotten really bad. He even included himself in this novel?? How amateur and silly! How much time does Dirk have in a day and when does he actually sleep. Has Cussler even bothered to try and figure this in. Dirk goes from gunshot wounds and extreme exhaustion to immediately killing more agents (with his small handgun again automatic weapons) and then goes on to go diving and get in more fights and take a fast trip around the world, almost gets blown up again, takes out several agents trying to kill him in his hangar, and then goes out to a dinner party with Julia and then kills a few more agents and then goes and makes love (an incredible night of passion by the way) to her. I think I would have been a bit tired after the party... And when does he have time to do everything. This guy is an expert on everything, flying planes, piloting all boats and all sorts of undersea vehicles, he even knows the Great Lakes better than the experienced ship pilots there. He restores a hangar full of cars, knows chinese art impecably...ah he is a robot not a human. This guy makes James Bond look mundane... This book seems obviously written for Hollywood and Steven Segal as star. 1 man again 100 with guns. Lots of action (and no reality) with Pitt the superhero outperforming trained agents, one miracle after another, even the author thought it was unbelievable (as even written in the text of the book). -three ultralights against Pitt in a boat -Pitt shooting (straight?) down the muzzle of the Chinese navy boat's gun-anyone think the gun would have to be perfectly lined up with Dirk's shot? Reality bits the dust. -Pitt walking into his home where two men are hidden and takes them out? A bomb would be so much easier (opps there is that reality thing again) The actual ideas in the book are great, with the chinese treasures and the Mississippi, and the secret american (mercenary) ship that has been redesigned. But the writing then turns quickly to crap. And his ideas on first the russians in previous novels and now the chinese (and women: see several comments about Julia in the book) is this guy paranoid or what.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm...Looks Familiar...
Review: Flood Tide is a nice book. Again, it is centered on the adventures of Dirk Pitt, agent 007...Oops! Wrong trademark, sorry! But wait a second. This confusion did not come up without any reasons. Starting from this book Pitt became ABSOLUTELY Bond-like. I mean, just like the Bond movies, it has NOTHING new. The same old "Pitt versus Evil Tycoon" plot. AND Dirk didn't bother to mourn a lot over Maeve's death, snatching a new girl again. Still, it's quite enjoyable but I got the feeling that it's TOO fictional. If you want fast entertainment though, you might want check out Cussler's famous superhero. His name's Pitt. Dirk Pitt.
Rating: 
Summary: Pulp Cussler
Review: As always, the joy is in the journey, not the destination. You know before you even turn the first page what the outcome is going to be, it's just a case of how we get there. In this case it's a cute chinese girl, a Dusenberg, and every type of marine vehicle - from a hovercraft to an enormous cruise liner. The bad guy (Qin Shang) is as rich and evil as ever and his cronies predictably dangerous and clumsy. I suggest you climb into bed with a cup of hot chocolate, turn on the reading light, and switch off your brain... Mr. Cussler will take over from there.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: This was my first Clive Cussler book ever and it was great. The pot paints a grim picture of what could happen to our country and the world because of the large numbers of immigrants, legal and non, into nations around the world. The villian in this book is a billionaire shipping tycoon who makes a large ammount of his fortune from smugling illegal immigrants into the US and other countries of the world. Dirk Pitt accidentally foils one of the tycoohn's smuggling operations and he himself becomes a target of this man's rage. Dirk Pitt is then assigned to investigate some of his suspicious bussiness ventures, such as digging a canal to nowhere in southern louisiana, building a shiping port in the middle of a marshland and buying a decades old cris ship for no aparent purpose. This adventure will keep you glued to the pages for hours. Dirk Pitt finally does win, with a certain ammount of romance along the way.
Rating:
Summary: ?????????
Review: Whatever the U.S.S. United States was up to on its voyage up the Mississippi totally escaped me. Even if it succeeded, it seemed to me that it could easily have been neutralized within a few days. The master plot of evil in this novel seemed to me, if it succeeded, would only have been a relatively minor inconvienence. Couldn't figure out what the big deal was all about. I did love the heroine though. The beginning of the tale was riveting. Thank you Mr. Cussler for getting me through these dark days of winter.
Rating: 
Summary: Dirk Pitt is not Believeable
Review: The biggest disappointment in this novel is the character of Dirk Pitt. He is a superman with no human frailties. The situations he gets in are preposterous. Suspend all rational thought if you want to enjoy this book.
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