It was like catching up with an old friend. I first read while assigned to submarine duty. Found it in the mess and couldn’t put it down. Introduced me to Cussler and have read most of his books since. Good to read it again. Was glad to find a good copy to add to my library.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought the book because I had read it years ago and found an older paperback copy. The hardback was priced decently, so I bought it. I remember my Uncle Joe had this book as a paperback [amongst others], and I loved the cover. It was just incredible; I could never decide if it was a picture of the Titanic as it was sinking or coming to the surface. I always wanted to read it from an early age, but kept putting it off until late high school or my early college. I found the description of the man from Nebraska as particularly humorous - uptight, a workaholic, too busy to make time for his beautiful wife. He was an intelligent man, but his mind became his undoing as it broke when his actions and lack of love or attention drove his wife away from him. On the one hand, at least he wasn't presented as some yokel from Hicksville with corncobs on his head and a piece of straw between his buckteeth! Of course, since I am a Nebraskan, I am always interested in how Nebraskans are presented in books and movies. Cussler does an excellent job of blending historical accounts with fictional accounts to create alternate narratives that grab the readers attention and do not let go until the story's end. The story begins with a lone survivor of a crew of men who makes it to the Titanic in a desperate bid to escape from his friends' murderers. Little does he know realize that the passenger liner he has booked passage on is the HMS Titanic on its ill-fated maiden voyage! The story flashes forward to 'modern times' where a scientist is trying to escape from Russian guards. Dirk Pitt rescues the geologist from certain death. Whisking the scientist to safety, we discover that he is a part of a team of scientists striving to create a defense shield for protection from nuclear attack. There is one element necessary for the shield to be complete; the problem is that it is extremely rare. It is believed that a large amount of this element was shipped onboard the Titanic; hence, the goal to Raise the Titanic! The story moves at a brisk pace, involving the mysterious deaths of a Coloradan mining crew before the Titanic's sinking to the search for the Titanic itself to the attempt to raise the Titanic during a horrendous hurricane [reminiscent of "A Perfect Storm" except that the Perfect Storm occurred a couple decades after the book was written] to a battle between Russian special forces soldiers and Navy Seals. Cussler does an excellent job of character development. There is not an overload of characters to remember, which is nice at times. Too many characters means it is hard to develop any sort of concern for the characters as a whole because it is hard to keep track of who is who. Once nice thing that Cussler did in some of his earlier books is that he would use some of the same peripheral characters in several books. It made for a nice carry-over from story to story when he did that. I do not remember if he did that with this book, but he did do so with Vixon 03 and Night Probe. I was very happy to buy the hardback book; however, I still like the cover of the paperback over the hardback. It is a much better cover in that it definitely grabs your attention. The cover of the hardback is not as well done, which was a bit of a disappointment for me. Still, as I said, I am glad I bought the hardback.Read full review
Excellent thriller-type story. The third novel in the Dirk Pitt series from Clive Cussler. A real page turner!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Book was in pretty good shape. Happy with it.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Old school techno-adventure when this genre (and author) was starting out. Still a blast.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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