A Swashbuckling Good Time

Arctic Drift

Clive Cussler

0399155295

I have been reading Clive Cussler books for many years now.  Cussler qualifies as one of those rare fiction authors whose books are automatic buys for me.  Most, though not all, of Cussler's books feature the same main character - Dirk Pitt - who is an interesting mix of Captain Jack Sparrow, James Bond and Superman.  

In each book, Pitt and his buddies find themselves in some sort of deadly battle against a megalomaniacal evil genius whose plans, often unintentionally, will destroy the world.  Arctic Drift is no different.  Set in 2011, the villain is a venture capitalist who is trying to profit off of the need for emission controls.  The action, as the title indicates, occurs mostly in the Arctic circle, though there is a healthy dose of Washington DC and other locales as well.

I'm not going to recommend this book based on its literary qualities, because there is no chance of anyone mistaking Cussler for Tolstoy or Arctic Drift for War and Peace.  To be honest, many of the characters are a little wooden and offer little variation or deepening from book to book.  The reader is never in doubt that Pitt and his cronies, no matter how bleak it looks, will win in the end.  Moreover, there is never a question as to whether or not the evil genius or the even more evil henchman will survive the battle.

In spite of all of that, there are several reasons why this book is a worthy read - as long as you know what you're getting into.  The chief reason is its author.  Clive Cussler is a renowned discoverer of lost ships at sea (it was Cussler and his team who first uncovered the wreckage of the Hunley, a confederate submarine from the Civil war, off the coast of Charleston, SC).  In part because of his encyclopedic knowledge of shipwrecks, Cussler's books are always filled with detailed accounts of shipwrecks, and the adventure of discovering the shipwreck is usually integral to the plot of the book.  Shipwrecks, though, are not Cussler's only forte.  He also owns a fleet of classic cars from the 20s-40s and always seems to feature one in his books.

Finally, there is the anticipation of finding Cussler himself in the book.  Every Dirk Pitt book (there are now 20 of them) has a minor character who comes to Pitt's aid at a critical juncture...and who always introduces himself as Clive Cussler.

Look, your kids aren't going to be reading Arctic Drift in English classes and you won't see it win a Pulitzer Prize.  But if you're looking to spend a little time in a world where things always go the way they should and the good never fails to win out in the end, you could do a lot worse than Cussler and his Arctic Drift.