Customer Reviews

Sahara: A Dirk Pitt Adventure

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

OK, I have read EVERY Dirk Pitt novel Clive Cussler has written, so I definitely qualify to review his books. I enjoy how Cussler pushes the technological envelope in each new story, even a little over the top; I also enjoy how Dirk Pitt is the ruthless hero (only to baddies, not to beautiful women) we've all wished our movie action heroes could be. If you've read more than one Dirk Pitt novel, you know what I'm talking about. No need to elaborate so as not to ruin it for others less fortunate.

By the way, I appreciate how he writes himself into nearly every novel. Don't criticize - you'd do it too if you knew how to make a living writing.

I enjoyed Sahara immensely. Cussler has a way of getting you to say, "Hmmm...could that be what really happened?"

I usually leave a LOT of room for authors to play with the rules of technology and even the laws of physics now and then.

However, despite Cussler's quality, I can't ignore this one:

If you are dehydrated to the point of death - no, wait, even if you are dehydrated significantly less than to the point of death - you don't simply drink quarts and quarts of water and in a matter of minutes fully recover, shake the dust off, and sally forth on your merry way. Even somewhat dehydrated, you will be on a table with an IV in your arm for several hours. I know this firsthand. Technology is one thing; medical accuracy is another.
Nonetheless...
A very good book, typical Cussler.

I have been reading Clive Cussler novels for many years and I can call myself a true fan of Cussler's pop fiction. Of course, Cussler does not aspire to the status of "belles lettres" (high-class literature worthy of study for its aesthetic value), but this author excels in his chosen genre of adventure ("action") novel and of books with plots that relate (at least in part) to sea-faring exploits or maritime curiosities. "Sahara" is among the best of Cussler's novels, among my very favourite of his exciting epics; only "The Mediterranean Caper", "Iceberg", and "Raise the Titantic" are as thrilling as "Sahara" is". There are few films based on Cussler novels, the only two of which I know being cinematic treatments of "Sahara", a great box-office success, and "Raise the Titanic" (a novel, hence the film too, whose plausibility suffers in retrospect only due to the discovery of the Titanic wreck well after Cussler had written his novel and after the film industry made a cinematic treatment of it). I read "Sahara" many years before the film came out. Both the novel and the film are "super"!

Cussler researches his subjects exceedingly well. The Tuaregs in "Sahara" are true to the life, religious beliefs and practices, and lore of this peculiar Muslim sect in Mali (e.g., whose men, rather than their women, wear an all-encompassing veil). Cussler's experience at sea, especially in exploring wrecks and naval mysteries, shows in all of his novels. Having been in the U.S. Navy myself (even having consorted for a few months with the "Navy Seals") during the Kennedy presidency in the early 1960s, I can appreciate the authenticity of Cussler's Naval and Maritime lore as he depicts it. In "Sahara" it takes the form of sub-plots that entail some expert manoeuvering under dangerous conditions of a small river craft vessel as well as the discovery of a marooned Confederacy warship.

The reader cannot go wrong with most of Cussler's novels especially those which were published before the present (21st) century began. "Sahara" makes a good point of departure in exploring the "Dirk Pitt" pop classics of Cussler's famously enjoyable 20th century output. If you liked the film treatment, you probably will enjoy the novel even more, if you are an avid reader of action fiction!

THis is by far the best Clive Cussler book I ever read, I only read around seven of his books but this is superior because of all the plot twists.

if anymone came to me asked me, 'sir, which clive cussler book would you recommend to me?' i would doff my bowler hat back and reply: 'Sahara'. Sahara without a doubt in my mind is one of the best cussler moves written at his height. this is more gungho than the others and is more American, like a rambo movie.its got great ideas as well as some great historical ideas. if the only critism i have it is that it is bit overlong,but still great.

This being my third Clive Cussler novel, I was both entertained and annoyed while reading it. The historical parts interested me, and Cussler has a clever way of making you forget things you read at the beginning of the book, so that it's surprising at the end. Other than that, it follows the classic formula Cussler uses for all of his novels. Suave, charming hero with the same repetitive one-liners, faithful but uninspiring sidekick, near death experiences, and finally winning the day with some unbelievable and ridiculously clever (to the extent that it hurts) plot. Good for a laugh, but not much else.

Clive (Jive) Cussler is allegedly an Adventure/Action author. In reality he's somewhere between Fantasyland and the Outer Limits. Lol(leap of logic), this guys stories are sometimes bizarre to say the least.

Am I being too harsh? Hell, I haven't even started. I have tried to read three of Cusslers books and three times I have failed to finish them. Thats right I haven't even finished this book. I get to the point where I think this is so stupid, to continue to read this drivel, is to make me as stupid as I must be, to have bought this insult to my intelligence.(did you follow that? good you might dislike this book too!) So, if you're dumb enough to read this book after my 1/2 star review, you don't really want to know more than I'm going to tell anyway.

What's really excruciating is that Cussler can come up with some great imaginative plots and then he just blows them up by going over the top. I've seen him do it in three books. What he thinks is clever is really incongruous. I understand and want my Adventure/Action to be exciting, even improbable but Cussler doesn't do improbable, he's into three other I's, Impossible, Inane and Idiotic.

I know, you're wondering if I'm ever going to tell you about the book? If I have to, but first let me address why this book gets good reviews. To do that, I'm going to explain this phenomenon in a scenario that Jive/Clive himself could appreciate.

This is probably fiction but who knows? In any case you could find something this improbable in a Cussler book. Cussler is an Alien! Not from another country, silly, another Galaxy. He is the vanguard for a race of Aliens that hope to conquer and enslave us. They plan not to confront us, but to subvert us. Our Jive aliens persona is our famous author, which is coincidently the method by which they hope to subvert us. The hero of all of his books is a jive-assed turkey named Dirk Pitt, this is important. The words Dirk Pitt, when read over and over, hypnotize the reader, making them think what they are reading makes sense, hence the four and five star reviews. The occasional one or two star review come from those such as myself, that can't be hypnotized, so if I suddenly disappear, you'll know why.

Back to my scenario. With everyone hypnotically primed to react positively to the name Dirk Pitt, another Alien emerges on the scene named Dirk Pitt, announcing, after serving a short stint as Dog Catcher of Wonderland County, that he is running for President. Voila! he is unstoppable and we're all slaves. Impossible, don't laugh, hey it explains the good reviews and it's maybe just a smidgen more impossible than some of the scenarios in Cusslers books.

Zie Wonderbar Plotzie

This is going to be quick. Some sort of ocean going pollution is causing the destruction of all marine life. A by product of this is a disease, a raging epidemic that is driving thousands of North Africans into madness, cannibalism, and death. Our hero, Dirk Pitt and a beautiful UN scientist are off to Africa in a luxury yacht to investigate this phenomenon. They are sailing the yacht up the Niger River when they come to this city on the river......No! On second thought, I'm not going to describe the book.

He lost me in this book, when Pitt and his companion discovered the remains of a Confederate Ironclad in a dry river bed in the middle of the Sahara Desert. I cannot think of anything more obtuse, except what is discovered upon investigation, the mummified body of Abraham Lincoln.

The thing is, Cussler starts out very credible with some very good plots but can't maintain and eventually blows a potentially good read with totally off the wall stuff.

There you have it in a nutshell. If you can be hypnotized you will like not only this, but all Cussler novels and if you can't (be hypnotized)you won't like this book. (and you might help save the world from the aliens)

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is very long, but the pages fly by when you are reading it. The only Dirk Pitt book I like better is Treasure. This story has a great plot and is very exciting and interesting. If you've never read a Dirk Pitt book before you are missing out. The stories go by so fast. Dirk Pitt is a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones. Dirk also has the best sidekick (Al Giordino) and boss (Admiral James Sandecker) of any other book. You need to buy this book today along with all other Clive Cussler books.

I don't know how I feel about this one. I enjoyed reading it in the same way I might enjoy watching whatever made-for-tv movie might be playing on USA on a random weeknight. My main complaint about the book was its totally bad way of giving information by way of really bad exposition. Most authors seem to be able to reveal things in a clever way that comes naturally in the story.

Often it is the equivelant of writing a character who comes out and says "It's good to have you home; I see that you have sucessfully driven to work and accomplished your tasks there. By the bag in your hand I can tell that you have gone to the store and purchased the bananas, tomatoes, and pie crusts that we needed."

"Sahara" was about the seventh Dirk Pitt book I have read and I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed any of the other ones. The plot is formulaic (but I like the formula) and the adventure was top notch. My favorite part of Cussler's work is reading the historic vingette at the beginning of the novel and then waiting to see how it relates to the outcome. This was an interesting adventure for Dirk Pitt in the aspect that other than the exporatory work on the Nile and the journey up the Niger River to locate the source of pollution, the entire story takes place on the most inhospitable land imaginable, the Sahara Desert. I heartily recommend this book to the seasoned Cussler reader or to someone whom has never read a Dirk Pitt adventure. The author's cameo was one of his better ones and my favorite character, St. Julien Perlmutter, is featured prominently. Yves Massarde was one of my favorite villians. I think I'll read "Treasure" next due to the references to it in this story. The other Dirk Pitts I have read are: "Atlantis Found," "Vahalla Rising," "The Mediterrianean Caper," "Pacific Vortex," "Inca Gold" and "Iceberg." I can't get enough of these great stories. The only downside I had was that I read the paperback, so the drawings of the vehicles and maps in the book were limited and I wonder if the hardcover copy had a some more. I would have especially liked to have seen the Luxury Yaht and Land Yaht. I am currently reading Sea Hunters II. Clive Cussler has overtaken Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Ken Follet and Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston as my favorite all time author.

This book is brilliant. One of the best I've ever read. Cussler keeps you guessing right up to the end with non-stop action everywhere in between. I highly reccomend this book to anyone with a taste for adventure.