For his fifth installment in the Dirk Pitt series, Clive Cussler takes his readers to South Africa and the black revolution that threatens to topple the white regime. At work to destroy the status quo are a black US Senator and his Devil-may-care Starlet; an American-born criminal-turned-revolutionary leader in South Africa; and a corrupt Colonel in the revolution’s army who—with his cross-dressing girlfriend—seeks to capitalize on the murder of an old Scottish sea captain’s family. The plot is not nearly as convoluted as it sounds, and it moves along quite nicely, more like a political drama from the 70s than an action novel.

Dirk Pitt plays a hefty role in this affair after discovering that two germ-warfare bombs had been inadvertently acquired by these revolutionaries and that they now threatened to unwittingly kill themselves a million others by heaving them onto the streets of Washington D.C. This is the only Cussler plot that I can recall where the villain is more of a threat than even he is aware.

I have to admit one flaw in this read, and I’m not sure whether it’s mine or Cussler’s. While I know that the Scott seeks revenge for the murder of his family, and while I know he was but a puppet to the South African Colonel, I’m not sure why he chose to unleash his revenge on Washington D.C., and more specifically the National Archives Building. Terrorism on US soil is a major plot-point, and of course—like most of the other world-changing events in detached serials like these—it will be mostly forgotten by Book 6. Nevertheless, it’s the climax of the book, and I don’t even remember how it got there or why!

Dirk Pitt carouses with his future wife in this book, Congresswoman Loren Smith, who turns out to be quite a shameless swinger herself. The sex talk from Cussler in these earlier books still surprises me, because it’s completely absent in his later novels, though it presently seems like a character all its own. Soon, I’m sure, Loren Smith is going to tame Pitt, that wild stallion, and Cussler can then move on to more important things, like vintage cars and ingenious weapons. I’m not sure how long I’ll have to wait, but I’ll keep plugging away nonetheless. Next up, Night Probe!

©2017 E.T.

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