As I continue my romp through the full gamut of Dirk Pitt novels, I necessarily must trudge once more through less entertaining novels like this one. I recall this particular offering as being merely a long set-up for its own final page, and after having read it once more, I still believe so.

Dirk Pitt’s long-lost love, Summer Pitt, finds her way into conversations more often in this book than in any other since Pacific Vortex, and as such paves the way for her twin children to arrive at Dirk Pitt’s hanger door at the end of the book. Although he’s about to discover he’s the father of grown adults—and also to grow far closer to Congresswoman Smith—Pitt still has an eye for women of all sorts in this tale, and his buddy Al Giordino is also now un-engaged and back on the market. In this climate, the buddies-since-kindergarten find that their adventures continue like every other workday since the late 1970s..

In this story, an oil magnate seeks through murder to quell any technology that might undermine the value of oil, including a recently re-discovered technology that promises to employ sea water as a fuel source. Dirk and Al find themselves in a race to uncover the dead inventor’s muse which led him to the discovery of such a technology, and are surprised to find that this muse might be none other than Jules Verne himself. Verne’s own teleportation also plays a small role in this novel, adding a little sci-fi spice to it all.

I’ve only read a few Verne novels in my time, but one thing that Valhalla Rising has encouraged me to do is look up this master-author once more. Verne’s unique insights into future technology seem to imply that he really did once invent a time machine, peek into the future, and take his visions back with him. What a consideration!

I was a little surprised by Clive Cussler‘s unfortunate timing in this book, as he recounts an aerial dogfight over the streets and skyline of Manhattan in what he calls “2003” but which was actually published in 2001. He probably regrets holding onto that plot-nugget for so long and using it when he did, but how could he have known? He’s no near-prophet like Joel C. Rosenberg, of course, just an adventure author whose take skirted too close to reality.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I don’t look forward to watching Dirk Jr. and Summer Pitt making their splashes on the pages of what should be Dirk Pitt’s own adventures, but times change and so should the characters of good stories. I hope they turn out better the second time around.

©2018 E.T.

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