Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt Adventures (Paperback))
by Clive Cussler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Clive CusslerEdition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-10-26
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 528
Book Reviews of Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt Adventures (Paperback))
Book Review: Viking Runes and the Real Captain Nemo
Summary: 4 Stars
THE LOWDOWN: Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino save the day again. Isn't that how is usually goes? As with its predecessor, it has lots of action, a historical twist, and some really unrealistic science. While I do like this book as an adventure, I find some parts of it (including the final twist at the end) to be unnecessary.
THE PLOT: Pitt's NUMA research vessel rescues the people aboard a cruise ship that has caught fire, and in the process, a scientist is killed by mercenary assassins who have their eyes on his new "frictionless oil" formula. While Pitt and company attempt to keep the scientist's daughter safe and track down the man's lab, an oil tycoon named Curtis Merlin Zale is plotting a false-flag terror strike (in a method disturbingly similar to 9/11) that will cause the United States to boycott middle eastern oil, making the US dependent on his company's oil. Zale wants to have the oil formula in his hands when this takes place.
THE PROS: As with all Pitt adventures, there is action, intrigue, sexy girls, and heinous villains. While Curtis Merlin Zale, a stereotypical greedy businessman, is a lackluster villain, the central henchman Omo Kanai was a nasty piece of work who gives Pitt quite a run for his money. The action is non-stop in this book, with fights, gun battles, standoffs, a burning cruiseliner, an antique airplane dogfight over New York City, and climactic battle between an runaway LNG tanker and a submarine.
THE CONS: This book, while abounding with action suffers from many of the same drawbacks as its predecessor Atlantis Found. The historical tie-in of Viking runes and Captain Nemo's submarine had virtually nothing to do with the plot, and the science (teleportation) is completely stepping over the science fiction/fantasy line. The sentimentality is over the top at times (Pitt has to save an airplane full of handicapped children....really? What's next, saving a ship full of kittens from North Korea?), especially at the end when Pitt meets two new characters.
Summary of Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt Adventures (Paperback))
It is July 2003. In the middle of its maiden voyage, the luxury cruise ship Emerald Dolphin suddenly catches fire and sinks. What caused it? Why didn't the alarms go off? What was its connection to the revolutionary new engines powering the ship? NUMA special projects director Dirk Pitt races to rescue the passengers and investigate the disaster, but he has no idea of the bizarre events that are about to engulf him.
Before the next few weeks are over, Pitt will find himself confronted by an extraordinary series of monsters, both human and mechanical, modern and ancient. He will tread upon territory previously known only to legend. And, at the end of it all, though many lives will be lost, and many saved, it is Pitt's own life that will be changed forever...
Filled with dazzling suspense and breathtaking action, Valhalla Rising is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers.
Dirk Pitt, Clive Cussler's aging but still potent superhero, returns in the 16th adventure in this popular series about the director of special projects for the National Underwater Maritime Administration (NUMA). Pitt's NUMA survey ship happens to be in the vicinity when the world's newest and biggest cruise ship founders and sinks, giving Pitt the chance to stage the daring rescue of nearly 2,000 passengers. Among those who perish is a famous scientist whose revolutionary engines powered the ship to her watery grave; while Pitt is unable to save Dr. Egan, he rescues his beautiful daughter Kelly from the sea, and later from a murder attempt aboard the rescue vessel.
Pitt and his trusty pal Al Giordino track the sinking to the boardroom door of a multinational conglomerate called Cerberus, whose evil CEO has designs on the world's oil supply. He'll do anything to keep Egan's advanced engines and secret formula for frictionless oil off the market--even sabotage another vessel, this time a luxury passenger submarine. By the time our heroes have foiled the mastermind's nefarious plots, they've also uncovered the existence of a working submarine nearly a century before one actually existed--irrefutable proof of a Viking landing on the Hudson River--and the remains of the British sailor who inspired Jules Verne's Captain Nemo. A solid page-turner that even features a cameo appearance by the author himself, Valhalla Rising snaps, crackles, and pops with Cussler's usual brio. --Jane Adams
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