Polite Dissent

Clive Cussler writes some of the best guilty pleasure books. I know I’ve mentioned his work before, but with the imminent release of the movie Sahara (based on his book of the same name), it seemed like a good time to bring them up again.

Cussler’s novels star Dirk Pitt, a marine scientist and adventurer. He and his pal Al Giordano always find themselves dragged into one international mystery after another (and given the marine background, they all seem to involve boats and shipwrecks, even the stories set in the desert). There are dastardly villains, beautiful damsels in distress and technology that would make Q jealous.

The action is non-stop and the plot heavily foreshadowed (example line: “If only the captain had known this was to be his last day on Earth he might have paid more attention to the weather report.” ) The books are fun to read because Cussler doesn’t fool himself that he’s writing great literature; he’s writing high-adrenalin little-thought-required adventure fiction, and he knows it.

I also like the fact that he doesn’t mind changing history with absurd ideas. The Ancient Greeks discovered America. Sure. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t assassinated, but instead kidnapped by his Secretary of War. Why not? The President has been brainwashed. Makes sense.

His best are: Sahara, Treasure, Cyclops, Dragon and Raise the Titanic.