I first read a Clive Cussler novel about 18 years ago. I took it for what it was, a fun and fast-paced action movie in the form of a book. I suspended my belief long enough to enjoy a bit of a daring hero romp, and that was fine. I looked to this book for more of the same …more and could not have been more disappointed.

Whoever edited this book needs reprimanded, or even fired. Some of the setting description repetition was jarring and the misuse of phrases and continuity errors were quite bad as well.

The outright misogyny was DEPLORABLE. I could let it slide that the bad guys were all girls and they were all smokin' hot. I forgave him for making Summer (the action hero's daughter) helpless and a damsel. I even let it go when the hard-core soldier guy makes some comment about how his hard-core shootykillers might need counselling after killing civilian women because they were “knockouts”.

But the comment about the German Scientist, held captive with her husband, was unforgivable. Call her matronly, grandmotherly or even say she's well-fed (though that's still rude) but for Dirk Pitt, hero extraordinaire, to look at this woman and comment to himself that she'll never fit a size sixteen dress is so incredibly sexist and rude it makes me sick. When I read that bit I wanted to throw the book from me as hard as possible, preferably at Cussler's face.

The comment, like most of the drivel that filled this novel, had absolutely NOTHING to do with the story, plot, situation or ANYTHING relevant. This novel is filled with those. While everybody gets introduced and described in detail, from an old car to a helicopter pilot, none of it ever has anything to do with the damn story.

Speaking of which, if Dirk Pitt can land in a helicopter after evading machine-gunning bad guys, hear a pilot (living in Nicaragua for years) say two things and identify the accent as Montanan only to have it be from neighbouring Wyoming, then I'll stand in front of Cussler and eat my goddam hat. What a bag of sh*t.

Same on you Cussler. This novel had promise, but you made the entire thing a bag of sh*t. (less)