Dirk Pitt (r) is my hero. He can do anything and everything:
battle evil maniacs bent on destroying America; eradicate
international drug smuggling rings; find lost treasure; battle
impossible odds against invading armies; dive deeper, and
longer, than any man alive; save lives by the thousands; fight
in air-to-air combat against thugs who not only greatly
outnumber him, but out-artillery him as well (one pistol against
attack helicopters with machine guns); win the love and lust of
women. Dirk Pitt (r) has been very fun to read, and he has been
good to his creator, Clive Cussler (pictured at the left, next
to Dirk Pitt's (r) 1929 Model J Duesenberg). I've been thrilled
by Dirk Pitt's (r) exploits, daring, and incomparable bravery
for years.
Flood Tide was published by Simon and Schuster in 1997. (ISBN 0-684-80298-8). The villian is a greedy Chinese smuggler named Qin Shang: one whos merchandice is human beings sent as slave labor to America's underground menial-labor job force: garment districts, produce fields, and brothes. And Shang doesn't care who he hurts, nor how many he kills, on his quest for unlimited wealth. From a mountain lake full of dead bodies, to the Mississippi delta, the action is hot, full of danger and intrigue, and is classic Dirk Pitt (r).
Shang has a weakness, however: he lusts to find a ship that was filled with incomparable, priceless works of Chinese art, that went missing in 1949CE. To punish the evil Shang, Dirk Pitt (r) must find the lost ship and thus keep it out of the hands of his foe. Plus save countless lives from Shang's disasterous, dastardly plot along the Mississippi River.
On the Shy David Book Review Scale from one to six stars (six
being best), I think this book deserves
three stars. I judge the book against Cussler's previous books,
and I find it comes out as average--- he has done much better
work, such as Raise the Titanic! and Vixin 05.
For someone unfamilure with Dirk Pitt (r), the reader may have
a higher opinion. But I enjoyed the book alot: indeed, once I
started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I think you'll
enjoy the book, too.
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