Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt books. I read them all. By and large, they're awful.

But--and this is a big deal--they're awful in a glitzy, over the top way that really is fun. Raise the Titanic is probably the best of the lot from a literary standpoint because it is, relatively speaking, restrained. Cussler's books are literary equivalent of the lousy James Bond movies of the 70s, where he went into outer space, fought againt giants with metal teeth that bit people to death, etc. But I liked those movies (sort of) for the same reason I still read and like (sort of) Dirk Pitt books. There's a sense of familiarity combined with "Jesus! That's the dumbest f%&*#@g plot I've ever seen" and massively wooden dialogue and stereotypical characters. (FYI--someone will smile or laugh sadistically several times in the Dirk Pitt novel you read.) They're like books from another time, an older, less self-reflective time. If you're reading a Dirk Pitt for literary merit...well, you're messing up to begin with. They're lightweight piffles and they still do the job.