This is the 20th Dirk Pitt novel. It comes out 11/25 but I have obtained an advance copy and started reading already. Anyone else going to read this one?

From Publishers Weekly;

Bestseller Cussler and son Dirk imagine the U.S. and Canada on the brink of war in their third collaborative Dirk Pitt novel (after Treasure of Khan and Black Wind).

In 2011, as the price of gas hits $10 a gallon, President Garner Ward must contend with a corrupt Canadian cabal that's subverting efforts to solve America's energy problems.

Pitt barely escapes serious injury when a bomb destroys a D.C. lab along with records of research into an artificial photosynthesis process that could, almost immediately, eliminate the threat of global warming.

That discovery may be connected with a legendary failed 19th-century sailing expedition to the Arctic as well as a series of deaths due to the phenomena that the Native Americans of British Columbia know as the Devil's Breath.

The Cusslers won't suspend many readers' disbelief, but thriller fans in search of a quick, exciting read should be satisfied. 750,000 printing; author tour. (Dec.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thanks for this book description, Don. Sounds like quite a thriller!

You've raised my awareness today. I had heard of Clive Cussler, but didn't know much about his genre. Now at least I know that he writes thrillers.

I find that the personal interaction at goodreads helps to stimulate my interest in books and to raise my awareness about them. In my view, talking to goodreads friends about books is much more effective than reading reviews in a magazine or newspaper.

Here's my review;

Clive Cussler has become one of the most consistent and reliable authors in the adventure/thriller genre. None of his books are literary masterpieces but every one of his books is an excellent story delicately crafted to appeal to his readers.

Is every detail believable? No. Is every novel intriguing? Certainly.

Clive is a true master of his craft and "Artic Drift" is no exception.

This book keeps your attention from start to finish and delivers a truely satisfying tale.

5 stars? No. 4 stars? Definitely.

Any of Clive's novels are more satisfying then the best movie you've seen this year.

Don, you're tempting me to try reading Clive Cussler's writing. Which one would you suggest starting with?

Oh, we forgot to include a link to Arctic Drift. Here it is:

"Raise The Titanic!" might be the best place to start. It is probably his most famous novel. I'm sure Crandall Library would have it.

Most of his novels center around Dirk Pitt, his adventurer/explorer/hero.

Besides the Dirk Pitt novels (20 of them now) he also has;

The Oregon Files series, which is about a group of mercenaries that travel the world aboard an old converted high-tech freighter ship.

The NUMA files series, which is about an underwater exploration group.

Cussler is a diver himself in real life and has visited dozens of shipwrecks over the years so his underwater writings are very acurate. He also collects old classic cars so he likes to mention them in his books as well.

He has been criticized as being a "novel factory" because now that he's older he usually co-writes his books with other authors, including his son Dirk Cussler on the last three Dirk Pitt novels. Clive now lays out the outline of the story and relies on his co-writers to fill in the details.

That being said, he does still lay out some great stories. "Artic Drift" is as entertaining as any of his earlier novels.

Don, thanks for the great post. I've added the books you've mentioned to our group's bookshelves. See them below as book-cover-links:







I appreciate your well-written, informative posts. I'm learning so much about books from reading the different posts at this group.

You can see the books you mentioned at the following link to our bookshelf. ===>
http://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf...
The above link will take you to the shelf I called "suggested-by-group-member". Of course, it has other tags/categories as well. You'll see them at the webpage.

Please let me know if my links don't work for you.

A friend of mine is a real fan of Cussler's. I've read a couple of his books that he gave me. Both were about Dirk Pitt. He is entertaining. I rate him about the same as John Grisham. Interesting novels.

Don, I too am a Clive Cussler fan and I think you have described him perfectly. Glad you like Artic Drift because I cannot wait to read it. Thanks for sharing your review. My husband got me started reading Cussler years back and I haven't stopped yet!

I like Cussler's books because I read one and think how this story would make a great movie. Unfortunately, most movies never deliver the satisfaction that his books do.

I think the problem is that his story is so detailed while movies have to omit most details in order to make the time limits. Cussler keeps your interest with the details, movies lose it with the lack of them.

Grisham writes some great stories as well. Different subjects but some intense details as well.

I find James Lee Burke to be the same in the detective novel genre.