AtlantisFound

Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler

I don’t know how many of you guys are fans of Clive Cussler’s novels, but I really do get a kick out of them. Especially his books that regale us with the adventures of Dirk Pitt and his trusty friend Al Giordino, which remind me a lot of the old pulp adventures of the 30s. In their capacity as employees of NUMA, a government agency that works on ocean related projects; Pitt and Giordino find themselves in the middle of all sorts of excitement.

Atlantis Found starts off in the late 1800s with a whaling ship trapped in the ice of the Antarctica. While there they stumble on an even older ship that has on it some strange treasures, including a strange carved skull. The action shifts to the present as a miner stumbles on a rather fantastic archeological find. A find that draws some assassins from some mysterious secret society that attempts to kill them. Luckily Pitt is working nearby on a project for NUMA and manages to save them from certain death. But when the attempts continue both he and Giordino get sucked into a vast conspiracy. Before you know it they are uncovering evidence of a long forgotten civilization from prehistory, are fighting German U-Boats that should have been destroyed more than 50 years prior, and find themselves in the middle of a full scale battle in some of the harshest terrains in the world. All this to prevent a worldwide catastrophe engineered by a rather nasty family.

I’ve only recently (in the last few years) discovered the books of Clive Cussler. Atlantis Found is one of my favorites that I’ve read so far from him. The story is interesting and the book is paced pretty well. It does drag a bit in the middle as it keeps hammering away that the Wolf family, the villains of the piece, aren’t nice people. There is also a part of the book where Pitt and Giordino have to go and rescue a friend from the Wolf family, which pretty much serves to establish and explain the presence of these huge ships that they plan riding out the destruction they are trying to bring about. This part of the book kind of felt forced and kind of awkward. But things pick up towards the end and the book really ends with some great action.

If you are looking for a cool action/adventure to read then I recommend Atlantis Found. It is an entertaining book with some fun twists and turns that I think will keep most readers interested and engaged. Cussler also does a wonderful job of giving fans of the Pitt character a few nods and mentions to earlier adventures, while keeping it accessible to new readers. I’m going to recommend Atlantis Found.

reviewed by John Shatzer