Atlantis Found: A Dirk Pitt Adventure (Dirk Pitt Adventures) - Hardcover

Cussler, Clive

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399145885 ISBN 13: 9780399145889

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1999

Synopsis

When a research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is nearly sunk by a vessel from the past, Pitt finds himself caught up in an ancient mystery with lethal ties to the present, matching wits with a malevolent and powerful adversary. 775,000 first printing. BOMC Main. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Clive Cussler is the author of many New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Spy and Lost Empire. He lives in Arizona.

Reviews

YA-Once again, Cussler sends his superhero Dirk Pitt into the thickest of plots, against the odds and against human and natural forces that most mere mortals would never survive. Ancient archaeological sites are found containing relics of the advanced civilization identified as Atlantis, including a completely baffling written language. When finally deciphered, the inscriptions contain a prediction of the world's end in the next few months. At the same time, in South America, the Wolf family and its enterprises are assembling a massive clandestine operation. And, on Antarctica, a seemingly innocent scientific- research site proves to be a diabolical setup for destroying the known world. However, Dirk Pitt and his friend and partner, Al Giordino, destroy the dastardly plan. Offering one action-packed scene after another, Cussler guarantees to keep the pages turning at a rapid rate. There are plenty of technologically advanced gadgets and machines, along with secretive movements to add a thriller quality to the plot. Cussler writes himself into the story as a minor player in the mayhem, poking fun at his own writing. This book provides plenty of adventure, as well as top-rate entertainment.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Dirk Pitt, Cussler's larger-than-life hero, butts heads with an army of elite killers seeking to destroy the world in another wickedly engrossing yet predictably scripted tale of bravery against all odds. As the story begins, artifacts from a previously undiscovered civilization, ancient but highly advanced, are popping up all over the globe. Pitt himself is on site in a Colorado mine when archeologists come across strange carvings and mysterious inscriptions. But then an explosion traps the party below ground, and a band of black-suited terrorists arrive at the scene with guns blazing. Though Pitt saves the day, the incident points toward a wider network of evil schemes. Working for the National Underwater & Marine Agency, Pitt finally identifies the terrorists as members of the Fourth Empire, an organization headed by the diabolical Wolf family, a secret clan of genetically engineered people who worship the Nazi Third Reich. But it's only after Pitt and his able sidekick, Al Giordino, battle old German U-boats, dodge surface-to-air missiles and narrowly escape death on a remote island off Australia that they find out what the Fourth Empire is up to. The neo-Nazis aim to prevent the world from discovering the artifacts of this previously unknown seafaring culture because they tell of a catastrophic event that wiped out civilization 9000 years ago and reveal when the next cataclysm will hit. The Wolfs plan to accelerate the date through their own scheme to destroy Earth, meanwhile sheltering themselves and their thousands of followers on enormous, disaster-proof ships. Pitt knows his assignment: save the world--a tall order, but one he's filled many times before. Cussler's 15th Pitt adventure (after Flood Tide) is a rampaging story of history, technology and heroism, written with Cussler's typical make-no-apologies enthusiasm. For muscle-flexing, flag-waving, belief-suspending fare, he has no equal. 750,000 first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection; simultaneous audio; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Dirk Pitt returns in his first undersea adventure since Flood Tide (1997). Also returning, regrettably, are most of the literary failings Cussler seemed to have vanquished with the help of coauthor Paul Kemprecos in his recent non-Pitt thriller, the smooth and surprisingly poetic Serpent: From the NUMA Files (p. 752). Atlantis Found, by contrast, has a boiler-rooms worth of grammatical clinkers and a cast of characters whose credibility isshall we be polite?tenuous. Cussler, however, knows how to distract us from bad prose and ludicrous protagonists with lots of maritime facts, albeit many of them imaginary. He begins splendidly here, with a comet wiping out nearly all human life 7,000 years ago, shifting the tectonic plates, bringing on the second Ice Age, and leading to the sinking of Atlantis in Antarctica. Dirk Pitt, naturally, rediscovers the lost island while, in a second plotline, undercover Nazis reappear with hopes of establishing the Fourth Reich. Need we mention that Pitt's longstanding love affair with dazzling, cinnamon-haired Loren Smith reignites? Cussler fans will have no complaint as the Master revs up his novel to 40 knots per hour and sweeps the reader into the fabled past. (First printing of 750,000; Book-of-the-Month main selection; $750,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Brilliantly conceived and boldly plotted, this 15th Dirk Pitt thriller by writer and shipwreck enthusiast Cussler is his most imaginative yet. Pitt, his associates, and Patricia O'Connell (an expert on ancient languages) here tackle a dangerous but intriguing puzzle: What ties a previously unknown and highly advanced prehistoric civilization, wiped out in a global catastrophe, to a group of murderous fanatics devoted to what they call "the Fourth Empire"? Adding to the mystery are twin 9000-year-old obsidian skulls found continents apart; ancient underground chambers with celestial maps, enigmatic inscriptions, and strange artifacts; a British Indiaman ship and its crew, trapped and frozen in ice since 1779; a Nazi U-boat still on the prowl 56 years after the end of World War II; and much more. This is a fascinating story with exotic locations, high-tech wizardry, heart-pounding suspense, the threat of a cataclysmic disaster, resourceful heroes, and an action-packed conclusionAall backed by meticulous research to make this a truly grand adventure. Highly recommended. [BOMC main selection.]ARonnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucso.
-ARonnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399145885
• ISBN 13: 9780399145889
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 534