Dragon

First off, let me say that I owe a lot to this book. It got me started on Clive Cussler, but, more importantly, it is the book that really got me on the path to being a writer. After reading it, I just knew that writing was what I wanted to do.Looking back on this book, over ten years later, it doesn't hold the mystique it did back then. Still, this is a classic Dirk Pitt adventure story, with all the trimmings. The action is tense, the dialog witty, and the overall feel is that of a cozy novel.Cussler's strength lies in his ability to tie seemingly unrelated events together. For instance, the idea of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki going wrong leading to current-day events. It's just interesting how he does it.Dragon's plot is a bit far-fetched. The idea of someone in Japan wanting to wipe out American civilization seems absurd today. Still, written in the wake of cool relations between us and the Japanese, it rings true, if still a bit hard to believe.If you like this sort of novel, the action-oriented mystery, then you will absolutely love this book. Cussler writes with an authoritative hand, and, because of him, I found what I really wanted to do with my life.Thanks, Clive.

Dragon written by Clive Cussler is the tenth novel in the Dirk Pitt series and is an espionage, under sea thriller complete with mixing recent history with some of our deepest fears.As the book progresses, and if you were around when the Japanese tried to buy America in the 1980's, you'll find a very familiar theme running through this book. The villian in this book is a mysterious, vile xenophobe, that has infinite patience, is a ruthless evildoer, relying upon financial power rather than military prowess and goes to great lengths to ensure Japanese dominance of the United States. The head of "Murmoto" a maker of automobiles, Hideki Suma is Dirk Pitt's bad guy is this book.Cussler writes a convincing story as this complex Japanese plot unflods... using atomic weapons, placed in automobiles that are imported and placed in strategic locations throughout the country, ready to release their deadly surprises. This book takes the reader from the high seas to the ocean depths, around the United States from Alaska to Maryland, as Dirk Pitt works to save the day before the United States lies helpless. This book has a complex ruthlessness about it and is brutally thrilling and entertaining as it combines samurai-inspired Japanese fighting with our hero's one-step-ahead ninja-suited thinking. We go to Europe, in the book, looking for Nazi war booty in underground caves, but all the time, keeping skill and daring, Cussler ties all of these threads together making a richly inspired story. The story pitts (no pun intended) cunning and might with vast technological resourses and ancient warrior traditions making this book a real page-turner.

Can ANYONE tell me who can write more action into 500 pages than Clive Cussler?? ANYONE?? As one of Pitt's finest adventures begins (as usual) we are transported to an un-recorded flight of a 3rd atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan at the end of WWII. It never arrived...the powers-that-be sweep it under the table and we then leap-frog ahead to a sudden nuclear explosion in the Pacific. The explosin is totally UN-RELATED to the atomic bomb which never arrived in WWII...where did it come from and why? This is the little problem we encounter with 'Dragon' possibly one of Pitt's most entertaining adventures. From an undergound Nazi cache of stolen art, to robotic dogs to a fanatical modern day Ninja who collects human heads this novel travels from one spot on the globe to another as quickly as you can turn the pages. We even are treated to a spectacular nuclear explosion IN the United States...how it comes about is half the fun, and how Dirk & Company take us to the final moments is a roller-coaster worth riding. For sheer fun and an adrenaline rush unlike any other, 'Dragon' is THE answer.

The reader is caught up in a typically complex Cussler caper with WWII bombs, a Japanese ego maniac and a plan so dastardly that the good guys might not win the day. Enter Dirk Pitt, NUMA's Special Projects director (who makes James Bond look like Jerry Springer) Everything in this novel is high paced and captivating as only Cussler can be. The best of the Dirk Pitt novels by far......

This is Clive's best Dirk Pitt book ever!! It is full of action, suspense, and intrigue. This is a great book for someone to start reading Clive Cussler. I recommend it to anyone.