Saturday 12 June 2010

Iceberg

I have only read two Clive Cussler books but I do have to say I like the fellow. The first book I read was Black Wind (2004) which was about a planned biological attack on the United states and I picked up at random,  Iceberg (1975) the other week to kill sometime at the airport.

I'm not going to go too much into the plot of Iceberg, as I think that's half the fun of a Cussler novel is going through the twists and turns of the plot - which are many. I should also note that a plot in a Clive Cussler novel seems to be one in which you will have to take several large leaps into the realms of disbelief, but it is all done in a rather entertaining way.

The books main character is Dirk Pitt who has been the protagonist of twenty of Clive Cusslers book. The character is two dimensional in a very good way. There is no twisted Batman style past, no James Bond 'Missing teddy bear' psychological scars or anything else it seems for that matter. Dirk Pitt is an adventurer who likes fast cars, loose women and sharing a joke after getting nearly blown up/shot at/falling down/getting trapped/crashing/captured/escaping etc etc.

It makes a nice change having a hero like Dirk as you feel right from the start you know where you. You can simply kick back and enjoy and I certainly enjoyed reading Iceberg - especially with its dollop of good old fashioned squeezing the secretary's bottom and other seventies throwbacks.

The action in the story starts off somewhere in the Atlantic with a boat encased in a... Wait for it....Iceberg. Then fast forwards to Iceland before ending up in... Well not going to spoil that as it did make it chuckle where it ended up - as I mentioned, you are going to have to take several leaps away from reality.

To sum up, an enternaining read. No its not up their with the greats of literature and I doubt any CC book will be. If you are reading this and thinking it sounds a bit Dan Brown, then don't. They are a world apart. For a start Clive Cussler can actually write and whilst the leaps are there, they are certainly more credible than using your jacket as a parachute(Angels and Demons) and your are not going to find any of this.

I look forward to reading more CC books as they are perfect for reading at the airport and then leaving on a beach, which on that note, if anyone wants my copy of Iceberg or Black wind just shout.

Iceberg (Amazon Link)

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