Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 12/1/2014 + 1223 more book reviews

The first Dirk Pitt adventure! I have several of Cussler's earlier Dirk Pitt books that I haven't read so decided to see where it all started. This one is quite unlike some of the later stories without so much detail and length but still enjoyable. In this one Dirk gets involved with the strange disappearances of ships during the last 30 years in an area of the Pacific called the Pacific Vortex -- much like the Bermuda triangle. The book starts out with the loss of a nuclear submarine in the area. A capsule with the Captain's last words ends up with Dirk while he is swimming on the north shore of Oahu. And off we go! Dirk winds up finding out that the ships have been scuttled by a group of men using a lost island similar to Atlantis, called Kanoli, as its base. The leader of the group is like a cross between Doc Savage (he has golden or yellow eyes) and Jules Verne's Captain Nemo. I can see that Cussler was influenced by both of these. Along the way, Dirk falls in love but alas, it was not meant to be. Overall a fun read.

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