Black Wind, by Clive Cussler
Having seen the film Sahara, noticed that it was based on a book by Clive Cussler and further investigation revealing that he'd written loads, I was quite keen to try one. Picked one up second-hand last weekend, and then discovered that it's currently in the top 20 bestseller lists. Nothing like starting a series at the wrong end.
It's not overly well written - a lot of the dialogue feels rather stilted, I think because of his reluctance to use contractions - eg people seem to say 'it is' and 'I am' rather than it's and I'm a lot, and it doesn't feel natural. Descriptions are repeated too much - one of the baddies has deathly cold black eyes, and I know this because it's mentioned almost every time he appears. Summer Pitt gushes a lot (no not like that you smutty minded lot). One of the ships can stop on a dime - several times. Tenses are mucked about with - there's a prologue set in the 2nd World War that switches back and forth between present tense action and past tense historical information.
All that said, it's a ripsnorting adventure on the high seas, and I read it (677 pages) in a week. The plot involves the recovery of Japanese 2nd World War biological weapons from a wrecked submarine by an evil Korean business tycoon (complete with evil mountainside lair) who's going to launch them at a G8 gathering in America from a hijacked rocket. There's a lot of chases and explosions and escapes and wisecracking. It's also possibly the first book I've come across where the author makes a cameo appearance, popping up to do a spot of rescuing.
Highly recommended for a spot of non-taxing adventure. And also for the (presumably) unintentionally hilarious line "His finger was just tightening on the trigger when a loud poof erupted at his feet." Yes, another assassination attempt thwarted by Graham Norton...
posted by Izzy @ 7:06 pm
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