Treasure of Khan |
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Clive Cussler
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Pages: 704 (Paperback)
ISBN: 014102819X
Pub: Penguin Books Ltd
Pub date: 2007-10-25
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 4661
Reader Reviews:
Disappointed (1/1 people found this helpful)
Having read and really enjoyed Sahara, I was looking forward to the next Dirk Pitt adventure I got to read. This one was not up to scratch, in Sahara Pitt narrowly escapes death are few times, in this one you can barely turn 3 pages before he pulls it off with some ridiculous million-to-one coincidence, he even manges the old bible-next-to-your-heart-to-stop-a-bullet trick! When this story turns up another set of characters you are glad of the break from the man who won't die.
In fact he not only won't die, he'll plunge back into the same set of circumstances just to let death have another crack at him!!! I know coincidences make for great adventure stories and I love a good adventure story, but it's just the shear number in this book that just destroys it, and then the author just tosses a few unimportant characters to death just so he doesn't create a total fairy tale and that just makes it even worse because you have no emotional connection with the characters that have just died.
Not wanting to spoil it for anybody but the ending of this book is just terrible.
Rant over...
buy one of the others instead, the two stars here were only because the first half of the story were quite exciting.
Fast Paced (0/0 people found this helpful)
Well I have read the reviews on here.
And....
I beleive the book to be very good. It is fast faced once you get paced the first 40pages or so and keeps the reader entralled. I would have finished it by now if it weren't for my slightly more disciplined approach to reading. i.e. read for 2 hours then feed the cats.
Pitt is on fine form if getting a little older, and yes his kids get in on the act late in the book. Giordino is classic, while Rudi Gunn seems to be a more background character this time around. Yaeger also appears late in the book too.
Still can't wait to get home tonight and finish it off. It keeps the reader turning the pages and reading and this is what storytelling is all about.
A super book, better than most reviews on here would have you believe.
Hmmm - Feel a little let down (0/0 people found this helpful)
I have read every previous Cussler novel and have - over the past few titles - become increasingly dissapointed. I had come to expect the white knuckle ride of Pitt's adventures to continue but I feel as if Cussler is now coasting - can't be bothered to make the effort. Don't get me wrong, writing a novel is a huge effort, especially considering the detail Cussler goes in to, but this title in particular highlights the difference between earlier Pitt novels where the goal (always intriguing) was set out at the start and half the excitement was the build toward the climax of discovery. In this novel it seems as if he ran out of narrative steam two fifths of the way in. If you're new to Cussler - buy this - you'll enjoy it. Cussler purists - leave it well alone - find another thriller writer - I think our guy has done his best.
Long winded bore (0/0 people found this helpful)
I am a long time Cussler fan; namely the Dirk Pitt novels but this particular book is just a waste of space (on your shelf) and a waste of time (in your life). It's weak plot is painfully drawn out over a rambling narrative that is a poor excuse for good story telling and which has only served to slaugther more trees to fill endless pages of drivel.
Cussler (though no Tom Clancy), has written some great airport novels, Sahara (much better than the film), to name only one but this book is really a let down compared to the others.
My advise - go back to the menu and look for another novel from him - this one isn't worth the bother.
All in all, the Treasure of Khan was a fun read (11/11 people found this helpful)
I always buy any new Clive Cussler book the day that it arrives in stores. The last few years, I've been dissapointed with each new addition to the series. Don't get me wrong, Clive Cussler is still my favorite author, but his writing just seems very stale and fomulaic lately. This book was still very formulaic along the lines of almost all past books, but it had a lot more character to it that made it seem like I was reading an old friend again.
Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino are getting older in the series, but I'm one fan that is hoping they continue to have more adventures in the years to come. The idea of bringing in the kids of Dirk Pitt (Dirk Jr and Summer) seems to be not really coming together well. They are given bit roles and not fully introduced if they are going to be the main characters in future books. All in all, the Treasure of Khan was a fun read, and it was nice to feel like Clive was back writing with more character!! Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.
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