I'm releasing this for my mom (who was just going to give it to GOODWILL, because she's too upset by it to make it a bookcrossing book.) My mom has been of fan of Cussler's "Dirk Pitt" novels for quite awhile, but this one really frustrated her. The reason? The character of Dirk has been getting older in each subsequent book and the author seems to have come up with a very chicken sh*t solution. In this, his newest adventure, Dirk discovers, to his shock, that he has two grown children he had never known about. These kids are fraternal twins born to a woman who he had thought had died in an earlier novel. The boy is also named Dirk and, amazingly, has characteristics VERY similar to Dirk Sr. So, basically, Cussler has found a way to REINCARNATE Dirk, thus being able to write more stories and not be troubled with an aging hero. Seems a pretty lame cop-out to me.

Still, if this doesn't bother you (and if you haven't read any of his previous novels it will probably matter even less) it should be an enjoyable read. Welcome to Bookcrossing!!

Released on Friday, February 20, 2004 at Cloud City Coffee 8801 Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle, Washington USA.

I hear they have a shelf for bookcrossing books. It will be there.

Started reading. Never read a Cussler book before. So I'm not offended by the reincarnation. .. Am somewhat disappointed in the engineering of the monster hotel. Where is the crew of thousands needed to scrape barnacles and clean the plexiglass on a daily basis? Will it be drydocked three times a year to keep the paint fresh underwater? Will they dump raw sewage like cruise ships? If so, can you view it from the underwater windows? Why isn't it a cruise ship? Same basic principle. Ah well.. it's fluff. For nautical detail I'll take O'Brian.

It's a step below pot-boiler.
I have actually read some pot-boilers I liked..
Can't say that for this.. but it does have a very glossy cover.

I will release this book at the Arcata COOP in Arcata, California