My mom likes Cussler's books for their action and history, but I found that the history is too minuscule to overlook the aspects of this book, the first I've tried from Cussler, I don't like. The action is more generic action film, the attitude chauvinistic and haughty, and there simply wasn't any depth to the story or characters that I need. The first chapter was fun, I worked through the rest of the first half of the book, and I started skimming the back half because I was desperate to technically finish it and know for sure I didn't miss anything that might draw me back in and save the series. Nope. ( )

idiotic and offensive ( )

[b:The Mediterranean Caper|41701|The Mediterranean Caper (Dirk Pitt, #2)|Clive Cussler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442726835s/41701.jpg|2861842] by [a:Clive Cussler|18411|Clive Cussler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1225620641p2/18411.jpg]

Genres; Action/Adventure, Crime, Mystery, Suspense

3 Stars

I liked this one better than the 1st.
I was about 25 when I read it. And this is the exact paperback I read at that time.
I thought Dirk Pit sounded exciting, and adventurous.
But in truth, I loved his sidekick. Who I thought was funny.
Yeah, I have a thing for guys with a sense of humor. ( )

Very predictable and dated, but I can't fault the book for being out of touch with 2012...since it was written in 1973. In that respect, it was actually rather entertaining. ( )

The first Dirk Pitt book published and the second chronologically, [b:The Mediterranean Caper|41701|The Mediterranean Caper (Dirk Pitt, #2)|Clive Cussler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442726835l/41701._SY75_.jpg|2861842] is kind of ridiculous. It's 70s action at it's finest, with more of a focus on old airplanes (the novel opens with a dogfight between a World War II flying boat against a World War I fighter plane) and smuggling than ocean salvage, but it's still a enough fun read. I miss the ocean focus and salvage we saw in [b:Pacific Vortex!|361081|Pacific Vortex! (Dirk Pitt, #1)|Clive Cussler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1269478239l/361081._SY75_.jpg|6841892] and later books though.

The sexism is ... pretty ridiculous in this book, wherein early in the book, Pitt meets a woman, finds out she's a widow of several years, slaps her and tells her to move on with her life, and has sex with her--all within minutes of meeting her. Add that to all manner of comments about 'feminine' so and such. It's maddening. We'll see how that changes as the series continues to advance through the years.

Overall, it's mostly an interesting book in a completionist state / to see where the series came from. If you're jumping around in the series or reading only the best of Dirk Pitt, you can probably go ahead and skip this one. ( )