Craig Dirgo

Having read several Dirk Pitt books, I was surprised at how different this book felt. Yes, it was co-authored, but it feels like Clive Cussler left most if not all of the actual work/manuscript to someone else after feeding them a few ideas.

Some people don't like the Dirk Pitt novels because Cussler could get rather detailed on the specs of the various vehicles and the like in the story, and this is definitely not the case for the Oregon Files. Compared to Dirk Pitt, this novel feels like show more 'lite' and while it did not suit me, it will suit others. show less

The sea is there to defeat us.

Plain and simple and that's what [a:Clive Cussler|18411|Clive Cussler|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225620641p2/18411.jpg] delivers with this book...simplicity. Each wreck or incident is explained and then Cussler relates his results when he went looking for the missing ships. As the reader, I kept getting involved with the real-life people, folks who stepped on to a boat and never reached their destination. Fast forward to Cussler and his team diving to show more find the answers and the relics of humans now in the locker of Davy Jones.

Take the S.S. Waratah, known as Australia's Titanic. This ship was on its way to England from Down Under, when she vanished before reaching Capetown. Was it a humongous rogue wave? The kind that took out the ship in The Poseidon Adventure? Referred to as an "ugly spud", the disappearance of this ship was the greatest mystery of the early 20th Century. Scientists will tell you there are no rogue waves. Right. Tell that to the Indian Ocean.

The Mary Celeste. This was the Ghost Ship that was found near Gibraltar, but with no crew or passengers. What happened to them? Did they freak out and take the rowboat because they thought the ship was in trouble? In Portugal, a raft was found on a beach, with a flag and a human skeleton. Was this the last survivor of this ghostly tale?

Perhaps The Flying Dutchman isn't a fairytale after all.

Book Season = Summer (boat rocking, sun beating, water lapping) show less

I gave Golden Buddha, the first book in this series, a fairly good review. Unfortunately, I cannot do the same for Sacred Stone. Everything that was enjoyable about Golden Buddha was absent. Instead, the book reads more like a logistics textbook, with the main characters placing their subordinates around like a chess match. In fact, many of the action sequences in the book are simply glossed over so that the others can return to the tedium of logistics (let's put this helicopter over there, show more and this boat here...). If the next book in the series (if there is one) is not a significant improvement, then the series is dead. Note: The next book in the series was co-written with Jack Du Brul (an author whose books I've really enjoyed) instead of Craig Dirgo. show less

enjoyed the fast-paced action of this story,but I was amused at the fact that Eric The Red needed two men to lift the meteorite when it was first discovered. Centuries later,the Corporation and their enemies juggled the stone as if it were a pizza: one person handling it with no difficulty whenever and wherever it was moved during the adventure; up hills,into and out of helicopters,trains,cars,etc. Try lifting a 100 pound,bowling-ball-sized, smooth-sided sphere. I can only conclude that all show more of the characters in this book,with the exception of Eric the Red's men, had exceptional strength. show less