Arctic Drift

Dirk Pitt® #20

by Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler

Large Print Edition

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Action, Mystery, Suspense, Historical Fiction

Hardcover

First published November 25, 2008

About the author

Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.

Cussler was an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.

In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler was also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He was honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey and Black Wind (this last with his son, Dirk Cussler); the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed; the NUMA® Files novels Serpent, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death and Lost City (written with Paul Kemprecos); and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig Dirgo) and Dark Watch (written with Jack Du Brul).

Clive Cussler died at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 24, 2020.

Reviews

[Jay Schutt · Rating 2 out of 5]

At 515 pages, this story was stretched out way too much to keep my interest. Not a good thing. It would have been better pared down to maybe 350 pages. This was another example of Cussler's later books being co-written and not nearly as good as his earlier books where he was the sole author.
I was ready to give up on it a few times, but stayed with it to the end just because I wanted to see the exciting conclusion. Which wasn't. Taking place mainly in the Arctic waters of Northern Canada the story was about as bleak as the landscape.
I started reading the hardback version of the book then switched to audio for the remainder. Another disappointment.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I haven't read the other Dirk Pitt books, I still enjoyed this one.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clive Cussler has penned a life's work of novels about Dirk Pitt and NUMA. Most of the novels start the same way. Cussler tells a tale about some ancient well known historical disaster, or made up disaster, then ties a modern day search to find something in connection with the past.

The earlier novels were more action packed, as Dirk Pitt and his trusty sidekick Al Giordano fell into various situations. Yet the action was only part of the story as Cussler's books were always more about Pitt and Giordano's ability to solve puzzles. Raise the Titanic, is a perfect example of the Cussler's thriller.

Recently, Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels have not been solely about Dirk Pitt. Cussler has introduced Pitt's children -- Dirk Jr and Summer, who have also been part of the main characters of the novels. Jack Dahlgren, Rudi Gunn, and others from the NUMA universe have become more prominent characters and Dirk Pitt is not as involved in the total story.

This novel starts with a long narative whose starting off point is the events surrounding the Franklin mission to find a way through the Northwest Passage, which ended in disaster. It then quickly moves to a modern day evildoer, a Canadian industrialist, Moyette, who with his hired gun Clay Zak, is using money and guns to bully his way to control the Artic, and with blackmail and friends in high places and masquerading ships starts a tense situation between the USA and Canada. A canadian ice camp is attacked by what looks like an American ship and the Canadians seize American sailors on another ship.

In this backdrop, the first quarter of the book finds Summer Pitt and Dirk Pitt Jr joining forces with Trevor Miller, the brother of a dead sailor as they try to find out what is going on with one of Moyette's industiral bases. Meanwhile, as the political situation escalates into near war, Dirk Pitt learns of promising new research using a rare element that could go a long way to solve America's energy problems. The only known source of the rare element, however, appears to be in the Artic. Zak also learns of the same source and the two men in separate ships go after the source of the rare element.

Although not as fun as the earlier Pitt adventures, this novel, with its political situation and whole host of new characters and old is a good addition to the Pitt saga.

[Corey Woodcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The frozen tundra, the beautiful islands and inlets of British Columbia and…war with Canada?

This is the first Pitt book I have read co-authored by Clive’s son, Dirk Cussler (I’m kind of jumping around and reading whatever looks interesting to me in this series, I know), and I gotta say, I think he does a pretty good job. In my last review for Raise The Titanic! I said something like this: Cussler’s books are pure entertainment. If you’re looking for great prose, you won’t find it here. It’s serviceable, never distracting, and works just fine for these kinds of stories, but it’s nothing special. The same applies here, possibly even more so, with this book co-authored by his son Dirk.

This book has an absolutely excellent prologue. In what seems to be the usual Cussler style, we start out somewhere in history to plant the seeds of the mystery and adventure to come. In this case, it’s about the Franklin Expedition, icebound one the Arctic. As a fan of Dan Simmons’ brilliant novel The Terror, I was thrilled to see this. We started aboard the Erebus, on the final year of their expedition, where Commander Fitzjames’ crew is slowly going mad. The men that still have their wits about them decide to lock them aboard the ship and they set out to find Crozier and the crew of The Terror to figure out a new plan. Things get even worse from there… As a fan of horror I really loved this prologue, as it was intense and even somewhat creepy. After that we go to the modern day, with Dirk Pitt and his kids, and it all eventually ties together.

If you’re into globe-trotting adventure, political intrigue, and (perhaps very tenuous) science based books, then this is an enjoyable choice. I was entertained the entire way through, which is important as some of these Cussler books can be rather long, and completely enjoyed this for what it is. As I said above; don’t expect a Pulitzer Prize winner, but all the entertainment value and fun factor that I was looking for was here.

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars for Artic Drift (Dirk Pitt #20) (audiobook) by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler read by Scott Brick. Another great adventure. I really enjoy Scott Brick’s narration.

[Eli - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down. Definitely not as exciting and fast paced as the rest of the series has been.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 sterren - Nederlandse paperback

Quote blz 85: die hinderlaag was niet georganiseerd door de politie maar door een leverancier uit Hong Kong die zijn controle over de markt wilde vergroten. De Zweed en de mannen die hem escorteerden werden neergeschoten tijdens een nachtelijke deal in het uitgestrekte Stanley park, dat ten westen van het centrum in Vancouver aan zee lag. Zak slaagde erin aan de kogels te ontkomen door weg te duiken en wist via een labyrint van heggen ongedeerd te ontsnappen.

Quote blz 249: "Ja, de Londen Shipyard in New Orleans " herinnerde Pitt zich. " Ik heb toen een van die lichtere in het droogdok zien liggen. Het was een reusachtig ding. Ik vraag me af wat ze ermee vervoeren?"

Dirk Pitt beleeft weer een geweldig avontuur. Je zit als het ware op de achterbank.
Het thema is boeiend en ik geniet ook van het familie verband wat samen ten strijde trekt. De onnavolgbare "stoomtrein van de Pitts, Summer, Dirk jr en Dirk Sr. Heftige escalaties en onmogelijke situaties komen weer op hun pad.
De "Indiana Jones" van de zee is weer op volle stoom. Ook vriend Al Giordino treedt aan in dit avontuur. Een heksenketel in the making.

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artic Drift by Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler

Cussler’s books are like my favorite maple glazed donuts, tasty not filling but oh so delicious. Global warming and unrestrained greed are addressed in this Dirk Pitt and kids book.

Cussler always does a terrific hook at the beginning of each book. He sets forth a mystery that you really want to explore and then carries you into the main story. Dirk Jr. and Summer have a side bar story that occupies about 20% of the book but ties tightly as the book winds down.

As all of Cussler’s work, action abounds, mysterious events occur and good triumphs. What more could you ask? This was a good take on greed and global warming without being preachy. An altogether entertaining book, I have to recommend.

I recommend highly.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pulled a mental ‘uh-oh’ when the preface to this novel retold the story of Franklin’s 1848 Arctic expedition in the ships ‘Terror’ and ‘Erebus.’ I had just finished Dan Simmons “The Terror” and not sure I wanted to revisit this subject right away. I should have known Clive wouldn’t let that happen. (Thanks Clive. You had me in mind, right?) He only uses historical incidents as a spring board for his ‘heldentenor’ Dirk Pitt—not to be confused with his co-author son Dirk Cussler—or Pitts son Dirk Jr. Yes, it’s a family affair. Somewhere along the Cussler journey, I seem to have forgotten Dirk (the fictional character not the real life one) married and had twins. I was still under the impression he had shacked up with Al Giordano—since they are joined at the hip, so to speak, they might as well be joined at the joint (so to speak).

Most of Cusslers novels have an element of being ecologically correct. The hero prevents the villain’s Earth destruction from some from of nasty pollutant or weapon. This is probably one of the first novels (note, I said ‘novel’) where the planet exterminator is CO2. It’s a plot element I’ll bet Michael Crichton was considering.

Usually Cussler weaves three historical bits together for an improbable conclusion, but this time just one: the Franklin Expedition, albeit, he puts a new twist to the story so it will connect somehow to 21st century global warming. His plots are always preposterous but my god they are fun. And my oft repeated phrase: he is the master of action. His books are the Pentateuch for action-writing wannabes.

The United States goes to war with Canada. It’s about time, I’d say. We haven’t invaded that huge land mass to the north since the 19th century. Dirk is in Washington protecting a beauteous female scientist (he’s married, not dead) who has discovered the process for eliminating pesky carbon from the air. Meanwhile Dirk Jr. is near Vancouver measuring acid levels along the Alaskan coast. Unbeknownst to both Dirk’s they are fighting the same evil Robber baron. It’s odd the two plot lines don’t really intersect. Almost like Dirk Cussler wrote his part without consulting Clive. But it all works. This novel is a lot longer and less compact than Clives usual. Still, a good guilty pleasure.

[Ann Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our story begins in the nineteenth century, as two sailing ships, the Erebus and Terror, battle frigid temperatures, starvation, scurvy and a strange madness that besets the men as they struggle to breach the cold Northwest Passage. Eventually, the two vessels separate with the pack ice and open water, and the doomed men stand silent vigil as the arctic slowly freezes all of their hopes and dreams of riches.

Over one hundred fifty years in the future, the Earth stands poised on the brink of global disaster. A shortage of oil and accumulation of greenhouse gases has brought the world to a turning point. An evil opportunist takes advantage of this predicament, cloaking himself in a pristine image while dumping carbon dioxide beneath the cold waters of the north. The “Devil’s Breath”, as it is called, brings death to all within its chilly grasp.

Dirk Pitt, Jr. and Summer are innocently taking water samples when they run across a series of strange events, including a boat upon which all hands mysteriously died of asphyxiation and strange temperature readings from the surrounding water. Meanwhile, a Canadian outpost is rammed and destroyed by a U.S. Navy ship bearing the number 54 on its bow and someone keeps trying to kill Ms. Lane, the researcher who may have just discovered the solution to global warming - ruthenium.

With ruthless determination, a hired assassin stalks the men stationed aboard the research vessel, Narwhal, a killer who will trail Dirk Pitt and his companions across miles of frigid landscape to the wrecks of the Erebus and Terror in a frantic search for the valuable mineral ruthenium. Fast-paced and bursting with suspense, this novel captured me from the first few pages. In my humble opinion, Clive Cussler has just become the new Ian Fleming.

[Susan Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a sucker for Clive Cussler's books and I don't think I'll ever stop reading his books. Clean, pure adventure is how I can describe it. The adventure plus the positive note that his books always end in is what I look for whenever I pick up one of his books.

The 'Arctic Drift' was an audio book - my second attempt - which ran to a monumental 13 hours. I can tell you from experience that audio books and I don't get along well together. ;) I found myself getting distracted, sleepy and just tired listening, but when I was alert I enjoyed the book. I didn't find enough thrill as compared to when I read an actual book. In the future, I would definitely love to get a copy of the book to read it - fingers grasping the book, eyes seeing the words as text and turning the pages in excited anticipation of the next chapter.

I doubt I'll pick up another audio book again as I found this exercise taxing my concentration and attention. Clive Cussler's characters are so alive and I look forward to read more of his books.

Bring it on!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Global warming is causing the Artic ice sheet to melt opening the Artic Ocean for the once fabled Northwest Passage and a Canadian businessman plans to do anything including ruining relations between Canada and the United States to exploit resources in the region. Artic Drift is the twentieth book of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series and third with his son Dirk, finds NUMA navigating the quickly troubling waters around Canada to solve not only the threat facing the entire globe but peace between longtime international friends.

The plot begins in the year 1847, when the Franklin Expedition becomes stranded trying to find the Northwest Passage and they experience a harsh winter during which the men are seemingly going mad. Their stranded ships, Erebus and Terror, are loaded with a mysterious, unidentified silvery metal. The story switches to the present day as the United States is in a major energy crisis due to other nations, including Canada, restricting oil and natural gas production due to global warming. The resulting loss of northern icecap has opens resources in the Artic Ocean that a Canadian businessman, Mitchell Goyette, looks to exploit for his bottom line while publicly being seen as an environment-first businessman. Using his extensive bribery network that has ensnared the bellicosely patriotic Canadian Prime Minister and the natural resources Minister that he uses to get the fossil fuel deals he wants and sets up faux “environmental saving” businesses to hide his activities. When President initiates a nationwide effort by the government and scientists to find a solution to crisis, a scientist at George Washington University accidentally discovers a process to break down carbon dioxide but her assistant on the payroll of Goyette informs the businessman’s hitman Clay Zak who attempts to kill her. But wanting to keep the United States out of the Artic, Goyette sets up incidents that appear to be American businesses and military threatening Canadian citizens which quickly spirals into various other international incidents between the two nations almost to the verge of military action. During this Dirk Junior and Summer are studying the waters off Alaska and British Columbia when they come across a boat of dead fishermen who have all died of asphyxiation, one of whom is the brother of a Canadian wildlife scientist Trevor Miller. The three investigate the mysterious deaths under the cover of the Pitt’s NUMA & Canadian sponsored research and find Goyette’s recently opened carbon dioxide storing facility is a front for dumping it into the sea and save a cruise ship from a massive cloud of carbon dioxide. Meanwhile the GWU scientist has meal while Dirk Senior and Loren, telling them of her breakthrough and the need for a rare element in the platinum group. After Dirk Senior saves the scientist after her lab is firebombed by Zak, he goes searching for the element and finds himself in a race with Zak who is attempting to find the element as well so Goyette and corner the market. The trail leads to the Artic and the failed Franklin Expedition. Dirk Senior joins a NUMA expedition to explore ocean floor for thermal vents taking Rudy Gunn’s alongside Al Giordino and Jack Dahlgren. The NUMA ship flying under Canadian colors and avoiding various Canadian government ships get to the area where the missing expedition might have come to an end to find a Goyette owned cargo ship lead by Zak looking for the same thing. Dirk Senior and Zak confront one another in the haul of the Erebus with Zak dying and Pitt coming out very much the worse for wear, but thanks to the arrival of a U.S. sub the NUMA crew gets control of the cargo ship with evidence of the illegal activities to Alaskan waters which leads to the decrease in tensions. As the Canadian government is shaken by the bribery scandal, Trevor Miller gets revenge on Goyette in his own country club. Dirk Senior’s search for the rare element came to not, but the NUMA Artic expedition hits on a motherload of platinum group elements thus allowing the GWU breakthrough to go full speed ahead on combating carbon dioxide.

Since Dirk Cussler joined his father in writing the series, the narratives have been some of the best in the series and this book is no exception. While Dirk and his children tackle the same problem and antagonists, they do so without interaction from the other allowing their respective subplots to develop independently to independent resolutions without attempting to bring together in some complicated way. Having Dirk Senior not able to save the day though his actions were a nice change of pace, but the NUMA discovery would have played out better if the Cussler’s hadn’t changed Rudy’s character to be forgetful about bringing samples back to headquarters to be studied. Though once again the antagonist was a greedy businessman, a trope for many books now, however the main actions were caused by his hired hitman who was one of the better henchmen villains of the series. The only other complaint would be the retconning of the fuel cell technology from Trojan Odyssey that was to solve global warming, though maybe because that book was bad it was decided to ignore somethings about it.

Artic Drift continues the string of strong books that began with Dirk Cussler joined his father Clive in writing the series. Though there are the usual clichés, the overall narrative over comes these and gives the reader an enjoyable time.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to the old Clive Cussler ways. Some of his newer books we're getting a little cheesy, but this one brought me back to his early days. Great stuff and interesting historical connection. If you've read "The Terror" by Dan Simmons, you'd get a kick out of this one, if you haven't, go read it!

[Alan Marston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had forgotten just how quickly Cussler draws you into a story and then keeps hold of you until the last page. There is nearly always a historical link at the start of these books and in this case it is the ill-fated Franklin expedition to find The North West Passage. I have no idea when a documentary I saw recently was made, but it showed one of the two of Franklin’s ships to have been found on the seabed not too far from King William Island off the coast of Canada. Pitt and Giordino find the wreck of the Terror, one of those two ships, as part of the story, although they also find the other one later one, and giving you that information is not a spoiler!
Almost the whole story takes place in the freezing sea off the coast of Canada, not a glamorous location by any means, but one that still brings out the great excitement that Cussler manages to generate in all his stories. He appears briefly himself, as he does in other of his novels, but as usual goes unrecognised despite giving his name as he does in other tales! It is fast paced with much action and some great descriptions of the conditions in that part of the world. Pitt is again thrown up against a very dangerous foe in Clay Zak, who is backed by an extremely rich, greedy and conniving backer whose only concern is himself and no-one else – he meets a very timely end as Pitt, against all the odds, manages to overcome the problems and, again, helps the world, in this case with regard to energy resources. A great read.

[Timothy Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Clive Cussler novel, and was recommended to me by my uncle. Though I'm not sure how others in the series compares, I found this novel to be very quickly paced and a page-turner. You have a 160 year old tale of a ship that gets mysteriously lost at sea, and stories of how the shipmates became mad, which they blame on a mysterious ore they collected onto the boat. And a modern day scientist makes a startling discovery of that same said ore, that can reverse global warming (sounds like a book Al Gore would write if he wrote novels, right?) The only problem is is that that mineral is in very short supply: rarer than gold in fact, and multiple groups are after it. Most of the book entails corruption from higher ups, surprising contentions between Canada and the US, a lot of ship chasing, while simultaneously on the hunt for that rare mineral.

I would say it's sort of like a Lee Child novel for the oceanographers and environmentalists. Though the book heavily involves global warming, it didn't change the fact that it was an entertaining book with a good amount of adventure and mayhem.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Clive Cussler's newest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift , Global Warming is happening all over. Gas prices have hit ten dollars a gallon and the year is 2011. It seems a cure to global warming is impossible. But when a breakthrough to reverse global warming has been found, the lab that holds the key to reversing it blows up. Across the world, in Canada, Dirk Pitt JR., and Summer Pitt are sampling the water when they come across a ship still afloat in the waters. Somehow, they trace the deaths to Terra Green Co. A Canadian cooperation. It appears that the Terra Green Co. is dumping carbon dioxide in the lake. They board the ship and find two bodies along with a dog. All of them have died of suffocation. Dirk and crew knows that somehow those two events are related. Dirk and his crew are the only ones that stand in the way between a war between Canada and the U.S. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good action/adventure story.

[Kara Jorges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dirk Pitt Senior and Junior are back for another adventure on the high seas. Dirk Jr. and his twin sister Summer are cruising the western Canadian coastline testing the water for acidity when they come upon a ship of death. All the occupants have died horribly, yet have not a mark on them. When they stop in the village of Kitimat, they meet the brother of the captain of the death ship, who is determined to find the cause of the deaths. He and Summer more than hit it off, and the three of them begin snooping around a carbon sequestration facility nearby.

Back in Washington, Dirk Sr., head of the National Underwater & Marine Agency, visits the lab of a friend of his wife’s when the lab inexplicably explodes. He is convinced the explosion is related to the scientist’s research into synthetic photosynthesis, which could reverse the effects of global warming. The process involves the rare element ruthenium, so he heads up a search for a source. The last known source just happened to be in an Inuit community in the midst of the Northwest Passage, so Pitt is on the trail. Things are a bit more complicated than they should be, however, as Canada has barred the United States from its territorial waters after the US army was blamed for the destruction of an ice camp. There is even talk of war between the two countries, so Dirk has to sneak his way through Canadian waters.

Meanwhile, some very bad men are also on the trail of the ruthenium for their own nefarious purposes, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Fueling the distrust between Canada and the United States is only beneficial to their interests, so they more than go out of their way to try to start World War III. Only Dirk Pitt is in the right place at the right time and will be able to stop them…or will he?

As usual, the Cusslers have delivered a quality novel. Unfortunately, this time it’s somewhat lacking. For starters, it was pretty slow lumbering out of the gate. Usually, the first 100 pages of a Cussler novel contain more action than most other entire novels, but that was absent here. The intrigue was weaving, but I was hardly on the edge of my seat. Though this is not the first in the series with both Clive and Dirk Cussler at the keyboard, this is the first one where I really felt the impact of the transition in an outwardly obvious way. I believe that Dirk Cussler is a quality writer and I would purchase his books on the strength of his abilities, but the fact of the matter is, absolutely nobody writes like Clive. He’s got a special brand of magic that very, very few writers do, and he’s got it in spades. He had decades to build and hone that skill, and Dirk has not, so I’m willing to give him a chance. If this series is going to continue to succeed without alienating its long-term fan base, however, it’s time for a commitment of sorts.

It finally hit me why I haven’t really warmed to Dirk Pitt Junior, and that is because he has all the raw sex appeal of a Ken doll. Much as Dirk Cussler is writing in the massive shadow of his father, Dirk Pitt Junior is a hollow facsimile of his father. The original Dirk had some vices, slept around a little, was a man’s man. Young Dirk pals around with his sister a bit too much. I like the idea of them working together, but he really needs a realm of his own to kick around in after hours. As it is, he’s rather flat and uninteresting, and that’s just a shame because he’s got a lot of potential to be a really vibrant character on his own, outside the shadow of Dirk Senior, an avenue that’s absolutely not exploited. If he was 12, that would be fine, but he’s supposed to be a man. I don’t know if Dirk Cussler is afraid to step out of bounds too much and create his own character in his father’s series, or if both Cusslers are afraid to take the action away from Pitt Senior, but whatever it is needs an adjustment. They made the commitment to promote Dirk Senior to the director of NUMA and introduced the Pitt children, so now they need to live up to it and not be afraid to make the necessary changes. Pitt Senior can still have some adventure of his own, but what was the point of introducing his son with the same name if it wasn’t to change the focus to the new character? I liked the fact that they began making the transition slowly, but at this point, things are starting to stall.

For anyone who has never read a Dirk Pitt novel, I give this a high recommendation. Even if it was the least exciting in the series, it is still several cuts above the vast majority of adventure fiction out there. For those of us who have read them all, this one might be a slight disappointment. The action just wasn’t as heart-pounding and the pace was a little slower than usual. Loren wasn’t quite in character, the dialogue needs a little more oomph, and Al Giordino didn’t get any great quips. The whole global warming premise seems a bit dated, too, but the biggest problem is Dirk Junior. He desperately needs a personality infusion and some autonomy, and he could be a great character, but he needs to snip some apron strings, pour himself a drink, and go out and do something his mother wouldn’t approve of while saving the day. That and a few other small adjustments could push this series back to the top.

[Jack Hance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fairly typical post-Cussler Dirk Pitt book. It meandered a bit, with the parts that focused on the younger Pitt generation being strongest. Predictable but still entertaining.

[Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been awhile since a Clive Cussler. This one was excellent.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After about 150 pages into this book I was very confused. There seemed to be two Dirk Pitt's in the story and I felt like every chapter was introducing new characters. It turns out this is no fault of the authors but of my own. I didn't realize these are ongoing characters in Cussler's books.

After making this discovery the reading went a lot smoother. It was intriguing and adventurous and I have to admit had me on the edge of my seat for the last couple hundred pages, I did not want to put this book down! So why only give it two stars you ask? It just wasn't believable for me. Maybe it was reading this book during the harsh winter and understanding just what the temperatures in the arctic must feel like, I just don't see how Pitt and his buddy would have survived the ending shoot out, or any of the other miraculous survivals. It was like watching the movie "The Transporter", entertaining but crazy unbelievable.

I thought that in the end when Summers new boyfriend decided to murder the tycoon he would end up being held responsible. I felt sorry for the guy because I felt like he had a good thing going with Summer and I didn’t expect him to go to such drastic measures and risk everything. But in the end Cussler lets it go unpunished and he and Summer sail off into the sunset. Seriously!?! I mean I even agree that the guy was bad but you still don't take matters in to your own hands and get away with it. Just too fairy tale ending for me, I don’t mind a little conflict and loss, in fact I find it courageous of an author to be able to let go of a character for the sake of the writing. In the end it was still an entertaining book but not enough to read again.

[SewUnicornish · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very clean book. I was surprised at the lack of curse words. It is very action packed at the beginning. It really bogs down in the middle though. It became very repetitive with a lot of talking and descriptions of things we already knew. The story made me think of an old comic book, incredibly far fetched and silly at times. There were way too many characters. Including Clive Cussler himself. The main bad guys henchman's answer to everything was to blow it up with dynamite. All along there were apparently two Dirks? A father and a son. But never does the book differentiate the two until the end. So the whole way I thought it was just one guy. Toward the end things pick up again and there are some pretty sweet action scenes. Cussler writes action really well, he puts you in the eyes of the characters so that you don't really know quite whats going on at first. Then he pans it out and you get the whole scene. If you cut this book down a couple hundred pages or so I would have really liked it.

[Jo-Ann Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging exciting book. It hooked me quickly and kept me interested right to the end. Though it was written three years ago, I think it models today's political climate very well with a greedy wealthy person who feels they can do anything they want no matter the cost to others or the planet. (Makes me think of the Koch brothers and their political machinations that most people remain ignorant about.) Most of the action takes place in Alaska, Canada and the Northwest Passage, an area I have always found interesting but knew very little about. I love the way Clive Cussler combines history, science, the environment and adventure in his books to make a fun read with a bit of education that makes me hungry to know more.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Cussler’s books, especially the Dirk Pitt series, but I have been disappointed by a few of them. This one however was amazing! Lots of action and a great subject matter made for a very good adventure book, just what I needed! 😃

[Mira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for him to interact with his kids, I kept expecting their storylines to intersect and then end it together, but they didn't and I don't like that lol

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clive Cussler's hero Dirk Pitt needs no introduction! He's back again in a face-paced action-adventure!

Arctic Drift begins in the mid 1800's, with the Franklin Expedition setting off and later becoming stranded trying to find the Northwest Passage, and their ships are loaded with a mysterious, unidentified silvery metal. Eventually under unknown circumstances, the crewman are all driven insane. Their ships become lost in the ice and are not seen again for over 2 centuries.

Present day: The US is working on fixing Global Warming, many of the world's scientists looking for a solution. But many others are trying to thwart this effort. Many people seem to be dying by a series of mysterious asphyxiations. Dirk Pitt, along with Giordino and his children, whilst facing a ruthless Canadian tyrant and his deadly right-hand man, must solve a centuries old-mystery to save the Earth.

Typical Clive Cussler fun action, exotic locations, and adventure!

[Marcus Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an unusual techno thriller, partly because of the main characters (father and adult kids), and partly because of the background (climate change). The villains were good, the characters wonderful, but there was a lot of needless "we're saving the world, man!" about the environment. On the other hand, I've been reading a lot on climate change, so I may have been burned out on it. So call it a 3.5.

[Matt Odom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent tale of intrigue and adventure but painfully transparent from time to time.

The Dirk Pitt series strays further and further from its roots with each instalment. I long for the good ol days of Dirk and Al running amok and saving not only the world, but a slew of superfluous characters who do little to add to the plot.

[Chathubhanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an ongoing quest to save the Earth from global warming and someone ruthless intended to stop that from happening anyhow.
This novel takes Dirk Pitt to the harsh weather in the Arctic where they also search for the Franklin Expedition. Probably not the most enjoyable but just an okay read.

[Jeremiah Roeder · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my least favorite books in this series. The plot felt disjointed and clunky. Also, the author’s opinion on global warming was about as subtle as a gorilla in a museum of ancient pottery. Not one I would need to revisit.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pitt is so awesome but Cabrillo rules in my opinion