I haven’t read anything he’s written in about 10-12 years, but he’s produced a lot of very readable trash, and I mean that in the best way.
I liked the one featuring Castro. I was surprised how Cussler presented him and his brother as cool guys (at least, that’s how I remember it).
My favorite was probably Inca Gold.
I tried reading a Numa Files story once, but couldn’t get past the homoerotic intro of the leads.
No, they were nice old duffers who were genuinely surprised to have the evils of Communism explained to them. They were happy to begin throwing over the regime in the face of Pitt’s kindly explanation. (This is snarky but entirely accurate, by the way.)
As for the wonder twins appearing out of nowhere, it’s like a number of things in the later novels: direct and shameless lifts from John D., specifically…
…in the last Travis McGee novel, where his previously unknown 18-year-old daughter appears from nowhere.
…not to mention the obvious thieving from the later Stainless Steel Rat novels.
My best friend and I loved the Dirk Pitt novels when we were in junior high. Even then, though, we knew they were pretty cheesy. We constantly joked about Dirk Pitt…TM!
Read only Vixen 03. The plot was already believable and the killer substance was scary as hell --except that it drowns in water.
They’re action thrillers in book format. Kind of like the James Bond books: there is a hero (Pitt/Bond); a sidekick (Al Giordino/Felix Leiter); a boss (Admiral Sandecker/M); some kind of scheme to resolve, usually involving a supervillain, gunfights, and car or boat or aircraft chases; and plenty of women that the hero ends up bedding.
I’ve read them all, some more than once (Night Probe and Raise the Titanic, for example), and they’re just stories of an adventurer and his adventures. They’re outlandish and historically implausible, and they’d never be called great literature; but they helped me pass many hours on planes, trains, and buses. They’re a fun read, but I never expect to take more from them than a few hours’ entertainment.
I stopped reading Clive Cussler after Shock Wave (1996). Two things struck me - a portrayal of the NZ govt as corrupt and self-serving, and Dirk Pitt behaving as an excessively vindictive and violent avenger - with nothing to moderate his venom or mitigate his actions.
I have never read another.
Si
That was Sahara, which was way more OTT than the film they made of it! The film skipped the Lincoln sub-plot entirely. I’ve not read it for decades, but I think he peaked there, and nothing after that quite matched it, including his next book, Inca Gold, which I see several people have mentioned.
No, I don’t think they do. Apart from the misogyny and homophobia mentioned above I got tired of the interminable descriptions of cars, helicopters, watches and various manware.
e.g. “Dirk looked at his watch; a Kuhne and Nagel Seamaster 8000 with luminescent dial, 24-carat gold bezel, Swiss movement, diamond numerals, accurate to 1 millisecond per century and waterproof to 8000 metres. It was 8.30.”
Also, I went off him as an author when I read he believes the Apollo moon landings were hoaxed.
Bolding mine… what?!?
That can’t be true. Sure, he’s a bit of a hack writer, but certainly not a CTer. Say it aint so!
Just Googled Clive Cussler Moon Landing and it appears he is a loony Conspiracy Theorist. Sigh…
I know 
It shouldn’t make any difference to what I think of his writing*, but somehow I can help it.
*FTR, I thought it was frothy, escapist but enjoyable nonsense at first, but soon tired of it
He’s in good company with Mikey Crichton, who was something near deranged - a real tinfoil hat trooper.
That’s his poor man’s Clancy imitation.
I liked it when Dirk and buds were soaring around in a Moller AirCar. I still wonder how much Paul Moller talked him into investing.
Does he still have a cameo and show up as Cussler in his own books?