Vixen 03 (which I haven’t read) is ancient history. I’ve read some of his older stuff – B]Raise the Titanic** and Cyclops – but his newer stuff fits in a different formula:
1.) He has a well set-up situation into which, if you’ve read his stuff, you can easily slip – Dirk Pitt, or Kurt Austin, or the Oregon Files, or the Fargo treasure-hunting couple, or the not-quite Pinkerton detective agency.
2.) The books are thick, heavily researched, and turn upon some weird quirk of ancient history or modern scientific discovery, and often involve esoteric but real technology that has been mainly forgotten.
3.) Cussler writes the outline, and someone else (he works with 5 or 6 other authors) fleshes it out.
4.) He likes to begin with a teaser, usually set in the past (sometimes a few decades ago, sometimes thousands of years ago). There might be more than one of these. It’s frequently the case that it’s not clear what the hell the intro teaser has to do with the rest of the book.
5.) Our Heroes get drawn into a situation in which Some Secret has been uncovered, or a Horrible Plot is about to unfold, or both. There are very definite Bad Guys involved, usually with some key Oddjob-like henchman.
6.) Our Heroes evidently either have huge personal fortunes, or the backing of well-heeled organizations. They get the latest techno-toys to play with.
7.) At some point, some technical fact or historical event or something will make you put the book down and say something like “You Cannot Be Serious!” It might be an improbably long survival of some ship or treasure, the discovery of animals thought to be long dead, or ancient use of what ought to be very modern technology (like lasers in ancient China, or Airships centuries before the Montgolfiers), or the development of true Artificial Intelligence, or the breeding of climate-altering nanobots. Or more than one of these in one volume. With Cussler, you can never tell.
8.)Oddjob-like guy will become REALLY nasty and vindictive, but gets his comeuppance in a scene worthy of Dick Tracy or James Bond.
9.) Our Heroes will save the day, get to eat a wonderful gourmet meal, have al their ills heal, and have the promise of great sex. Until the next book.