Date first published	2001
ISBN Number	0 718 14417 1
Page Count	531 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

As is his custom Cussler gives us two opening aperitifs. The first is set in the 11th century and describes the adventures of a group of Norsemen who set out to conquer North America. However in a savage battle they are defeated and nearly all traces of there existance destroyed.

The second is set in the 19 century, and gives a brief rundown on the adventures of the first submarine that is later written into fiction history. Once again though neither are essential to the main story both are interesting scene setters. At the story end, Pitt does not need to discover the secrets of the two stories, but it does give him something to search for.

The main story is set marginally in the future (2003 to be precise). The Ocean Liner Emerald Dolphin is set on her maiden voyage when fire breaks out. With all of the fire systems failing the fire rapidly becomes an inferno. Through reckless stupidity by the officer of the watch the life boats are launched whilst the ship is still moving, leaving the passengers with no way off the ship.

Pitt is aboard the Deep Encounter, and spots the glow of the fire, and directs the ship to help rescue the passengers. Once the passengers are safely off loaded onto two other ships, Pitt interrupts the attempted murder of Kelly Egan, the daughter of a brilliant scientist. This is the first battle against a very unpleasant and formidable foe.

Pitt and the Deep Encounter (DE) are sent back to discover why the Emerald Dolphin suddenly sank whilst being towed back to port. Whilst on the bottom radio contact between the sub and the DE is lost. Pitt and Giordino put it down to a technical failure. However on there return to the surface they find the problem far more serious. The DE has disappeared.

Pitt and Giordino are rescued by a passing yachtsman, and set off to locate the DE. They discover it on an island, where it is to be taken that night and sunk. Pitt with the DE crew break away from there captors, and return to port.

Pitt ever the gallant gentleman offers to supply a transport plane for a charity event, and this leads to a dog fight with a World War I fighter. Pitt eventually overcomes the fighter, but the pilot miraculously escapes to fight another day.

The story changes pace at this point as facts start to come together, and the identity of the foe is gradually revealed. Pitt takes on the originators, and with a few devious twists eventually emerges the winner. All that remains is to find the secret lab in which Dr Egan created his engine and a revolutionary way of transporting fuel.

Review

Do I like the book. I have to say that on the basis of the second reading it just about scrapes through as acceptable. The basic concept of the radical engine, is OK, but the method of transportation is just a bit to far off the scale to be reasonable.

Parts of the book also descend into gooey eyed sentimentality. Cussler has always been inclined to this, however we get two doses of it, once at the site of the rescue, and the second with the charity show. The way its done is far over the top, and whilst I guess it may be acceptable in the States, elsewhere it could taken as over indulgence.

In the past I have criticized the way Cussler writes himself into the stories, he again appears, and to make matters worse in a far bigger role. In the past his character has given gentle nudges to Pitt, in this story he becomes essential to the rescue of the DE.

So that picks up on the bad points, is there anything good? Well yes, the base plot line, of the corporation willing to do anything to protect its' profits, and gain a new technology is fine. The use of a group of mercenaries to do its dirty work is also fine, and works well.

The research into who is behind the conspiracy is reasonable and the whole thing, hangs together quite well, until the end. The main plot ends with the death of the mercenary team whilst the death of the main protagonist is quite a major anti-climax involving a bottle of whiskey and a poison tablet!

The final chapter in which Pitt meets some visitors from his past is also somewhat sentimental and overly sugary, it also suggests the way the next and future books may go. Please Clive don't go down that path! The reflections on the past may suggest the sort of ending we get, but it still comes as a surprise, and I'm not sure its a pleasant one either.

The book as have the past couple have harped on about Dirks and Als age (not unreasonably as the time line is well and truly wrecked), and it appears that a route for the Pitt franchise has been worked through. Only time will tell. A far better method I would have thought would have been to fill in the gaps between the adventures rather than keep the current aging Pitt out at sea.

To sum up, not his greatest. Both Atlantis Found and Valhalla have major weaknesses, which spoil the series. Hopefully with his next book we will see a return to top form.

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