Dirk Pitt Lives!

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vladimir

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Typhoon Nuri kept me housebound for a couple of days, so I read a couple of Dirk Pitt adventures. I had never heard of Dirk Pitt before seeing him mentioned in the watch forum on ScubaBoard, but now I have read 4 of them. For those of you who don’t have 12 hours to waste, I have crafted a do-it-yourself Dirk Pitt adventure:

The year is [1184 BC, 54 BC, 1945] and a treasure-bearing [Achaean, Roman, Nazi] vessel is beset by a [whirlpool, tempest, depth charge] and sinks silently into the depths, all but lost to history.

Fast forward to the present where the lean, athletic, 6'4" Dirk Pitt [Sr, Jr.] flashes a good-natured grin and his [iridescent, piercing, gleaming] green eyes at [the napping Al Giordino; his gorgeous, red-haired sister, Summer Pitt] as they attempt to save an attractive, independent, former [volleyball-player, surfer] -turned marine biologist from certain death via suspicious accident, coincidentally nearby a turquoise NUMA research vessel. Luckily Dirk was scanning the horizon with his [brilliant, lustrous, emerald] green eyes at just the right instant. Dirk makes a dinner date with her while carrying her to the medevac helicopter. She is thrilled.

The plot thickens as the nefarious, Machiavellian scheme by rogue elements in the [Japanese, North Korean, Red Chinese] government to gain their rightful place as world dominators threatens the marine environment. Fortunately, largely due to the efforts of Admiral Sandecker, the five-foot tall, red-haired, Van-Dyked, cigar-smoking fitness fanatic who runs NUMA and whips a recalcitrant Congress into shape with the help of Congressman Loren Smith (who could have any man in Washington DC but chooses Dirk) and Senator George Pitt, all those other threats to the marine environment are distant memory.

Dirk [Sr., Jr.] and [Al, Summer] are dispatched by Sandecker aboard the state-of-the-art NUMA vessel Undersea [Adventurer, Explorer] to investigate the source of the mysterious toxins. The blue-green vessel doesn't look like much, but it's drab hull conceals four recently-installed Cummins 4800 diesels engines that generate 10,000 horsepower apiece and allow the [Adventurer, Explorer] to outrun most vessels on the ocean.

Meanwhile, Dirk [Jr., Sr.] and [Summer, Al] are dispatched to the other side of the world aboard the Undersea [Explorer, Adventurer] to follow up on the leads that the pony-tailed, BMW 5-series driving Hiram Yaeger and the computer-projected, holographic Max generated by hacking into dozens of government computers with the tacit consent of Sandecker. The turquoise vessel’s ungainly appearance masks four recently-installed Vickers 6000 turbo-prop engines that generate 12,000 horsepower apiece and allow the [Explorer, Adventurer] to outrun most vessels on the ocean.

Dirk [Sr., Jr.] and [Al, Summer] get into their [AGA full-face masks and Viking Drysuits, state-of-the-art submersible] and consult the dials on their Doxa SUB300T Professionals before descending to investigate. Because they are getting too close to exposing the evil scheme, the plotters' henchmen attempt to eliminate them. The last thing the henchmen see is the steely determination of Dirk's [opalescent, radiant, gleaming] green eyes as they are dispatched to a watery grave by Dirk's split second, gut-instinct maneuver to counter their overwhelmingly superior firepower.

With brilliant deduction and help from the foremost marine-history expert in the world, the corpulent gourmet St. Julien Perlmutter, Dirk figures out where the underwater treasure is, what the Machiavellian plot is, and why historians have been wrong since [1184 bc, 54 BC, 1945]. After he is dismissed by skeptical, lower-level bureaucrats, Sandecker gets him an audience with the benevolent-but-tough US president, who dispatches a Seal team to take out the villains' lair. The Seal team brings [Dirk, Dirk and Al] along for the assault but refuses to provide [him, them] with weapons under the foolish notion that special forces operatives are more qualified for covert operations than marine engineers. After the Seal team fails in it's objective, [Dirk, Dirk and Al] improvise an attack using monkey wrenches and lawn mowers, neutralizing the villains and rescuing the battered Seal team. The Seals commander begrudgingly thanks [him, them], belatedly recognizing [his, their] superior prowess.

To escape the worldwide acclaim, Dirk and the [volleyball-player, surfer]-turned marine biologist drive to his hangar on the outskirts of Ronald Reagan National Airport in his lovingly-restored [1936-1955] [Stutz, Maybach, Chevy, Cord, Daimler] to finally consummate their affair in his outboard-mounted bathtub amid his collection of classic cars, planes, and trains.

The treasure is displayed in a museum for the whole world's enjoyment.
 
Yep, I read most of them. Just finished one, "Iceberg", and it was great. They've only produced one of this books into a movie, "Sahara". I hope they do a couple of more.

Actually Sahara was the second. They also did "Raise the Titanic" in 1980 (had Alec Guinness in it...), but it was such a disaster Clive Cussler waited over a decade before signing over movie rights to another book. I think it won the Golden Razzie that particular year.

For another quite good spoof on the standard Dirk Pitt plotline, see the Wikipedia entry: Dirk Pitt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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Typhoon Nuri kept me housebound for a couple of days, so I read a couple of Dirk Pitt adventures. I had never heard of Dirk Pitt before seeing him mentioned in the watch forum on ScubaBoard, but now I have read 4 of them. For those of you who don’t have 12 hours to waste, I have crafted a do-it-yourself Dirk Pitt adventure:

I used to love the Dirk Pitt novels, but after a few dozen they do get tiresome, and somewhat repetitive. They've gotten even worse now that Cussler has farmed out his writing to other authors (err, I mean now that he "co-writes" :rofl3:). Oh well, it was good while it lasted...

Bryan
 
I used to love the Dirk Pitt novels, but after a few dozen they do get tiresome, and somewhat repetitive. They've gotten even worse now that Cussler has farmed out his writing to other authors (err, I mean now that he "co-writes" :rofl3:). Oh well, it was good while it lasted...

Bryan
I guess most pulp fiction series are pretty formulaic. You'd think once they got the formula down, they'd at least have the decency to fill in the details themselves. I draw the line at reading any "co-authored" stuff.
 
Yeah, but Dirk would kick Bond James Bond's posterior.
 
Perhaps, but Bond might still look better than Dirk in the process.

The last time we moved, all I could find in the closet were wetsuits, other scuba gear items, and evening gowns. For a brief moment, I could have been part of one of these novels... but I'm too short...LOL!
 
I didn't know about Raising the Titanic. Sahara was decent although I didn't think Rudy's part was cast right or Diorgano <sp>. Someone told me that he signed for doing three movies.

I've read other series where the guy "co-authors" the books and I don't bother reading them. I think Black Wind was the last one Cussler did alone. Hell, he has so much money now, why should he care....
 
After seeing "Titanic", I didn't blame Cussler for not selling rights for movies. It was nominated for 3 razzie awards. "Sahara" was much better.

Vladimir- Great OP
Rhone Man- Thanks for the Wiki
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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