Campy in dialogue, metaphor and at times plot, over written and over described a times but still a good fast paced read where you know the good guys will win in the end. Like the other Cussler I read, 2023I had run out of books while away at work and found this laying around. Almost a 3 but it was fast reading when I was in the office. ( )

http://pro-libertate.net/20110716/168-read-black-wind ( )

Se han producido varias muertes misteriosas en una isla de Alaska, así como un ataque por sorpresa a Dirk Pitt durante el reconocimiento de un submarino japonés hundido durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Se trata de hecho inconexos, pero que ponen a Pitt en el rastro de una vasta conspiración. A finales de la guerra, los japoneses habían protagonizado un último y desesperado intento de atacar Estados Unidos con el envío de dos submarinos a la costa Oeste con una peligrosa carga: un virus letal. Los submarinos se hundieron. Sin embargo, las armas bacteriológicas no perdieron su mortífera capacidad. Y no falta gente sin escrúpulos dispuesta a aprovecharse de ello.

I liked these better when Clive wrote by himself, but still a fun read. ( )

A good page-turning read involving a World War II biological weapon that has lain on the seabed since the close of the war, when the submarines carrying it were sunk before it could be deployed. A North Korean industrialist with plans on driving the Americans from South Korea sets out to recover the weapon with the intention of using it against American cities. A trial release in Alaska leads to unexplained seal corpses, which soon prompts a NUMA investigation. Dirk Pitt becomes obsessed with uncovering what’s happening and rapidly finds himself on a collision course with the Korean and his henchmen.

The story is slightly spoiled by a lack of realism in how the villain treats Pitt: rather than simply shooting him when Pitt is captured (as he does other opponents without hesitation), he repeatedly chooses to keep him alive instead (for no apparent reason), allowing Pitt to return and disrupt his activities again, and the cycle repeats. In very James Bond story fashion, during one encounter, the Korean shackles Pitt in a cave that is about to flood and leaves him there to die; and on another occasion, ties him to the support structure below the base of a rocket that is about to be launched so that the flames will kill him. In both instances, of-course, Pitt escapes, only to go after the villain once more.

That lack of realism disrupts what would otherwise be a very absorbing story with a strong plot. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the overall read, which kept me eagerly turning the pages to the final full stop. ( )