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Overview
AN UNDERWATER GRAVEYARD IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...A MYSTERIOUS SEAPORT IN THE LOUISIANA BAYOUS...A DIABOLICAL PLOT TO DESTROY AMERICA!
When NUMA agent DIRK PITT® rescues a beautiful undercover agent in a daring underwater operation at Orion Lake, just north of Seattle, he confronts a sinister network run by Qin Shang, a ruthless smuggler who sells Chinese immigrants into slavery. Shang's campaign contributions have bought him a collection of powerful U.S. politicians, but Pitt is not a man to be subverted by politics. As he moves to probe Shang's mystifying seaport in the Louisiana bayous, his investigation involves him in an adrenaline-pumped race up the Mississippi River and a desperate dash to recover sunken Chinese treasures lost half a century before. And in Qin Shang, Pitt faces ones of his most formidable foes — a madman bent on killing thousands of innocent civilians with a catastrophic surge of mass destruction.
Synopsis
Dirk Pitt's nemesis is a wealthy Chinese smuggler who has made a fortune in human slavery. Tracking his nefarious activities leads Pitt from Washington State to Louisiana, where the Chinese slaves are constructing a shipping port in the middle of nowhere. The trail Pitt follows leads to the mysterious sinking of a ship that Chiang Kai-shek filled with treasure when he fled China in 1949. As Pitt prepares for a final showdown, he finds himself face-to-face with his most formidable opponent ever.
Publishers Weekly
Fresh from battling an evil diamond merchant in Shock Wave, Dirk Pitt, Cussler's perennial hero, and his sidekick, Al Giordino, are out to catch a Chinese shipping magnate who smuggles illegal Chinese immigrants into countries around the world to be worked as indentured slaves. On a lake near Seattle, Pitt stumbles across Qin Shang's heavily guarded compound. Pitt is the special projects director for the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA, the non-profit organization Cussler founded in real life to explore underwater sites). Searching the lake with a robotic observation device, Pitt finds heaps of mass-executed Chinese bodies. He then rescues a dozen still-living captives, including beautiful Immigration and Naturalization Services agent Julia Lee. It's revealed that Qin Shang's hefty campaign contributions have led the White House to block INS action against the wealthy manipulator. NUMA and INS bosses join to set up a secret task force spearheaded by Pitt, Girodino and Lee and supported by an ex-CIA mercenary naval vessel to launch clandestine sorties against Qin Shang's strongholds. They narrowly squash a plot that would cause ecological and economic destruction from New Orleans to eastern Texas, but Qin Shang remains untouched, perhaps to surface in a sequel. Some readers will wince at the way Cussler heightens the drama by tapping into right-wing fears of a flood tide of nonwhite immigrants. Still, series fans will delight in the well-executed plot twists and revel in Cussler's portrayal of a shipwreck laden with tons of Chinese antiquities.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Fresh from battling an evil diamond merchant in Shock Wave, Dirk Pitt, Cussler's perennial hero, and his sidekick, Al Giordino, are out to catch a Chinese shipping magnate who smuggles illegal Chinese immigrants into countries around the world to be worked as indentured slaves. On a lake near Seattle, Pitt stumbles across Qin Shang's heavily guarded compound. Pitt is the special projects director for the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA, the non-profit organization Cussler founded in real life to explore underwater sites). Searching the lake with a robotic observation device, Pitt finds heaps of mass-executed Chinese bodies. He then rescues a dozen still-living captives, including beautiful Immigration and Naturalization Services agent Julia Lee. It's revealed that Qin Shang's hefty campaign contributions have led the White House to block INS action against the wealthy manipulator. NUMA and INS bosses join to set up a secret task force spearheaded by Pitt, Girodino and Lee and supported by an ex-CIA mercenary naval vessel to launch clandestine sorties against Qin Shang's strongholds. They narrowly squash a plot that would cause ecological and economic destruction from New Orleans to eastern Texas, but Qin Shang remains untouched, perhaps to surface in a sequel. Some readers will wince at the way Cussler heightens the drama by tapping into right-wing fears of a flood tide of nonwhite immigrants. Still, series fans will delight in the well-executed plot twists and revel in Cussler's portrayal of a shipwreck laden with tons of Chinese antiquities.School Library Journal
Once again, the indestructible Dirk Pitt saves the country from possible economic collapse, while at the same time destroying an evil villain, finding a lost treasure, and saving a woman's life. The vividly described action takes readers from the ports of Hong Kong to picturesque Washington State and to the final showdown on the Mississippi River in Louisiana. As each problem seems to be solved, larger and more dangerous events occur, such as the seemingly unexplainable smuggling of thousands of illegal Chinese immigrants. Our hero finds himself trapped with these poor, abused refugees who are about to be murdered. Each turn and twist continues to build anxiety and heighten suspense. The eye-catching cover of this novel should entice readers to open its pages, where they will soon find themselves engrossed in this enthralling adventure.— Anita Short, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, Virginia