Deep Six [Mass Market Paperback]

Clive Cussler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1990

A deadly tide of poison flows into ocean waters. A ghost ship drifts across the empty northern Pacific. A luxury Soviet liner blazes into a funeral pyre. The Presidential yacht cruises the Potomac night -- and the President disappears without a trace.

DIRK PITT, the swashbuckling hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Sahara and Inca Gold, takes on a sinister Asian shipping empire in an intercontinental duel of nerves. In his most dangerous, fast-paced adventure, he fights to save the U.S. government -- and to seize one desperate moment of revenge!

Editorial Reviews

Review

Publishers Weekly

"The author of the bestselling Raise the Titanic! has another exciting, action-packed thriller...." -- Review

From the Publisher

A deadly tide of poison flows into ocean waters. A ghost ship drifts across the empty northern Pacific. A luxury Soviet liner blazes into a funeral pyre. The Presidential yacht cruises the Potomac night -- and the President disappears without a trace.

DIRK PITT, the swashbuckling hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Sahara and Inca Gold, takes on a sinister Asian shipping empire in an intercontinental duel of nerves. In his most dangerous, fast-paced adventure, he fights to save the U.S. government -- and to seize one desperate moment of revenge!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (February 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671709453
• ISBN-13: 978-0671709457
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clive Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt(R), in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.
Cussler is an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.
In September, 1998, NUMA - which turns over all artifacts to state and Federal authorities, or donates them to museums and universities - launched its own web site for those wishing more information about maritime history or wishing to make donations to the organization.
In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.
Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey, Black Wind, Treasure of Kahn and Arctic Drift (the last three with his son, Dirk Cussler) as well as The Chase; the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt (R) Revealed; the NUMA(R) Files novels Serpent, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death, Lost City, Polar Shift, The Navigator and Medusa (written with Paul Kemprecos); and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig Dirgo) and Dark Watch, Skeleton Coast, Plague Ship and Corsair (written with Jack Du Brul).
Clive Cussler lives in Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Political Suspense--AND Action!, October 25, 2000

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Deep Six (Mass Market Paperback)

Cussler does it again!! What can I say. I purchased this book the day it was released (what was it now, 12 or 15 years ago?) and I was captured into the plot from page 1 all the way through the VERY satisfying conclusion. From a ship oozing poison into the ocean to the kidnapping of the Presidential Yacht, right under the noses of the Secret Service ON the Patomac...and an unusual nasty lead character that is a woman...Clive has given one of his earlier novels plenty of flair and like I said, as you may already know, Pitt usually wins (okay ALWAYS) and the bad guys usually get what's coming to them (okay ALWAYS) but THIS one was a bit more satisfying than in novels past (at least for me). The action (as usual) is non-stop and no matter how unbelievable the story is (let's face it, ALL of Cussler's books are difficult to believe...) but let's also remember just how fun they are, too. The MOST successful movie series of all-time are about a secret agent named Bond...and are they any more believable than a Dirk Pitt novel? But we keep going back for more...why? I'll tell you why: Because THEY ARE FUN! And so is 'Deep Six'. If you (for some strange reason) do NOT know Dirk Pitt yet, get to know him here in this fantastic adventure by Clive Cussler. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great brainless summertime read, May 28, 2004

By 

Andrew Dobrenis (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Six (Mass Market Paperback)

Clive Cussler has made a very successful career at producing fast paced, entertaining adventures which provide us with a clean cut hero in the form of Dirk Pitt as he finds himself battling yet another villain out to ruin the world.

While Cussler's fans, who number in the legions, faithfully purchase each new novel as it comes out, there has been a change in the novels as they have become longer in length, with more exotic locales and more fantastic in their stories.

Deep Six is one of the older novels, written in the 1980s, and does not suffer from some of the far fetched coincidences that plague the latest stories. The novel concerns itself with the machinations of the Bougainville Shipping corporation. This Korean based company has used hijacking, bribery and murder to grow to its influential status and has become involved in a plot, with the Soviet Union, to kidnap and brainwash the President of the United States.

Into this steps our hero, Dirk Pitt, of the National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) who loses a friend to one of Bougainville's old crimes. While investigating this crime, he stumbles across the Presidential kidnapping plot.

Like most of the Pitt novels, this one motors along at breakneck speed as we are introduced to a surprisingly large cast of characters and spend our time moving between US government figures trying to hide knowledge of the kidnapping plot, Soviet agents aiding and trying to block the success of the kidnapping/brainwashing scheme, a private investigator seeking revenge, and a host of myriad characters. The novel nevers spends long at any one location and there is a refreshing lack of multi-dimensionality. The good guys are always good. They are willing to risk their lives for the cause of truth and justice. The bad guys are uniformly bad with no redeeming qualities.

There are, admittedly, gaps in some of the logic and you have to decide to go along for the ride at the beginning of the novel if you hope to enjoy it. However, the novel never strays into fantasy and though it may seem improbable, it never seems unbelieveable.

In the later Dirk Pitt stories, the novels are jam packed with extra information as we learn about, among other things, the diamond trade and the trade in illegal antiquities. The earlier novels, like this one, don't seek to educate but merely to entertain. There are no extraneous scenes here, everything happens for a purpose. Simply put, it is a fun adventure. Great for those times when you just want to turn your brain off and live in the moment.

For accomplishing all that it seeks to do, this novel rates a 5 stars.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unabated Actions Both Land and Sea Borne!, February 9, 2006

By 

Pat W Jusuf "Book Fanatic" (Jakarta, Indonesia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep Six (Dirk Pitt Adventures) (Mass Market Paperback)

Deep Six is an apt title for this Cussler's action novel, for I have lost count of the number of vessels deliberately and accidentally deep-sixed in the plot. Ship sinking were only parts of the story, this novel is 50% action, another 50% political issues stuffs.

This action packed novel told a story of human greed, power hungry and revenge mixed with the explosiveness of Clive Cussler writing wit. The main plot is organized along the political issues in Washington and beyond. A number of the highest US officials, including the president, were having a rendezvous in a yacht. The supposedly regular meeting turned disaster when a bunch of assassins came overboard to take over these officials. These assassins were operated by an entity whose boss had a deep hatred and revenge in her mind. Lots of old non-fictitious shipwrecks were also involved in this novel, making it better for reading since it had a historical weigh in it.

If you like Dan Brown's Deception Point or John Grisham novels, this novel has those qualities + lots of Robert Ludlum in it. A recommended four-star nov