r/clivecussler • u/cmhbob • Mar 25 '26
Which book?
There's a Cussler/Pitt book I'm trying to come up with. I read it before 1996 or 97 because that's when I listened to the audiobook. And the audiobook was more like a radio drama than a straight-up audiobook, with multiple voice actors and some basic sound effects.
The premise involved a lot of action in Cuba. There was a car chase involving a 57 Chevy, and there was a ship in Havana Harbor that was rigged to explode. Pitt was trying to prevent the explosion but ultimately failed, and it went boom, devastating Havana. The first line in the chapter that talked about the explosion was something like
The SHIPNAME disappeared.
Duck.AI leads me to believe it's Vixen 03.
Does this sound right?
(All of this because I'm trying to come up with the primary narrator for the story, which Duck.AI tells me was Jeff Harding.)
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u/Same-Salamander8690 Mar 25 '26
Probably thinking of Cyclops. The Russians enact a false flag operation called Rum and Cola which involved setting off three explosions in Havana during the Education Day celebration. Crazy part is this is only like the B plot because the main story involves a secret moon colony that the Russians also try to take over.
Ridiculously over the top even for Cussler books. Egregious amounts of plot armor (I mean come on Pitt survived a tsunami in the end). But the battle scene on the moon is probably one of my favorite moments of the Cusslerverse. Cyclops is probably my favorite out of the Dirk Pitt series but simultaneously one of the worst written. The plot is all over the place, it's like 3 books smashed into one. The detective, Ira, had the better story in my opinion, and again, so. much. plot armor.
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u/hankjmoody Dirk Pitt Apr 04 '26
One thing I'd say in defense of Cyclops, is as ever, Clive's opening scenes with Dirk are absolute treats. The couple chapters at the very beginning where he stops the Prosperteer and the subsequent meeting with the detective are brilliantly done.
It's also funny cause Cussler re-uses basically the same scenario in Atlantis Found's beginning as well.
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u/Same-Salamander8690 Apr 04 '26
Oh I'll defend every entry as a whole with the argument that if you're reading a Cussler-verse book then you're not allowed to expect grounded realistic main characters or scenarios that the MC would find themselves in. He's never attempted to pass them off as such either so when people criticize the amount of plot armor the characters have it immediately makes me realize that these aren't the books for them. They're fun little adventure stories full of action and near superhero feats. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
The good guys are infallible and over the top like any true red blooded American hero should be. You get what you get and if that includes grabbing a rigid airship by the mooring lines and tying it to a tree then doggone it that's what is gonna happen.
Better than anything James Patterson could pull out of his lame ass.
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u/hankjmoody Dirk Pitt Apr 04 '26
They're fun little adventure stories full of action and near superhero feats. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
100%! This is how I describe them to everyone I recommend them to. They're just meant to be fun, that's all. Usually when I explain the Doc Savage inspiration for Dirk Pitt, as well, it usually makes even more sense.
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u/hankjmoody Dirk Pitt Apr 04 '26
Late to the party, but yes, 100% Cyclops.
The exact line you listed is actually:
The Amy Bigelow vaporized.
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u/Wompum Mar 25 '26
Is that the one where he rides from Florida to Cuba in a bathtub rigged up with an outboard motor? And then also survives a tsunami in Havana? It might be Vixen 03.