Review of the Treasure of Khan by Clive Cussler

This is the first of my Christmas books and I managed to rush through it between Christmas and New Year despite its 600 plus pages.

I’ve never read Mr Cussler and to be honest he didn’t come across as the writer of quality fiction. His books were the kind you might buy on a whim before you got on a long haul flight to your holiday destination.

Unfortunately, my experience of reading the Treasure of Khan won’t make me rush out to read many more. It come across as a tired, formulaic, predictable kind of yarn which though readable and exciting at times was totally unbelievable in the James Bond kind of way.

The story is set in eastern Asia in Mongolia and Siberia with side trips to Hawaii and the Persian Gulf on the way. It is about a Mongolian warlord’s attempts to corner the world oil market by creating earthquakes and destroying oil pipelines and refineries in the Gulf and China. On the way he finds the tomb of Genghis Khan and sells off all his goodies to makes his fortune. Of course, our heroes Dirk Pitt and Al GIordino become involved in a long and circuitous way and foil his dastardly plot while finding the tomb of Kublia Khan on the way in Hawaii.

By all accounts, this isn’t Cussler’s best work with these two characters so maybe I should go further back in the series to find a better adventure. I don’t know. Anyway, it’ll be a while before I read him.