Scott Rhee's Reviews > Treasure of Khan

I have never read a Clive Cussler novel until "Treasure of Khan", which is, I think, the 20th novel in his long-running Dirk Pitt series. My Cussler deprivation is not due to any calculated or irrational dismissal of the author; I just never got around to reading him. Starting with the 20th book in the series is probably not wise, as Cussler has reached that "I can basically write a 200-page shopping list and any publishing company will publish it" status, which is never a good thing. For proof, see anything by James Patterson.

Cussler also has a co-writer for this one (his son, Dirk Cussler), which, in my opinion, is ALWAYS a red flag. When well-known authors start writing "with" other people, it usually means they have become so lazy that they can't come up with any new ideas of their own, or they wrote a quick outline for a novel and had someone else actually write it. Again, see James Patterson.

So, truth be told, I was a bit leary about this one, and I didn't have high expectations. Consider my surprise and delight that I actually enjoyed the book.

I'm not going to lie: it starts slow. The real action didn't kick in until around page 150 (out of 600), the first 150 pages devoted mostly to scene-setting and necessary (but excruciatingly dry and, at times, textbook-like) backstory. I'm guessing Cussler books all follow a similar formula: at some point in history, a ship carrying treasure or objects of vital importance is lost; fast-forward hundreds of years to modern times when a clue is uncovered that reveals the possible whereabouts of said lost ship; adventurer and treasure-hunter Dirk Pitt and his crew go off to find it, only to encounter numerous obstacles and nefarious villains trying to prevent him from finding it.

I'm guessing each Cussler book is a "fill in the blank" in terms of historical period, lost treasure, modern-day clue, and nefarious villain. In this case, the book starts with a dying Genghis Khan in the 13th-century. The treasure is the long-lost burial place of Khan. The modern-day clue is a scroll found on the body of a dead archaeologist. The villain is a mysterious multi-billionaire who has access to untapped oil riches in Lower Mongolia and a giant gun that can create earthquakes.

Yes, it's pretty silly. It's part Indiana Jones and part James Bond, and it's all ridiculous, but it's good, clean fun. While it's not exceptionally good writing, it's good enough that it makes me want to go back and read Cussler's early work, when he wasn't just getting published on his name alone.