The Mediterranean Caper - Clive Cussler

Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt books were my jam in junior high and high school. These days, I only have two of them still on my shelves, and I think it's the two that belonged to my dad, so they're on a long-term loan.

So, in line with revisiting Clarke's Odyssey series for the first time in years, I thought I'd reread one of Cussler's books. It was pretty much like I remember them. Some creative action sequences, including an aerial dogfight early that was intriguing simply for the planes involve. Narrow escapes, dudes smoking cigarettes and drinking while exchanging pithy one-liners in the face of death. I remembered there were info dumps about some historical bit of trivia, or an explanation of the science behind something or the other that would be important later. I'd forgotten the books are like old detective stories in that there's always a point where someone has to stop and explain the solution to the mystery. That wasn't a big problem, though.

The treatment of women in the book, that was more troubling than I remember. I remembered that Pitt ends up sleeping with a different woman in basically every book (my father's description of him as Bond meets Indiana Jones comes to mind). I remembered the books having a strong male gaze (even if I hadn't heard of that term back when I was reading them originally). But the book trends strongly towards the "smack the dame until she sees sense," philosophy you see in John Wayne or Robert Mitchum movies, where "sense" is defined as doing whatever the guy thinks she should do (usually have sex with him). Every scene with Teri in it was unpleasant to read. I started skipping over them.

I think Cussler toned that stuff down in later books, but I'm not inclined to go track them down to find out. It's too bad, it was a fun, fast-paced adventure except for all that crap.

'Pitt could not help grinning. he relaxed, leaning back against the back rest, saying nothing. Then he turned and looked and Giordino and his eyes squinted. "What happened to you? Were you hit?"

Giordino gave Pitt a mocking, sorrowful look. "Who ever told you that you could loop a PBY?"

"It seemed like the thing to do at the time," said Pitt, a twinkle in his eye.

"Next time, warn the passengers. I bounced around the main cabin like a basketball."'