I have enjoyed a lot of Cussler's books - both written by him alone as well as some of his co-written works. But this is NOT one of them. Whether it is Brown's co-writing (the dialogue is so crass it's embarrassing) or Cussler on a bad day.... who knows. The absurd story is sadly thin on detail (how else could it be otherwise) - takes it beyond suspension of disbelief and into nonsense.