He smiled to himself at remembering what a reporter wrote about him, in one of the few times his feats had gained distinction. There is a touch of Dirk Pitt in every man whose soul yearns for adventure. And because he is Dirk Pitt, he yearns more than most.

So. Homer’s Odyssey was real. But they weren’t Greeks but rather Celts and they weren’t in the Mediterranean but rather in the Americas? Sure. The baddies are a cult of Celtic Druid superwomen, all hot as heck kickass redheads? Sure. The evil plot is to dig a giant tunnel to redirect the Atlantic Current and freeze Europe?

It makes me want to actually ready Homer’s Odyssey, so there’s that.

Exactly as expected, it’s fascinating having a new main character. And confusing as heck when they’re both referred to as Dirk/Pitt/Dirk Pitt. You can figure out which is which via context, but it really does feel like Cussler realized that Dirk was getting old and didn’t want to write that anymore. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I actually miss Pitt flirting with/sleeping with every woman he meets. The brother/sister dynamic is strange.

Overall, it’s one of the weakest of the series thus far. I’m just not sure what the point was. It feels like a lot of tropes we’ve done before. Which I guess after 17 books is somewhat hard to avoid.

Random thought:

It seems everybody but the admiral knows that Al secretly buys the cigars from the same source, said Dirk, smiling.

That feels really weird to spell out. Why now?

-– MINOR SPOILERS —

So in the end, Dirk Pitt and Loren Smith finally get married. You know what? Good for them. It’s a solid send off and you get a nice cameo from all the big names of the series (including of course Cussler himself).

If the series ended now, that would be the way to send it out and pass the torch to the kids in a new series (which I imagine is happening anyways). I almost stopped listening for exactly that reason, but at this point, I think I’ll go ahead and see it through.