If a satellite in space ever mapped the myriad of lone tracks and trails across Mongolia, it would resemble a plate of spaghetti dropped on the floor.

Haven’t we done this before? With the desert and Khans?

In a nutshell, Ghenghis Khan was asked to be buried without a fancy tomb or even a grave marker (as was the custom among his people). In all the years since, it’s never actually been found. So of course Pitt has to stumble upon a mysterious group of traditionally armed and trained Mongolian soldiers … and of course eventually on the tomb itself.

There are a handful of very cool action scenes (surviving a giant wave by way of airdropped diving equipment), but it’s not a terribly strong book. At this point, Cussler is co-writing with his son (Dirk Cussler, I’m not even kissing) and the change in style shows.

It’s not great, but it’s not terrible. Pretty much par for the course for Dirk Pitt.