The saga continues..........book two

Once again we have a straight forward book with no complex plot lines.Dirks character evolves a little more.
The action starts right away from the second page and doesnt stop.
This is the book that introduces Dirks dark side I guess.It takes place months after the loss of Summer.
We also have the first appearance of Rudi Gunn.
My rating would be a solid 8 out of 10

A solid 10!!!!

I haven't read this book in a long time. I know that I enjoyed it and I plan on picking it up again when I have more time. I would give it an 8.

A great book, action, suspense, the hero kicking butt just what a girl needs in a story ;) I give it hmmmmm an 8 and a half :P

Second book, but first published, which is an important distinction.

I recently watched the Empire of Dreams documentary on the Star Wars movies, and found it very instructive in the ways of commercial creativity. Just put yourself in Dr. C's shoes for a moment. He's written two novels featuring this Dirk Pitt fellow, but no one knows who Dirk Pitt is, or anything about Al, Sandecker, Rudi Gunn. Pacific Vortex hasn't made it to the marketplace, so this one has to be tight. But at the same time, it has to meet certain expectations of the genre. Pitt must have a favorite drink, a favored brand of cigarettes, even a particular method of taking a shower (Ian Fleming did this, too.)
It's kind of hard, especially for those who have only recently discovered Pitt, to imagine that once upon a time, Cussler had to raise the curtain for the first time.
Med. Caper may not be as complicated in plotting or over the top in action as some of the later books, but it IS the cornerstone of the foundation. I wouldn't give it a 10 because it's not flawless, but I'll echo the 8, and even add a .5 if it's an option.

The Mediterranean Caper was my first ever book I read by Clive. I can remeber reading it when I took it out of the small town Library, I was only 9 years of age. I remeber sitting and saying even at that age, Dirk is so real, I relate to him better than James Bond. From that day I wanted more of Dirk, Al and Sandecker

Over the years I go back to the book, and i still get wrapped up in the plot, doesn't matter how many times I read it. Clive's style was simpler then but I would gladly give the book a 8.5 out of 10

Clive Cussler's "potboiler" rate 10 with me!

I was disappointed that Darius didn't reappear as a villian in other CC books - I was hoping that he had just fired his gun and escaped the labyrinth to reappear at a future time!

Plot in this book is a little more complex than it was in PV. Darius would have been good archenemy for Pitt. As somebody mentioned elsewhere, every hero must have one.

I give it a 8.

The plot of this book did appear a little formulaic, with Willi being the obvious villian and hapless pilot.

The "secret cave" brought to mind an old "Hardy Boys" type adventure. Definitely not Clive's best, but since it was his early work he is excused... :P

The book is very short. It was my first Pitt novel. (Actually when i was fourteen -i guess- i went to our family library and picked Treasure but i couldn't finish it. So Med. Caper is the first Pitt book that i read cover-to-cover.) And i had great fun. It has a better chemistry between the main characters( Pitt, Giordino, Sandeceker...) than P.V. A good- satisfying read by Clive Cussler.

<_< It does. Huh. I thought MC was good. It showed Dirk in his "prime." He also exhibited quite a bit of intelligence and logic, I guess you could say. But some parts seemed to be lacking. Another 8.

I don't remember his dark side.

I also don't remember this Darius character. Hmm, time to reread a great book. The scene in the labrynth was masterful.

Hello,
this is the first time I find you, and I'm delighted. I read my first Cussler novel in July 2004 and I could't stop till I have read all of them published in Spanish.

I couldn´t read them in a chronological order, but I found it, or I thought I did :unsure:

I thougt The Mediterranean Caper was the first one, but I am reading it again (because I want to read all of them again but in order) and I have found references to Summer, his first great love, and I can´t understand it.
Can you help me? Thank you.

Welcome Maeve! Clive Cussler's first book was actually Pacific Vortex which is where Summer comes from, but that was the 6th book published. Med Caper he wrote second, but it was the first Cussler book to be published. Hence your confusion, and mine for that matter! :blink: Read Pacific Vortex and all will make more sense to you!. :)


Did i get this right guys?

Hello Boissee, and thanks for your fast reply.

I have already read them all, but not in chronological order. Now I though I knew it and I have restared reading them. First I have read again is Med Caper, and I thougt there was some error in the Spanish translation, but you have help me, ok, it is a litlle strange, but it doesn´t matter. I will love Dirk Pitt the same way! Although this is not my favourite, I think Dirk Pitt is too much rude in this one.

Thank you again, see you soon :)

You're Welcome! w:

Can someone correct me but isn't meditearran caper also called Mayday.......... as I spent ages trying to get hold of med caper but couldn't then through a website was told it had been renamed mayday and I managed to get it...I have every Dirk Pitt novel on my bookshelf and love reading and re-reading them. But would love to know whether I am right about this book....if not can anyone tell me where I can get a copy of med caper......

Many thanks
Caroline
Avid Dirk Pitt/ Clive Cussler fan.

As I do not know the whole story, I know the basics. I believe that originally, Meditteranean Caper was called Mayday. Med. Caper and Mayday are the same exact book, but Mayday is much rarer because only a limited number of copies were printed.

Hope that helped!!! p:

It was put out in the UK under the name Mayday. Thanks to Ebay and Kelly, I have 3 UK Art covers of Mayday.

That's awesome!! Would you be willing to sell one? :lol:

If you want one, Tyler we could arrange something ;)

Seriously? :o That would be too good to be true! Please send me a message regarding any information you could give me.

I never knew about Mayday until I joined this forum. Simply FASCINATING!

MC is also the first CC book I read as well. A very easy read. And like most of us, was hooked ever since.

Of course, my favorite part was when Dirk talked about "getting laid".

Am I correct in understanding that although MC was the first published, is actually 2nd in "chronological" order to Pacific Vortex which was published 6th?

You are correct, Als_Pal ;)

Finally got around to reading this one.

I must say, for a first book ever writen by Clive, its a bloody good one. I can only hope my first book can be as good.

A very simple plot. Good villians again. I read this one straight after reading PV and I must say that they are very similar. Dirk falls for the daughter/relative of the "bad guy". Has a couple run-ins with the bad guy. Finds an underwater secret hiding place.

Maybe he wrote this book thinking PV wasn't ever going to be released, as hinted in the intro by CC at the beggining of PV.

I say a good 7.5 out of 10.

P.S - As for as I've seen, its been called Mayday here in Aust for a while now. In fact, all new re-prints are called Mayday. In fact, It would be rare for me to find one called Med. Caper over here. I've seen 3 different Mayday covers so far.

lucky enough to get Mayday off of e-bay the other week. Thought I had a rare one until I read forum comments from you guys. It says (quote) first published 1977 but also copyright 1973. So, what date was this particular book published?
Incidentily, i paid $8.50. haven't had time to read it yet.
happy reading to all.

Good book by the good Doctor. I'm impressed.

w: all thee clive cussler books rate at least a 9 as they are all outstanding and mayday just sets the pace for all the others to follow