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Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Oceanic explorers Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino find intrigue, adventure, and peril while collecting clues to the mysterious treasure of Xanadu, the famed capital of Kublai Khanâ??s empire. When Dirk Pitt is nearly killed rescuing an oil survey team from a freak wave on Russiaâ??s Lake Baikal, it appears a simple act of nature. But when the survey team is abducted and Pittâ??s research vessel nearly sunk, it becomes clear this is no run of bad luck, but the influence of something, or someone, more sinister. In fact, Pitt and the NUMA crew have inadvertently stepped between a Mongolian tycoon and his plans to corner the global oil market, beginning with covert negotiations in China. To ensure the deal goes through, this mysterious businessman will encourage ever-escalating acts of sabotage and violence. Pitt and Giordino soon learn the magnateâ??s fury and his power both stem from the same source: a dark secret about Genghis Khan, the greatest conqueror the world has ever known. To Pitt and Giordino the famed Khanâ??s empire is nearly the stuff of legend and his tomb a forgotten mystery. But the Khanâ??s legacy is very real. And itâ??s the treasure of his grandson Kublai Khan that holds the key to stopping this modern-day oil baron from restoring the conquests of his ancestors. That is, if Pitt and Giordin… (more)
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During the second failed Mongol invasion of Japan, a ship is swept out into the Pacific by a series of typhoons and survive long enough to land in the Hawaiian Islands. Several years later, reconstructing an old Polynesian ship and an elderly navigator the Mongol leader returns to China and a personal audience with Kublai Khan. In 1937, a British archaeologist unearths a box containing a scroll to the location of Genghis Khan burial location, but it is stolen by his Mongolian assistant as the archaeologist evacuates before the advancing Japanese. A relatively small oil company headed by Borjin, a Mongolian who is bent on taking control of the world oil market and re-uniting the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia—where he has found significant oil deposits buried at unusual depths—with Mongolia, has stolen a machine which can create an earthquake. He uses the machine to destroy major oil production facilities through the world, crippling China oil supply in a matter of weeks along with the rest of the worlds. He then uses this shortage to make an offer to supply China all the oil it needs. He demands that Inner Mongolia be ceded to Mongolia, and China pay market price for the oil he will supply them, which he guarantees will meet the colossal demands of the Chinese economy. China accepts this deal, not knowing of the hidden oil deposits they are handing to him. Dirk Pitt intervenes to end the situation and discovers that the grave of Genghis Khan has been located by Borjin, whose father stole the scroll to the burial location, and used the treasures to finance his company. Off the Big Island, Summer Pitt discovers a 13th-Century Chinese royal junk that eventually leads to Dirk Sr. figuring out where Kublai Khan’s tomb is located on the island from the other scroll that the elder Borjin did not take.
The return of the elder Dirk to the main character and the focus on Summer not being the damsel-in-distress Hawaiian subplot was a new wrinkle after the previous book. Both the main and subplots were well-written and resulted in a quick page turning story that is one of the best in the series. Unlike the previous novel, Borjin and his siblings were not memorable antagonists especially compared to some that the Pitts have faced in the past. Besides this one blemish, this second father-son effort by the Cusslers is a great follow up to their first.
Treasure of Khan is a particularly good installment in the decades-long Dirk Pitt franchise coming off the heels of another great previous installment. The decision to have Dirk Cussler join Clive in writing the series as so far paid off in a rise in quality.
The short of it is, a Mongolian descendant of Ghenghis Kahn wants to return Mongolia to its former glory by cornering the oil markets of major nations. He does this using a device that causes earthquakes. The sheer massiveness of the endeavor and the destructive forces unleashed are the stuff of pure fantasy, but then this is fiction, is it not?
While certainly larger than life, the characters (who I've come to know well) are believable and quirky enough to be entertaining by themselves. The story line moves along with Cussler's usual efficiency as the protagonists meet and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
For a mass market Cussler novel, this was okay, but not great. If you like Cussler, it's worth the read.
The prospect of these things in the hand of a megalomaniac who believes himself to be a descendant of Genghis Khan gives rise to an engrossing story that is hard to put down. This book returns to action centred on Dirk and Al Giordino, rather than the two Pitt children, who do feature, but in contrastingly smaller roles. A fun read that shows Cussler is back on song, some of the previous novels having lost their way a little. Cussler does of course show up in his own book again, and yet again is not recognised even when his name is given to Pitt and Giordino who have encountered him before!
That aside, though, this book, like all his others, is an engaging, gripping, action-packed thriller.