Cussler, Clive. Dragon. Toronto: Pocket Star, 1990.
In Dragon, Pitt must stop crazed Japanese businessman Hideki Suma from executing a plan that could change the world. Intent on setting off a chain of nuclear bombs intended to crush the Western powers, and therefore their economy, Suma’s plans are put in jeopardy when a Japanese cargo ship carrying one of his bombs is discovered. With no time to spare, Pitt and a team of U.S. government employees must uncover the secret location of Suma’s lab, and stop him before it is too late.
Having read many of Cussler’s action novels, I must say that Dragon was not one of my favourites. Although the characters were, for the most part, well done, I found the novel to drag out, with too many plot twists, clichés, and corny sentences. I particularly disliked the following sentence: “Like elegant old hookers blossoming after dark under expensive, sparkling jewellery, the aging hotels along Las Vegas Boulevard hid their dull exteriors and brutally austere architecture behind an electrical aurora borealis of blazing light that advertised more flash for the cash.” Come on – I know that the audience isn’t necessarily intellectual, but please could this sentence be any cornier?
