Deception Point: 07/06/06

I inherrited my love of cheesy adventure novels from my step-dad. When we would go on a family car camping trip and I'd run out of things to read I would often borrow books from my parents. Mom at the time was reading historical romances (which I would also borrow) and dad was reading either biographies or cheesy adventure stories. He was the one who introduced me to Clive Cussler, though by now I think I've read far more of Cussler's books than he has. The Cussler book in question was Raise the Titanic, the second of the Dirk Pitt series.

It is my love of the ridiculous adventure plot that makes reading Dan Brown's books fun. He's not writing literature (although from listening to some of his interviews it appears he thinks he is). He's writing formulaic adventure stories that have an element of mystery to them (just as the Cussler books do).

The most recent Brown book that I finished is Deception Point which I think is his first novel. Of all of his books, Deception Point is the most like the prototypical Cussler novel. Both have governmental conspiracies that appear to point to the president (but don't), secret un-named military squads hell bent on taking out the main characters, and a plot that ultimately involves a twin hulled research vessel.

Here is my BookCrossing review:

In this book [Deception Point] Dan Brown tries for a Clive Cussler type story involving ice floes, deep ocean trenches, NASA and a presidential coverup. Corky and Mike are almost stand-ins for Al and Dirk and the Goya a rip off of one of the NUMA ships. The book for all its faults and completely silly plot (including an ending akin to Angles and Demons and Digital Fortress) I enjoyed the book. Brown though lacks the bravado and tongue-in-cheek humor that makes Cussler's books so entertaining.

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