Ah, recently I had the pleasure of borrowing several books written by Clive Cussler from a pal.

Several notable books from him are Sahara, Atlantis Found, Valhala Rising, Raising the Titanic (or is it Rising? - Didn't read that one) and others.

If the title of Sahara sounds familiar to you, it's because it has been made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz and Steve Zahn.

However, as most people would have it, reading the book would be more satisfying than watching the movie, other than the fact that most of the time filmmakers butcher and reattach the plot into their own way, making the storyline not as extravagant as the book. Sahara is an example of that.

The Synopsis

1996, Egypt. Searching for a treasure on the nile, Dirk Pitt thwarts the attempted assasination of a beautiful U.N. scientist investigating a diseas that is driving thousands of North Africans into madness, cannibalism and death. The suspected cause of the raging epidemic is vast, unprecdented pollution that threatens to extinguish all life in the world's seas. Racing to save the world from environmental catastrophe, Pitt and his team, equipped with extraordinary state of the art yatch, run a gauntlet between a bilionaire industrialist and a bloodthirsty West African tyrant. IN the scorching desert, Pitt finds a gold mine manned by slaves and uncovers the truth behind 2 enduring mysteries. Now, admist the blazing, shifting sands of Sahara, Dirk Pitt will make a desperate stand in a battle the world cannot afford to lost.

My take on this book
When I read the 1st book with Dirk Pitt as the hero with his sidekick, their skills, luck, intelligence and the way they always get out of trouble becomes so good, it's unbelievable. Makes you wonder if these 2 guys are more superhero rather than human. However, as you continue to read on, you'll marvel at the plot and the development of the storyline which is rather extensive. Clive Cussler happens to be good at that, and makes you want more of his books, even with some unbelievably good heroes.

In the end, I craved for more books written by this author from the Dirk Pitt series. Don't be fooled if the movie version of the Sahara seems a lil flat, the book version will guarantee a more extensive plot, more action and heart stopping moments.