As always, Clive Cussler’s latest novel stays right on top of current geopolitical events. Arctic Drift, set in 2011, centers on global warming and the financial crisis.
The crook in Arctic Drift is a Canadian energy empire billionaire by the name of Mitchell Goyette who is publicly admired for his green technology businesses, while concealing his heavy involvement in natural gas and oil.
South of the Canadian border, the United States faces a financial crisis of unequaled of proportions, a crisis intensified by the looming boycott of the U.S. by the international community if the country does not cut its greenhouse gas emissions from coal burning and automobiles.
The American president pins his hopes on Canadian natural gas to replace the coal used in many of the country’s electricity generating power plants, as well as the gasoline used in cars. The U.S. would thereby make substantial savings on expensive imported oil, while at the same time being able to meet the international demand to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
But of course, this desperate play by the U.S. gets exploited by Goyette to the fullest. Publicly, he’s a hero to the environmentalists because of his role in developing wind power and finding solutions to carbon dioxide sequestration. Out of the public eye and unknown to all but a few, Goyette has major holdings in the Melville gas field of the Canadian Arctic, as well as the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta.
The unconscionable Goyette strikes a deal with the American government to sell nearly limitless supplies of Melville natural gas at market value, which would help the U.S. avert the escalating energy crisis, a financial meltdown, and an international trade boycott. But when Goyette is able to secretly work out a better deal with China, he does not hesitate to break his agreement with the U.S. and leave the southern neighbor high and dry.
(The truth is, in the real world it is hard to see how Goyette’s business would survive the breach of such a huge and important contract. But it makes for a good story line.)
But Goyette’s double-dealing with China and the U.S. pales in comparison to some of his other crimes, which include political assassination, intentional dumping of toxic waste that kills humans and wildlife, theft, vandalizing, bribery of high ranking officials, and worst of all, nearly instigating a war between Canada and the U.S.
Of course, what Goyette fails to take into consideration is Dirk Pitt, the hero of twenty novels by Clive Cussler, including this most recent installment. In the end, Pitt manages to wreak havoc with all of Goyette’s ill-willed plans.
The co-authorship between father and son Cussler in Arctic Drift appears seamless. Their penmanship cannot be separated. Whatever parts of the book were written by the younger Cussler, he did a magnificent job of adopting his father’s inimitable style. (Intentional oxymoron!)
Arctic Drift is a thrilling read in classic Clive Cussler style. You will not be disappointed. It may not be the edge-of-your-seat non-stop action from cover-to-cover as in some of the older Cussler works, but it’s still an exciting, intriguing and brilliantly written story that keeps your attention and makes you want to keep reading. The thugs are as smart as they are sinister, and the heroes as pure as Arctic ice.
Britt Hellman lives in North Carolina with her spouse and three children. She operates her own copywriting company from her house. Clive Cussler has been one of her favorite writers since reading his Trojan Odyssey, a Dirk Pitt Novel, in 2003. She writes reviews like this one on Arctic Drift, by Clive and Dirk Cussler, for the fun of sharing that excitement.