The Mediterranean Caper by Clive CusslerMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was my first foray into this adventure kind of novel. At least I think that's what it was. It was ok, but pretty mindless entertainment. I feel like I just ate an entire bag of chips or something completely empty of nutritional value.
It had its exciting, action-filled moments, but the characters... I had some problems with their lack of depth and the outright sexism really bothered me. I suppose I've been lucky not to read anything before that this blatantly objectifies females, and even more lucky not to be part of a generation that found this kind of attitude normal. I had read reviews that mentioned this and thought I was prepared. I wasn't. I was completely shocked when Pitt slapped a girl in the face right after meeting her, and then seduced her, and then she thanked him for it. His attitude towards women in general was more chauvinist than anything I've read, maybe ever. It was written in the 1970s, so I can at least hope later books are not as bad.
I also was disappointed in the mystery aspect, since it didn't take much for me to figure out what was going on (at least the main part), but then a bunch of extra details were thrown in at the end that came out of nowhere. I was kind of annoyed at the end when Pitt took pages and pages to explain everything he had figured out in a villain reveal-all that reminded me of Scooby Doo. One reason I like mysteries is having the chance to put things together myself, but here I just had to sit back and be told the answers. Except for the really obvious ones that I spotted ages before the main character seemed to catch on. Here, the main point seemed to be the action, and the mystery was just a prop.
Still, I'm not really sure what to expect from this type of book, so I might try one of the later Pitt novels before I write the series off - if I can get past the whole attitude towards women. The adventure part at least I can see growing on me.
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