Dirk Pitt and his gang return in the Cussler family's latest. In a mystery reminiscent of the earlier Cussler title Black Wind , several people have died under strange circumstances while boating on the waters of the Canadian Pacific Northwest. While Pitt's daughter and son investigate, he learns from a scientist a possible way to tackle global warming. When that scientist's lab explodes, Pitt realizes that someone doesn't want her to succeed. And how does this all tie in to a race to the Arctic to recover a ship frozen in the ice over 100 years ago? The setup for the novel feels stale and similar to other Cussler titles, but then the final third kicks in and makes up for the tired start. In the end, fans and general readers alike will remember this as a rollicking and exciting tale and eagerly await Pitt's further adventures. For all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/08.]—Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Bestseller Cussler and son Dirk imagine the U.S. and Canada on the brink of war in their third collaborative Dirk Pitt novel (after Treasure of Khan and Black Wind ). In 2011, as the price of gas hits $10 a gallon, President Garner Ward must contend with a corrupt Canadian cabal that's subverting efforts to solve America's energy problems. Pitt barely escapes serious injury when a bomb destroys a D.C. lab along with records of research into an artificial photosynthesis process that could, almost immediately, eliminate the threat of global warming. That discovery may be connected with a legendary failed 19th-century sailing expedition to the Arctic as well as a series of deaths due to the phenomena that the Native Americans of British Columbia know as "the Devil's Breath." The Cusslers won't suspend many readers' disbelief, but thriller fans in search of a quick, exciting read should be satisfied. 750,000 printing; author tour. (Dec.)