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Title: Bad writing, weak plot, stolen ideas
Review: Cussler's story about a new generation of Nazis based in Argentina is largely built upon Graham Hancock's book Fingerprints of the Gods (a lost maritime civilization, earth-crust displacement, ancient maps, etc.). Cussler tries to create an action/suspense novel using this as a backdrop, and even if his writing weren't so poor - AWFUL dialog, weak characters, unrealistic action sequences - it would still have been challenging to weave a credible storyline out of these elements. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the author fails so miserably in his attempt to do so. At times he came across as an extremely lowbudget version of Tom Clancy, without the depth of knowledge and feel for dialog that Mr. Clancy has, thereby making a bad situation even worse. Atlantis Found is by far one of the worst books I have ever read, and I would highly recommend NOT buying it, and picking up Fingerprints of the Gods instead (and a couple of Elmore Leonard books as well!).
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