Cussler should be viewed like all authors based on the climate of the era in which they’re writing. Take it with a grain of salt and accept that our society has since evolved. Maybe you should check out James Bond instead?

William Swaim

Iceberg (Dirk Pitt, #3)

Frozen inside a million-ton mass of ice-the charred remains of a long missing luxury yacht, vanished en route to a secret White House rendezvous.  The only clue to the ship's priceless-and missing-cargo: nine ornately carved rings and the horribly burned bodies of its crew.

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