Most of his books from the last 10 years have been co-authored with someone else, so it may be their influences. Or maybe not.
It was the mostly forgettable book that had to do with the Northwest passage opening up. Written with someone else. And I’m sure you’re right. A commercial writer writes the books, and he polishes them up. Virtually no work for him, and the pop writer gets to cash in on Cussler’s famous name.