Well, from the very beginning, there's action of sorts. The action continues on throughout the whole novel, with some very silly violence thrown in when Dirk Pitt meets Tupac Amaru. A lot of violence in this book compare to Shock Wave (I read Inca Gold before Shock Wave, FYI). The plot is rather predictable, especially if you read the back cover first, but that's mostly covered up by the action and the sometimes hilarious dialogue. Pretty good.