Factual error: In Chapter 68, Trashcan Man finds a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) in a guard booth outside a nuclear storage facility in mid 1990. The BAR was phased out of US military service in the mid 1950's.
Factual error: The catfish in Insomnia is described as having scales. But catfish (both kinds) have skin, and not scales like other fish.
Continuity mistake: When Doctor Deere and everyone else are in the Westing mansion towards the beginning of the book, Angela gets up and leaves, but Doctor Deere keeps turning and commenting to her. After 3 comments the book says Angela then returns.
Continuity mistake: On page 178 In the scene where Antoinette hits Aelic on the back of the hand with the flat of her sword, Aelic is screaming that she cut him, but then the name switches to "Aiden" screaming she cut him.
Plot hole: When Neptune places the curse on Emily, her hands begin to become webbed but never once does she have webbed hands when she is a mermaid so the curse shouldn't cause this. She isn't becoming something that she isn't, she is becoming half mer half human, so the curse shouldn't affect her hands because they never actually transform when she changes into a mermaid, only her lower half changes. Even the pictures in the book show hands that aren't webbed when in mermaid form.
Continuity mistake: Andi and Grace in the cellar prison are digging out a nail for use as a weapon. On page 150, the nail has one inch showing. Later, on page 175 "a half inch was visible."
Continuity mistake: Gordie shoots a hole in a trashcan with Chris's father's pistol and Chris tells Vern and Teddy about it when they all meet up later at the junkyard. Later, Gordie narrates that Chris hadn't mentioned the pistol to them and that he guessed it would be their secret.
Factual error: During the bus chase in Rome, the author Clive Cussler describes the chasing car, a Fiat Bravo, as a 'big sedan'. Firstly, a Fiat Bravo isn't remotely big, and secondly the Bravo didn't come in a sedan bodystyle. The similar Marea however, did.
Factual error: In the chapter 'Emergency Treatment' Alex uses the MRI machine to incapacitate Steel Watch. The MRI machine is described as having a strength of 1.5 tesla. MRI machines in hospitals use at least 4 Tesla, and 1.5 would not nearly be enough to experience the 'missile effect'
Factual error: Near the beginning of the book, Hiram Yeager is described as driving a V12 BMW, while his wife drives a Cadillac Esplanade. Clive Cussler, as an avid car collector should know that it is a Cadillac Escalade, not Esplanade. Cadillac does not make a vehicle named Esplanade.
Plot hole: In the first chapter, when Bridget is going to Grafton Underwood for the Turkey Curry Buffet it's is clear that she drove there - she mentions getting onto the M6 by mistake and jamming her foot down on the accelerator - but towards the end of the buffet, Mark is made to offer her a lift back to London, to which she replies that she will be getting the train back in the morning. Surely she would just drive back? What would be the point in leaving her car at her parents' house?
Continuity mistake: In chapter 63, Pendergast is mixing chemicals and accidentally spills a few drops of sulfuric acid on Smithback's hand. At the bottom of page 357 (of the hardcover edition), Pendergast grabs "a small box of baking soda, ripped off the top." In the very next paragraph, "Pendergast shook baking powder over the burn mark." Baking soda and baking powder are VERY different chemicals; the soda would have been the option for a burn, because it would neutralize the acid, while baking powder would do nothing. A simple but obvious error.
Continuity mistake: In Part 2 - Witwatersrand, when Sean Courtney is taking part in a bare-knuckles fighting championship, one of his opponents is introduced as Tim Curtis (who later goes on to work for Sean), yet when Sean asks Curtis to inform people that the wedding is off later in the story, his name has changed to Martin. (UK 1997 PAN edition).
Factual error: Mike and his team fly into Vegas and meet their contact there. Mike is told that he has to fly on to Nellis AFB to a briefing. The author also says that Nellis AFB is "in the middle of thousands of miles of just about nothing." The problem is the Nellis AFB and Las Vegas share a common boundary and are less than a ten-minute drive apart. Nellis is not in the middle of nothing and to fly there would take longer than driving.
Factual error: Error is about two thirds of the way through this book. The central male love interest is a terrifically talented high school history teacher. His wonderful, down to earth way of keeping student attention is highlighted when he talks about war between Britain and Germany and he illustrates the relevant lesson by drawing pictures on the whiteboard. These include a swastika for the Germans - shame he's giving a lesson on the first world war (1914-18), which makes the reader wonder exactly how terrifically talented and knowledgeable he really is. The swastika was adopted by the Nazi party in 1920 and incorporated into the German flag in the mid 1930s.
Factual error: At Dolores' first week of school, which is September 1969, the hippie student Naomi stands up and tries to get everyone to take action on Vietnam and My Lai. Dolores says "those Life magazine pictures had made my stomach heave." Problem is, those pics weren't available to the public until November of 1969 - two months after.
Plot hole: In Chapter 8, Oliver examines a dead body which has a nightstick fracture of the right forearm bones. While examining the fractures, he discovers a pierced olecranon fossa - a hole through the bony elbow joint - of the same arm. When his examination of the other arm reveals that it does not have the same hole, he realizes that the hole in the right elbow socket must have resulted from wear and tear - specifically, the repetitive snapping motion of pitching a baseball - since birth defects are usually bilateral. This in turn leads him to identify the dead man as a former baseball pitcher who quit playing when he wore out his arm. The problem? Throughout the book, the man is referred to as "left-handed" and a "southpaw" pitcher. He pitched left-handed, so he should have worn a hole through his left elbow socket, not his right.
Factual error: In chapter 11, when different types of liars are described, one of those listed is High Machiavellians, and it is said this name comes from "the ruthless Italian prince". But Niccolo Machiavelli was never a prince, but a diplomat and politician. His most famous book is called "Il Principe" (the Prince), but he himself did not hold that title.
Factual error: In Figure 8-1a, the aircraft pictured is an F-14, not an F-116 as the text states.
Other mistake: At the beginning of the chapter "Susan" (page 165), it says "The Beamer murmured 'Bit of Luck'". Isn't he with Pamela, unconscious from having too much liquor? (page 167) He couldn't be with the group then run to the liquor store.