How does Clive Cussler use imagery in Dragon?

Examples of Imagery:

"Steen sagged against the car, stricken with horror. He clutched his head between his hands in helplessness and despair, not noticing the thicket of hair that came away when he dropped them to his sides. 'Why in God's name are we dying?' he whispered, seeing his own grisly death mirrored by Midgaard. 'What is killing us?'"

"A monstrous fireball erupted with a blue brilliance whose intensity was greater than the sun. White hot gasses instantly burst over an area four kilometers in diameter. A hemispherical condensation cloud formed and spread out like a vast doughnut, its interior quickly burned out by the fireball."