Blue Gold: A Novel from the NUMA Files [Paperback]

Clive Cussler (Author), Paul Kemprecos (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Numa Files | Publication Date: January 1, 2003

The second in the electrifying NUMA FILES series starring Kurt Austin of the National Underwater and Marine Agency Planet earth is a paradox - a lush, fertile world three-quarters-covered by water, yet in danger of running dry. Fresh water is disappearing from overuse and pollution and the only hope lies in desalination, a process to convert salt water into fresh. Francesca Carval is a brilliant scientist whose newest discovery will save the human race. She has perfected the process of desalination, and is flying to a conference in Rio to announce it to the world. Then a group of terrorists attempts to hijack her plane which crashes in the Venezuelan jungle. Francesca is taken in and protected by a native tribe: she is not heard from again. Ten years later, Kurt Austin and his NUMA team come across the mysterious death of a pod of grey whales off the coast of California. The path leads Austin to the heart of South America where he discovers Francesca, the 'white goddess' of the jungle, living among the tribe that took her in. At the same time Austin stumbles upon a group that aims to control the world's fresh water supply, and which will kill anyone who stands in its way. Racing from the open oceans off the United States to the deep jungles of Venezuela, Austin and the NUMA team engage in a thrilling new adventure with the future of the world at stake...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Reading a Clive Cussler novel is like watching several movies at once. He's a master of the jump cut, moving the action from one continent to another with an entirely different cast of characters, good guys and bad, in each place. He always manages to pull the various characters, plots, and counterplots together, though, and the heroes always triumph in the end after saving the world from eco-terrorists, megalomaniacs with their ambitions primed for world domination, and a few regular old criminals thrown in for good measure. In this new adventure from the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA) files, Kurt Austin and his partner Joe Zavala nearly die during a powerboat race when a pod of dead, bloated gray whales bobs to the surface and obstructs the race course. Attempting to discover what killed the whales, Kurt and Joe track their migratory route to a mysterious underwater laboratory on the Baja Peninsula. Once again they narrowly miss death when the lab explodes, destroying their minisubmarine and almost poaching them alive. What seemed like a simple scientific investigation turns into something very different: a confrontation with a 7-foot Valkyrie who's bent on taking over the earth's depleted freshwater reserves. In order to thwart her plans, Austin and Zavala venture deep into the jungle of the Venezuelan rain forest to find a supposedly mythical tribal goddess (one with a Ph.D. in science, of course) whose secret formula to desalinate seawater can put the kibosh on the Valkyrie's plans. Helped by a husband-wife NUMA team who've already made the goddess's acquaintance, plus the always fascinating techno-toys so beloved of superheroes, Kurt and Joe save the day. But before they do, there's plenty of heart-stopping action, random acts of murder and mutilation, and even a little romance. Great pacing, plenty of gadgets, a strong narrative, and bigger-than-life heroes and villains. If you've run out of summer action flicks already, make your own popcorn and curl up with Blue Gold instead. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Clive Cussler is as active an adventurer as his fictional heroes which adds a thrilling authenticity to his writing. He is an avid collector of classic cars and has 75 examples of hand-built coachwork. He lives in Colorado with his wife and 3 children. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743467183
• ISBN-13: 978-0743467186
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,750,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Gold, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Blue Gold : A Novel from the NUMA Files (Paperback)

Clive Cussler has another winner. Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are great new leading characters but it's also nice to welcome back some old friends, Admiral Sandecker, Paul and Gamay Trout and of course Hiram Yaeger. A great plot full of action, wonderful descriptions and great characters. Who could ask for anything more!!

80 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cussler Strikes Gold - AGAIN!, August 8, 2000

By 

blender - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blue Gold : A Novel from the NUMA Files (Paperback)

Clive Cussler's knack for writing tales that seem beyond belief astounds me. In Blue Gold, he weaves such a fantastic tale that one wonders if it might possibly be true - were there trans-Atlantic ocean crossings that brought many different ethnicities together? How can one explain the different facial features in the rock carvings around the world, representing cultures that have never been found to exist in places like Mexico? Fantastic story, completely believable!

Cussler's new tag-team of agents smoothly take over where Dirk Pitts and Al Giordino leave off. In fact, in a humorous way, Cussler works Pitts & Giordino into the storyline throughout; Joe Zavala and Kurt Austin are strongly written characters with all the zeal and gusto that we have grown to love about Pitts & Giordino. This is not a tale about the new guard replacing the old at NUMA, but rather a fascinating new wrinkle that makes me hope that eventually Zavala and Austin will team up with Pitts & Giordino in some lavishly written novel that requires each man's special talents (more so than the brief involvement that Cussler has allowed Dirk and Al in Blue Gold).

I read this book way too quickly - and was disappointed that I had finished it so fast instead of savoring every page like a delicious dessert. I sincerely hope that soon Cussler will have the opportunity to see his works developed as motion pictures, as I thoroughly enjoy how his books play out in my imagination!

Peace Out.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Gold is True Gold, August 18, 2000

By 

Timothy J. Kindler (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blue Gold : A Novel from the NUMA Files (Paperback)

The faithful followers of Clive Cussler will find Blue Gold to be a great summer read. While I was initially drawn to the new series by Cussler and Kemprecos as a way to quench my thirst for Cussler in between the Dirk Pitt novels, the series starring Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala is clearly coming into its own. Blue Gold, the second installment in the series, is a classic Cussler story of good versus evil. An important event from the past - in this case a downed airplane carrying a beautiful scientist with an invention that will benefit mankind - sets the stage for the remainder of a novel filled with all of the action, suspense, and frequent plot twists that have become Cussler's trademark. Like Serpent, Blue Gold provides a broader character set from NUMA that the typical Dirk Pitt novel, with each character's personality adding to the depth and breadth of the story. The ongoing inclusion of crossover characters from the Pitt novels (i.e. Admiral Sandecker, Hiram Yeager) also adds substance. All-in-all, this book was a great read and very difficult to put down. The only downside was that, given that the book was under 400 pages, the enjoyment was over all too quickly.