Customer Reviews

Blue Gold: A Novel from the NUMA Files

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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!!

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.

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.

Other best-selling Authors who have "co-authored" books that have gotten a marginal or strongly negative reception, heads up, "Blue Gold" is how it's done.

This was not quite a five star read but the quality of the book that Mr. Cussler has put his name on and given to fans is not the compromised mess that other established stars of the genre have dealt recently. And while the paternity of the book is apparent, the outrageous "escape from Cuba in a bathtub" story lines have been toned down. They all were fun reads; I just enjoyed this work, as it didn't stretch credulity on every page. The result is this latest effort that I enjoyed as much as some of Mr. Cussler's best work. I mean no slight to Mr. Kemprecos, as I have no way of knowing to what degree he created this work, but whatever his involvement, he deserves high marks.

The book is very tightly written, well paced, and even though a bit less outlandish, is every bit as good as the previous 16 bestsellers this storyteller has given readers. The series while continuing more toward a stand-alone status still retains some crossover, and in this case Admiral Sandecker and Hiram Yaeger were very well integrated. This tale did not have a fairy tale ending, and for me that added a great deal to the book.

The villain brought to mind an extended Cruella DeVil, which these authors brought off very well when it could have fallen flat. Per the book's description the "metal mouthed morons" were bordering on the annoying, but didn't cross the line.

All considered a well-done work worthy of a genre that Cussler can almost claim as his own. That the book is priced at about half of what many hardcover books demand, is a bonus. Unlike some others who have attempted this new outlet for their work, I hope Mr. Cussler and Mr. Kemprecos produce many more.

The book is a nice bonus as it arrived within days of Mr. Cussler successfully bringing ashore the Confederate submarine "Hunley" which had lain on the ocean floor for almost 150 years.

I was very critical of the first joint effort by Mr. Cussler and Mr. Kemprecos ("Serpent") because it was subpar by Cussler standards. I also thought he had let himself fall into the "franchise trap", where he stamps his name on books authored by someone else and watches his credibility and reader base suffer. However, I wound up giving Mr. Cussler the benefit of the doubt and read "Blue Gold".

"Blue Gold" is the second novel featuring the NUMA team of Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. As with the first book, however, one cannot help but continually visualize Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino - the descriptions of the characters are that similar. Oh, there are some minor differences, but they only serve to make you feel that you are reading the adventures of "Pitt Lite" and "Giordino Lite". The Trouts, minor characters spotlighted both here and in "Serpent", are wholly unappealing because they don't bring much to the overall story, other than an excuse to print an extra chapter or two revolving around a chase or escape.

This book is much improved over "Serpent" mostly due to its, shall we say, more judicious use of detail. Whereas "Serpent" was bogged down by mind-numbing, superficial detail, "Blue Gold" is free of most of these anchors. The end result is a story that reads slightly closer to the Cussler adventures we fans are accustomed to, and moves along at a much quicker pace. The plot is average, though the closing sequence is exciting and unique, with an interesting turn of events not typically found in the Dirk Pitt tales.

All in all, the "sophomore" Kurt Austin adventure is an average effort. It is much improved over the first outing in this series, but continues to be vexed by too many similarities in characters and plot. It seems to me that for this series to fly, Mr. Cussler needs to ditch Mr. Kemprecos and just write the stories himself. Also, if he does indeed have this wealth of material for stories, he should have not bothered creating Kurt Austin and stuck with the tried-and-true Dirk Pitt. After all, Cussler claims Pitt to be his "alter ego", and that familiarity has lent itself to great storytelling. Creating a "mirror" alter ego in the persona of Austin has not had the same effect, in my opinion.

I will continue to anticipate and read the Dirk Pitt novels. However, this series has proven to be a general disappointment, and makes me less inclined to shell out a few extra dollars in between Pitt adventures. I hope that Mr. Cussler will realize that he can't keep running with a knockoff version of the character that made him a top-notch author. His reputation will suffer otherwise, and he will quickly find that even lending his name to generate sales won't work the same magic.

No matter how many bad guys he kills, and how many woman he woos, Kurt Austin can not compare to Dirk Pitt. Classic car collections are much cooler than dueling pistols, and Dirk is a much more Suave charector. But in the end, this book was packed with adventure, and fills in the gaps between the Dirk Pitt novels, because lets face it, for me no function in this wolrd, I need my fix of Clive Cussler adventure. A very exciting book.

The second novel in the new Kurt Austin series, BLUE GOLD, shows signs of developing into a strong understudy to the swashbuckler Dirk Pitt books that so many of us have come to enjoy from Clive Cussler over the last two decades. This second installment opens with a boat race that ends almost tragically in the wake of several dead gray whales. Speeding along at more than 100 knots, Kurt, and his fearless sidekick, Joe Zavala, use their ingenuity to escape a near-death collision. Almost immediately the NUMA boys set out to discover the mystery of the dead mammals.

Solving the puzzle takes Kurt and Joe, and others of the NUMA team, searching for clues in the rain forests of Venezuela, the outback of Alaska, and the shores of Lake Tahoe. Each scene is exciting from start to finish, with the usual suave, clever and heroic personalities prevailing over the bad guys.

After reading SERPENT, the first Kurt Austin novel that Mr. Cussler wrote with Paul Kemprecos, I was hesitant to read BLUE GOLD. SERPENT was a far cry from the NUMA tales Cussler fans have enjoyed. But BLUE GOLD is a giant step forward and definitely worth reading while we wait for the return of Dirk and Al Giordino, the other NUMA heroes, who will save the world again from the next batch of power-hungry villains.

This is the first Kurt Austin book I've read and it was great! It's some of Cussler's greatest work and in my opinion a hell of a lot more fun than going and seeing some plotless summer action movie. It's setting are great, the villain and her to two henchman are very creative, and the main characters, Kurt and Joe, are almost if not just as good as Dirk Pitt. Kurt is more of a normal guy, not superhuman like Pitt. The plot is not as outrageous as some of his other books and it's got a great ending. The only downside to this book is that it's way too short!! I could have read this book for weeks.

I was sad to see good ol' Dirk and Al vanish into the background of the NUMA files, but I have to admit that I'm warming up to the new heroes of Clive Cussler's books. Cussler had Kurt and Joe bring a new kind of style and action to Serpent's plot. There was an even more interesting plot in Blue Gold. The storylines in the two newest novels are more complicated than those of Dirk Pitt's time. This is definitely a big plus for the readers. You can compare it to the two Mission Impossible movies because it was the more twisted plot of the first movie that made it better than just the non-stop action of the second. I guarantee Blue Gold by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos to be worth your time and your money.

Suspend your disbelief, open the book and take another great ride by Clive Cussler. Mr. Cussler is a master at tying together a myriad of subplots and weaving them into one great plot and resolution.

This new NUMA pair is exciting and just as compelling as Dirk and Al. The situations are just close enough to the edge that you can imagine that, "yes, maybe this really could happen."

Expect a fast pace, clearly defined characters, contemptible villains and a satisfying ending. The multiple locations, NUMA resources and manpower are all here. It's a treat to have appearances from Admiral Sandecker, Rudy Gunn and Hiram Yeager.

I look forward to additional adventures from Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. This is another series winner for Clive Cussler.

Great fun.