Customer Reviews

Lost City (Numa Files)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is the fifth book in the Kurt Austin series written by Clive Cussler and coauthor Paul Kemprecos. The prologue and first four chapters of this book do an excellent job of introducing the reader to many of the main characters and the various threads central to the plot of this action/adventure/scientific mystery. Immediately the reader meets Jules Fauchard, fighting for his life in an open cockpit plane over the French Alps in August 1914 on a secret mission as World War I is about to erupt. Chapter One then shifts to the present, and a "reality" TV show being filmed on a supposedly deserted island in The Scottish Orkneys becomes a little too real for the participants. In Chapter Two, research chemist Angus MacLean is confronted by the violence which he is trying to escape. The scene shifts again in Chapter Three to a research facility and powerplant located deep under the glacier Le Dormeur where a scientific research team makes a startling discovery. Finally, in the next chapter Kurt Austin and other members of his NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) team are collaborating with Skye Labelle, an archeologist with the Sorbonne, to explore the frigid waters of Lac du Dormeur at base of the glacier for hidden evidence of early European civilizations. Thus, less than fifty pages into the story the reader has been skillfully introduced to several of the various threads that will eventually be woven together in the complicated plot which evolves.

And there are additional elements of the story still to be introduced. First, Kurt and his associate Joe Zavala are called upon to save Skye and several others trapped by an explosion deep underneath the glacier. The focus then shifts to Kurt's colleagues Paul and Gamay Trout, who are asked to join a NUMA team investigating an infestation of Gorgonweed threatening to choke the world's oceans and upset both the world's ecology and commerce. This threat has apparently originated in an area of the Atlantic named the LOST CITY due to the confluence of huge underwater towers and the microbe communities that have become attached to them. The microbial action and an enzyme found in the region have caused the seaweed to mutate into a species that has the potential to create immense havoc by clogging the oceans to the extent that all life on the planet might be seriously disrupted. In addition, it appears that the enzymes produced by these microbes are being secretly harvested by unknown predators. The plot will also be further complicated by the actions of the Fauchard family, many of whom are truly villainous and yet have wielded immense power for centuries.

Several segments of this book are very informative and truly fascinating, especially when dealing with subjects that demand the provision of detailed technical background information in order to make the story believable. I found some of the information on glaciology, oceanography and deep sea submersibles very interestingly presented. And such exotic topics as the features of the Morane-Saulnier N aircraft, ancient weapons, and early trade routes certainly added to the believability of the plot.

So, WHY JUST THREE STARS? Because inexplicably large sections of the book read like an unedited first draft. I have no idea whether there was a belief that the plot and the series' popularity were enough to make the book successful, whether there was a tight publication deadline, or if there is some other explanation, but the overall effect was very disappointing. Specifically, my criticisms are fourfold. First, a lot of the dialog is either stilted, childish, cliché filled or just plain ludicrous. (Most high school students could have made it more realistic.) Second, in several instances the characters actions make no sense. Individuals act with total disregard of the obvious dangers which they face, taking not even the most obvious precautions. Third, much of the backstory is provided by conversations which seem totally unlikely. I cannot go into detail without providing spoilers, but at one point one the villains (apparently fueled by egotism) willingly and totally superfluously engages in an extended dialog with one of her adversaries the only purpose of which is to enlighten the reader. Last, many of the escapes and much of the action, while wildly exciting and entertaining, are totally lacking in credibility, even for a novel of this genre.

In summary, the story has a hugely imaginative plot, full of the type of intrigue and conspiracy favored by readers of the genre. And there is certainly plenty of heartstopping action. But it is poorly written and obviously manipulative of the reader. In retrospect this is probably a book that will appeal much more to speed readers and individuals who are willing to just quickly skim through the sections to which I objected and concentrate on the action. So, a frustrating three stars, almost five stars for the plot and barely two stars for the authors' execution.

Tucker Andersen

What an unmitigated disaster!! I have gotten used to Cussler's nutty plots, cardboard characters and over-the-top "prose". But this one takes the prize as far as disjointed action, absurd dialogue and craz, unrelated plots. The Sea Group (Dirk Pitt's pals)- for some reason - are in Switzerland(??) and discover the frozen body of a man from WWI with a strange, ancient helmet. It only goes downhill...the widow of the man is killing off alleged enemies to protect the "secret of the helmet" which is, preposterously, that ancient folks developed a way to preserve youth, i.e. eternal life and just needed some "enzymes" to complete their work.

One of these enzymes has turned folks into "half-human" monsters (it's so B-grade nutty that it's almost good) who then go about attacking "normal" people. A sub-sub-plot involves destroying the oceans for some nefarious reason. Of course, something goes wrong and the helmet's powers are reversed - sorta like a nuclear bomb that builds a city instead of destroying it. Old widow dies of old age prematurely (is that a contradiction?) and our forgettable hero goes on to new adventures.

What's pitiful is that there only a slight attempt to connect these hairbrained tales. And, of course, everything connected to the story is larger than life - eternal life, monsters, ruling the world, destroying the oceans. Absurd, ridiculous, poorly written - to be read only if one is trapped on a desert island.

Lost City, the fifth installment in the NUMA series, is another classic fantasy story of good versus evil, with the usual predecessor event setting the stage for an eventual tie-in to the main story. In this case, Cussler pits Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala against a highly secretive family with a long history of armament development and production and a desire to create the elixir of life. At the same time, their NUMA compatriots seek to find the source of a mutating plant life that threatens the world's oceans. As would be expected, Kurt and Joe again fight tremendous odds and calmly face down death repeatedly as they battle the demented antagonists. The novel is filled with all of the action, suspense, and frequent plot twists that have become Cussler's trademark. While the reader needs to suspend belief when reading Cussler's work, long-time fans will find Lost City to be an enjoyable summer read.

Some of his novels are more plausible than others but this one is way way over the top. Just a fountain of youth story, OK. Just a wicked arms merchant story, OK. Just a way to destroy the oceans, OK. Any two of those,OK. Put all of those together with cannibal ghouls and it is a farce! Sahara was much more believable.

Cussler always gives me a topic to research. In this case it is the Minoans.

Unlike the Orgeon Series that Cussler is also co-authoring this story screams with action. Maybe it is closer to the Dirk Pitt formula of action the author is so use to writing. Whatever it is I hope it continues and he doesn't age these characters as fast as it seemed Dirk and Al aged in the Pitt series. I do enjoy the style and formula he has with the NUMA stories. If you are a fan of any of the Dirk Pitt books grab this one up.

I became an instant fan of Clive's Dirk Pitt books upon picking up a paperback version of Treasure to help pass the time during a family summer vacation roadtrip after my freshman year of high school. Fifteen years later I still rush out to get my hands on his new releases the day they hit the shelves. That being said however, I must agree with those reviewers who have found the last two Pitt books to be less than stellar.

Fortunately, we fans of Clive have been given the Kurt Austin books as a way of "atoning" for the lackings of the most recent Pitt books. I have heard the arguments that Austin is just a rip-off of Pitt, but the fact of the matter is thst this is not such a bad thing. While the first two entrants in the NUMA Files series, Serpent and Blue Gold, were adequate thrillers the line really hit its stride with 2002's Fire Ice. (The first one for which the publishers abandoned the "trade paperback" format in place of the more conventional "Hardcover" first printing. Coincidence? I think not.) That last two, White Death, and the new, Lost City, both feature outstanding plots that harken back to some of the classic Pitt storylines. If I had to guess, I would venture to say that Clive develops the plots for these books and at leasst lays out the Kurt and Joe parts while Kemprecos is the driving force behind the Trout charactes.

In any case, if you are feeling like Clive let you down with Trojan Odyssey and may be losing it, I would encourage you give one of the afforementined Kurt Austin books a read. By the way, I noticed on Amazon that there is a new Clive "solo" book, "Black Wind" due to be published at the end of November. I don't know if it is a Pitt novel of something different but it looks like I'm still gonna be rushing out to the bookstore on my lunchbreak.....

I've been a fan of Clive Cussler since I was a high school student in the early 80s. Lost City follows the Cussler formula of fantastic plots, easy female conquests, indestructable heroes, hair-breadth escapes, and fancy cars -- great stuff when you're looking for mindless entertainment. Suspend your disbelief for a fun ride as Kurt Austin, his beautiful female sidekick and his pals track down evildoers, discover the details of their nefarious plot to take over the world, and prevail against all odds to defeat the bad guys while dodging mutant zombies, robot submarines, flooding tunnels and other videogame obstacles.

Old fan as I am, this one (and quite a few of the later ones) was a huge disappointment. Badly written, obvious plot, even more cartoonish characters than usual. Time for Cussler to retire methinks.....

In the post Dirk Pitt world of Clive Cussler, we now have Kurt Austin (who's basically a blond haired version of Pitt, with a little bit less coy of an attitude) ripping it up for NUMA. Having been a fan of most of the Dirk Pitt stories, I was reluctant to pick up a book with another character as the lead, I almost felt like Clive was cheating on Dirk... On to the novel.

Cussler is pretty ingenious in coming up with core stories that capture the reader right from the start. E.g. in "Atlantis Found", what would happen if advanced civilizations existed on Earth eons ago, only to be taken out by an asteroid, then found in the present day? In Vixen 03, A plane carrying secret military cargo vanishes in World War II only to show up in a lake in Colorado 50 years later. You get the picture, Clive is a treasure hunter, and he creates these great stories that fit perfectly into his life's passions.

In The Lost City, the story opens just prior to WWI, a pilot is racing to Switzerland with a simple message, fail, and millions will die. His plane is shot down and he perishes in the crash... he failed. As the story unfolds, the plane is found, along with the devious plan the pilot in the beginning was attempting to thwart. Needless to say, voices from the past return to haunt the present. And Kurt Austin manages to get the girl and save the day. It's great treasure hunting meets action adventure story. It's pure fluff, but its good, classic Cussler fluff. Not his best, but certainly a worthwhile read.

Enjoy!

Kurt's back for adventure number five and this one's as good as the old Dirk novels after a paucity of quality in recent years.

This time we open in the middle of WWI to find the extremely rich fugitive Jules Fauchard failing in a mission to reach Switzerland and dying believing his failure will kill millions. Zip forward to present day and we find Jodie Michaelson being evicted off the latest reality TV show Outcast Island. Her eviction saves her life as she awakes to find the contestants and producers being ripped apart. In Monevassia in the Greek Peloponnese, Angus Maclean has fled for his life from an assassin but finds himself captured. Meanwhile in the Alps Hank Thurston, professor of glaciology and Derek Rawlins, journalist, are visiting a subglacial observatory when a body is found in its frozen grip. It's Jules Fauchard bearing a case full of documents and a superbly crafted helmet. On cue the bad guys arrive to steal the case and doom Kurt's latest love interest, Skye Labelle, French professor in medieval arms, who has been called in for her opinion on the helmet to a watery grave. Kurt and Zavala come to the rescue in their underwater submersible.

An ocean away the able husband and wife sidekicks, Paul and Gamay Morgan-Trout find themselves investigating a global case of gorgonweed, a biomass that is threatening to choke the world's oceans.

All three incidents are inextricably linked.

Kurt finds himself following in Paul and Gamay's footsteps as they are kidnapped whilst exploring the Lost City which they believe is responsible for creating the gorgonweed and they end up back on a Scottish Isle forced to aid the reappeared Angus MacLean in his attempts to perfect a new elixir of life. The red-eyed beasts prove all too real and Paul sets them free during their escape creating mayhem. Meanwhile Skye and Kurt are pursuing the leads of the highly secretive Fauchard family and a visit to the gothic medieval chateau persuades them of the megalomania inherent within Racine Fauchard and her son, Emile.

The resulting plot has our hero and his dependable sidekick running through dark tunnels, fighting with ancient weapons, and spending a lot of time wisecracking his way out of deadly situations as he seeks to unseat a family after the elixir of immortality. There is a distinct lack of underwater adventure here but it's not detrimental and Kurt seems to have given up his deadly races on speedboats though there is the obligatory car chase.

There are a couple of faux pas as we learn of Captain John Bruce on the British Coast Guard boat Scapa who "as a good Presbyterian who neither drank nor swore" (page 334) cheerfully giving Kurt access to his "bottle of fine Scotch whiskey" (page 336) and high above "The French Alps, August 1914" (page 1) Jules Fauchard not sure which continent he's over as he's sucking "in air, the arctic cold striking his lungs" (page 2) but, on the whole this is a great effort from Cussler and Kemprecos. Far superior to the banal `Black Wind' and brings back memories of greats such as `Inca Gold' or `Sahara'. This fifth volume in the Austin series may just well halt the criticism of the next generation series of efforts and we may well just be back to some quality Cussler adventure. Roll on the next adventure.