Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler & Grant Blackwood

The Cussler franchise continues in this formula book.   Like Patterson, Cussler has created a formula that sells books.   He starts with a preposterous mystery and then shares the stage with the primary mystery.   Eventually they are tied together.   This story starts with WWII German submarines and ends with a hunt for a hidden Grecian treasure.

Sam and Remi Fargo are the protagonists in this book.   They are a couple with apparently unlimited resources to run the worlds secrets to the ground.   They rent and destroy equipment, vehicles and properties world wide.   

The obligatory cameo of Cussler is in this book.   I haven't read any Cussler in about five years so that was a treat to see that some things haven't changed.

Grant Blackwood is a ghost writer who co-authored the book with Cussler.   Speculation is that Blackwood wrote the book and Cussler added his name for the marketing panache.   I have no idea if that speculation is founded in anything but jealousy as the book hit number 10 on the NY Times Hard Cover Fiction list.

The story is entertaining, there is a ton of preposterous action and a black on black villain.   The formula works and provides a couple of hours of escapism.  

Web site:       http://www.cusslerbooks.com/

                        http://grantblackwood.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Lost City by Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos

Lost City leads one to believe ancient civilizations are involved which do play a large part in Cussler’s work. In this case an ancient family and it’s lust for power and immortality are the dominant forces in the book. The tales from the NUMA files stories seem to have adopted the traditional Cussler formula. A strong main character, Kurt Austin and a trusty, multi-talented sidekick, Joe Zavala. There is always a evil personified villain and a damsel, in this case one that is not too bright, in distress. The interaction between the characters and their interaction in fantastic circumstances seems to be the premise for all of the stories. Invoking either participation or just noting the reoccurring characters of past books also seem required. Although I was disappointed that Cussler had no cameo in this book. In spite of the predictability, I enjoyed the story. The Numa File stories are somewhat like light beer, not as good as the real thing but some of them (Amstel light) can be quite tasty. This is really beach blanket reading, tastes ok and certainly not filling.

Body of work of Clive Cussler

Review of the book: http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/039915177X.asp


His site: http://www.cusslerbooks.com/