Serpent: From the NUMA Files (NUMA Files (Audio))

Rating:
Summary: From the Andrea Dorea to the secession of the Southwest U.S.
Review: Concerned that this was co-written and not a strict Cussler I still bought this book and I can honestly say I was not dissapointed at all. This is a terrific novel that centers around the mysterious efforts of an unknown person/group that is sabotaging archaeological expeditions that deal with Columbus and pre-Columbian history. The first part of this wonderful novel begins on the Andrea Dorea on the eve of its sinking and raises many interesting questions. The story proceeds from there and involves a hot button topic involving the forecast secession of the Southwest United States. I have read about this issue from several sources, so I found this particularly fascinating that it would be involved in a novel. As always the beautiful characters of Clive Cussler fill the pages with life. Kurt Austin is a terrific character, even to a hard-core Dirk Pitt fan!!

Rating:
Summary: Dirk is always Dirk!
Review: I don't give it a full five stars,mainly because there are better adventures. It is a hell of a read though!

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: I was (and always am) thrilled to see a new Clive Cussler book on the shelves...but was immediately skeptical because it wasn't in hardback. As many know, certain authors ALWAYS produce new novels in hardback, and lately, authors like Clancy, have lent their name to paperback novels who are written by 'other' people (OP Center), OBVIOUSLY less talented then they--and of course I wondered whether or not this was the case here with 'Serpent'. It didn't take long to recognize the trademark 'Cussler

Style' and as far as I could tell, it was just a novel about Dirk Pitt going by another name. With that said, I found the book VERY entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised that all the 'regular' elements of a fun and exciting Dirk Pitt novel were all there, including a sidekick (almost exactly like Al Giordino). Now this is only a SMALL complaint, since I have been an avid follower of Cussler since I read 'Raise The Titanic' shortly after it was published. I

have been hooked ever since, and since his 'style' has worked so far, it was just fine with me on this one as well. If you are struggling with the decision of buying this book, here's a suggestion: read it, and substitute Dirk Pit for Kurt Austin, do that every time you read it and TRUST me, you WON'T be able to tell the difference. And for all those who have negative comments about this book, they MUST have an attachment to Dirk that cannot be broken, because this is really a fun book. Don't get me wrong, nobody is gonna increase their IQ by reading this--or ANY other Cussler novel for that matter--but just like his past books, he provided me with several hours of escapism and fun, which is really the only reason why I read him to begin with, I have FUN while reading his stuff. Give it a try, and just remember, Kurt is just Dirk in disguise. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: After a while, they all become the same....
Review: I've read all of the Dirk Pitt books, so I bought this book knowing that I would inevitably compare Kurt Austin with Dirk Pitt. Even with the help of Paul Kemprecos, it was clearly evident that this would be yet another adventure straight from the Cussler formula machine. Every single Dirk Pitt novel is pretty much the same. There's 1) some kind of maritime accident/crime that happened in the past, 2) some kind of fantastic treasure or valuable cargo on it, 3) an evil psychopath that wants to destroy the world, 4) a woman in jeopardy, and 5) Dirk/Kurt to the rescue.

Having said that, I thought this book was entertaining. Even though all of Cussler's books tend to be the same, I still thought it was a rip-roaring adventure. I couldn't really detect what value Kemprecos added, though. It was as if Cussler wrote this book himself.

My only major complaint would be that I'm a little disappointed that since he was starting a new series, that Cussler couldn't even try to make it more unique. The pairing of a tall, thin Anglo Saxon man who collects strange things (cars/pistols) with a short, stocky, strong ethnic (Italian/Latino) partner who smokes cigars.... oh well. People complain that this is a Dirk/Al clone, and rightly so.

Rating:
Summary: good clean fun
Review: No one would call Cussler's work great literature, but even we literary snobs need our "trash" reading and for that, Cussler has been my favorite author since Raise the Titanic and Night Probe. Sometimes the dialogue is cheesy and the overuse of adjectives makes you laugh out loud, but to leave it at that would miss the point -- these books are action adventures, so mellow out! Although I liked Kurt and Joe, I miss my old friend Dirk Pitt (and good old Al). The two heros in the new series are so similar that I'm surprised he bothered to introduce new characters. Switch a hobby here and there (dueling pistols for antique cars) and change hair and eye color, and voila, Dirk becomes Kurt.

As for the plot, the opening chapters are, as usual, riveting as we watch the horrifying crash of the Andrea Doria. It's a formula that has worked in many other Cussler books. This one pulls all the regular punches and will hold most readers' attention although the plot flags here and there (I too think too many switch offs between Cussler and his co-author). I found the end a bit too tidy -- the excitement wears off around the 2nd two thirds of the novel. Still, for NUMA fans, a worthwhile read which will keep you up at night turning pages.

Rating:
Summary: Have We Met Before?
Review: So, um, here it is: Introducing a New Series, SERPENT A Novel from the NUMA Files. CLIVE CUSSLER with Paul Kemprecos. "Whoa! That's gonna be interesting!" I thought. But I was GREATLY disappointed after I finished reading it. Throughout the whole book, I was thinking that there's going to be some big thing in the storyline that will stun me but in the end it was as though I was cheated out of my money.

The plot is set on the fate of Andrea Doria and Columbus and the Mayans. And on an evil megalomaniac named Halcon who wants to do some evil, bad, yucky, no-good, wicked, cruel scheme. Okay, after counting to ten I managed to force myself to cope with ANOTHER megalomaniac in a book by Cussler. But the story just tells you about Andrea Doria, about Columbus about the Mayans and about all the bad guys deserving their deaths. Hey, where's the big punch? Flood Tide was at lest EXCITING to read. This is only nothing more than interesting but not exciting.

And why introduce clones of Dirk and Al? And why is the plot element with Gamay so detached from the actual story? And look at the ending! The bad guys are dead, so, er, that's it, see you next time! It all created the impression that it wasn't much of Clive Cussler and mostly Paul Kemprecos who wrote the book. Cussler gave his name on the cover (so that the book would sell) and Kemprecos did the major part of the work. Cussler didn't feel like wasting his trademark hero for that spin-off so here we have the clones. I'm not stating it as the exact truth, it's just what came into my mind after reading it.

If you want some real, great Cussler experince then go pick something else and come back to this one later. Anyway, it's not that horrible, at least the teenagers will learn something about pre-Columbian culture or something.

Rating:
Summary: Clive, if you want it done right, do it yourself...
Review: To me, Cussler's novels have been a modern-day reading fix for people who like stories about action and adventure that consistently use the same character from one story to the next. Only so many books about Doc Savage were written in the 30's, and my satisfaction with the Hardy Boys has waned somewhat since my acne cleared up twenty years ago! Still, I need that consistency that Cussler provides with his action heroes and can't say that I'm accepting this change in casting.

I noticed that Cussler wrote with a fellow by the name of "Kemprecos" and having read Cussler's work cover to cover, it seemed like this book dropped my interest here and there, as though Cussler and Kemprecos agreed to divy-up the workload and do a lot of cutting and pasting to come up with a story. The storyline just didn't flow as well as others in his collection, keeping those pages turning without hesitation.

My other fundamental question goes to Cussler: If you wanted to introduce a new set of action heroes, why must they have the same super-human qualities of your previous ones? Why not introduce action heroes that are uglier than homemade sin, clumsy, who still get the girl and still solve the mystery? Variety wouldn't be a bad idea, Mister Cussler!

Overall, I liked the story. I am a history buff and there are threads of truth to the storyline which may serve as some form of education. Learned a few things that I didn't know and some that I had forgotten about. Dear readers, I still consider myself a big Cussler fan and think that we will certainly embrace with hearty optimism, his next creation, good or bad.