Rating: 
Summary: The Kurt Auston series!
Review: I totally agree with the gentleman from Australia - Kirt is no Dirk.I am so disappointed in Cusslers new series that I am switching to another author; and yes I am rereading the Dirk and Al series.
Rating: 
Summary: Summer Read
Review: I've just finished reading the latest Kurt Austin adventure by Clive Cussler called White Death (my thanks to Duncan for sending it to me).
If you have never read a Cussler novel let me explain the plot. (The same plot covers all his books.) Prologue, a historical tale of how hundreds of years ago an old boat sinks. The first couple of chapters cover inexplicable happenings across the oceans of the world with no known explanation. Then our hero, Kurt Austin, enters to save a group of people who are trapped on the seabed in a sunken vessel with only ten minutes of oxygen to last them three days.
The wide-shouldered, grey-haired, sun-tanned-Adonis rescues the group with his able sidekick Joe. Joe can fly/drive/fix any mechanical contraption known to mankind while shooting all the baddies at the same time. While all this is happening the gorgeous woman with the long legs and pouting lips makes her entrance. Kirk spars with her during the whole book and by the time he gets to go to bed with her the publishers run out of pages so we don't get to read the juicy bits. The evil megalomaniac is trying to kill Kurt and Joe by any means possible. Usually, with lots of baddies falling by the wayside. Once Kurt finds out where the baddies lair is situated he heads that way and disposes of the head honcho. The lair always ends up in flames of mass destruction. The world is then safe until the next nutcase decides to use his vast wealth to take over the world. The story is peppered with sarcastic/witty/satirical comments made by the immortal heroes. Not Clive's best effort but still an enjoyable read on a summer's day in the garden.
Rating:
Summary: Kurt's No Dirk
Review: If I have a must read author, then I suppose it would have to be Clive Cussler. His plots are outlandish and ridiculous, his dialogue is...well, laughably pathetic and his heroes are annoyingly sanctimonious, but I'm still hooked on them all. They're worth their weight in gold just for the action and head-snapping pace. And so it goes with WHITE DEATH. In this book Kurt and Joe are up against an environmental disaster thanks to some genetically modified "frankenfish". Starting on the Faroes Islands and then zipping over to the Canadian wilderness, there seems to be a lot of unusual behavior and unaccountable missing fish in the vicinity of certain fish farms, and these fish farms all seem to belong to one mysterious conglomerate, Oceanus. As with many of Kurt Austin's opponents, these "evil-doers" prefer to take the aggressive form of defense and merely succeed in arousing Austin's wrath. This is always a serious mistake when dealing with a Cussler hero. Of course, there is the usual evil megalomaniac who makes the usual cliched mistakes. Of course, there are the usual last-minute death-defying escapes. Of course, there is the usual stunningly gorgeous, though exceedingly brilliant woman who just happens to fall for Kurt. Of course, I zipped through the book and will be lining up for the next one (ain't I a tragic?) So yeah, nothing's changed, substitute Dirk for Kurt, Al for Joe and whammo, you've got yourself a new series. This is one of the weaker NUMA Files adventures, going a little heavier than usual on the cheesiness, but if you're a Clive Cussler fan, I think you'll be satisfied, if you're not I would suggest starting on the Dirk Pitt series instead.
Rating: 
Summary: If you've read others by Cussler, don't bother with this one
Review: If you've ever read a Clive Cussler book, don't waste your money on this one, it is the same old story. In this book, an evil corporation is threatening to take over the seas and destroy the environment. Kurt Austin is called in to save the day -- are you asleep yet? I give this book two stars because it is ok if it is your first Cussler book. I've read several of his books however, and this one was a waste of time for me. The ending is pretty corny as well. I don't think I'll bother with any more Cussler books for awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Rivetting
Review: In 1515, a Basque caravel sinks two Spanish war galleys. In 1935 a German zeppelin soars northward on a top-secret flight to reach the North Pole, but in the Arctic the Germans see a ship stranded on the ice. He goes to help. In the present off the Faroe Islands, whale rescuers try to stop Islanders from killing whales, but lose control of the ship to an overhead helicopter that sends the vessel crashing into and sinking a Danish cruiser with several crew men still aboard. In the Berents Sea, the search-and-survey NUMA ship William Beebe led by Kurt Austin tests a new device able to attach to a sunken ship's hull and cut a hole in the frame so salvagers can easily enter. With this new device, Kurt and crew might save the lives of the trapped Danes whose air is running out, but they need rapid transport to go twelve hundred miles. Even with Russian help, Kurt will soon realize that the helicopter crowd has a different message in mind. The forth "novel from the NUMA files" is an exciting seafaring adventure that never slows down until the final dinner date is arranged. Kurt retains his hero status as he and his crew desperately work to save lives reminiscent of the Russian submarine tragedy. Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos provide fans with an adrenaline-pumping thriller starring a likable champion though the villains' message seems gobbled in comparison. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Cussler has written better but this one isn't that bad
Review: In all honesty, I have to start out by saying I'm a little prejudiced toward Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels as they were the genesis of NUMA and all are really good books. On the other hand though, the NUMA Files series are making a continually impressive push to level the playing field and they offer almost as much reading pleasure. Cussler's addition of White Death is no exception. NUMA's men of action on the Special Assignments Team, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are faced with confronting and eventually stopping a massive, global corporation whose aims are bent on manipulating and destroying a vast amount of marine life in the oceans. Along for the ride and offering token assistance to NUMA is a radical environmentalist group who has already tasted the wrath of this rogue corporation that stops at nothing to eliminate competition and silence anyone who pries into their activities. Using the ever familiar combination of daring, improvisation, and death defying feats of skill only James Bond could love, the NUMA team defies obstacles and mayhem around each and every corner to ensure victory in their quest. The above synopsis is the brunt of the plot without giving too much away. There still remains quite a bit of history and adventure that is decently satisfying throughout the novel. White Death is generally well written and moves along at a good pace making for a quick and exciting read. Clive Cussler seems to have his finger on the pulse of his fans and continues to generate a nice amount of appeal in his NUMA Files series. Dirk Pitt is still the man to beat but Kurt Austin is closing in.
Rating:
Summary: Killer Fish by Brian Hoch
Review: In the first prologue you meet Diego Aguirrez, Basque seafarer escaping from the Spanish Inquisition (1515), and attempting to hide 2 relics. In the second prologoue you learn of a German (1935) airship attempting to journey to the North Pole, which discovers Aguirrez's ship frozen in the ice.
Now that the groundwork is set, the story begins with the ship of a radical environmental protest group "Sentinal of the Seas" ramming and sinking a Danish warship. Several people are trapped in the wreckage, apparently alive, 300 feet down. Enter the heros who happen to be testing a new salvage/rescue submarine just 1200 miles away. Kurt Austin investigates the sinking after a harrowing rescue of the crew, and is thus entangled in the main plot. Along the way we are educated about the hazards of genetically engineered fish, Italian cuisine, and the Basque push for its own nation separate from Spain.
Many of the adventures are outlandish. But this is fiction. James Bond frequently has outlandish missions, but he's still entertaining. So if you just remind yourself that this is not meant to be "true-crime" type of reading, I think you'll be able to sit back and just enjoy the story for what it is.
Rating:
Summary: Laughable at Best
Review: It's easy for the reader to enjoy a Clive Cussler novel, as long as one takes it for what it really is: a comic farce of an adventure story. I never grow weary of the heroic adventures of DirKurt and AlJoe. From the neverending billion to one chances for survival which always pan out for the good guys, to the downright laughable cast of evil characters who never fail to perform the classic evildoer blunder of "here's my plan, now ponder your fate while I leave you unattended". Throw in the fact there isn't a single person on the planet who can out(fill in skill here) DirKurt and AlJoe, using their natural and honed talents, plus that heapin' helpin' of good ole American gumption, and you get a novel which produces rolling belly laughs from even the most hardened reader.
Rating:
Summary: Laughable at Best
Review: It's easy for the reader to enjoy a Clive Cussler novel, as long as one takes it for what it really is: a comic farce of an adventure story. I never grow weary of the heroic adventures of DirKurt and AlJoe. From the neverending billion to one chances for survival which always pan out for the good guys, to the downright laughable cast of evil characters who never fail to perform the classic evildoer blunder of "here's my plan, now ponder your fate while I leave you unattended". Throw in the fact there isn't a single person on the planet who can out(fill in skill here) DirKurt and AlJoe, using their natural and honed talents, plus that heapin' helpin' of good ole American gumption, and you get a novel which produces rolling belly laughs from even the most hardened reader.
Rating:
Summary: Not Kurt's best outing
Review: Kurt and Joe are back for their fourth installment in White Death. This time Cussler and Kemprecos have them called in to save a sunken Danish cruiser that was apparently deliberately rammed by the environmental group SOS during a protest against a grind by the Faroe Islanders. After rescuing the crew and determining the 'accident' was caused by an act of sabotage Kurt ends up investigating a fish farm owned by the Oceanus corporation and discovering a hostile reception during his visit.
The story runs two themes: the first of the bio-engineered fish (and all the ecological morality issues it entails) that seems to be the deadly guarded secret of Oceanus that SOS - personified by the overly melodramatic Ryan, the stoical Nighthawk (whose village was enslaved by Oceanus near the Canadian Great Lakes) and the beautiful Therri, the SOS lawyer, who provides Kurt's love interest The second theme, tying in the prologue is personified by Aguirrez, a descendant of the same named sixteenth century sailor who fled the Inquisition bearing the relics of Roland. Aguirrez becomes a good ally for Kurt whilst he is searching for the relics. Aguirrez aids NUMA with his personal floating armoured ship, the Navarre, allowing Austin and Zavala to use the boat as a point with which to infiltrate the Canadian 'fish farm'. What follows is the usual mayhem as Austin and Zavala destroy the restored German pre-WWII blimp, feed the evil Professor to his genetically engineered fish, kill all the bad guys from the Eskimo Kiolyas and generally save the day.
I must confess I do like the Austin novels. People will invariably compare to Dirk and have a favourite, but the writing style for both heroes runs a similar vein and it's a formula that works.
However, of the Cussler/Kemprecos efforts this is the weakest to date as it suffers from a plot that never intrudes upon the reader as even faintly plausible, emphasized by Kurt's big dog-sled race through central DC which is ridiculous. The climatic end isn't really and the supporting characters are sketches. Having just read Trojan Odyssey straight after this, the gulf between the two novels is vast and can only favour Dirk, in the Pitt/Austin debate. Nevertheless, the previous three joint offerings were good and hopefully the fifth can return to those grandiose ways.
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