Rating: 
Summary: Never get tired of reading Cussler¿s work
Review: Somehow Clive Cussler seems to keep me coming back for more. His book releases are timed just perfectly to whet and hone my appetite for outlandish action and adventure. The new NUMA Files series is still in character development mode but "Blue Gold", the second installment, is nonetheless a very entertaining read that I highly recommend. Admiral Sandecker, (Cussler's alter-ego) and some of the other regular characters from the Dirk Pitt series are also included in the story which makes for a very good series tie-in. Cannot really say which character I personally would select for an alter ego but I'd wager a guess it would be NUMA's in-house computer geek, Hirum Yaeger. Everyone needs an alter ego you know....
Rating: 
Summary: BLUE GOLD - Swashbuckler series gets better
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Tarnished
Review: Unlike the Dirk Pitt series, the adventures of Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala in "Blue Gold" are not only well-worn but highly improbable. Granted, the Dirk Pitt series isn't realistic, but the plot was belted out with such panache and humor that a good read was guaranteed. The same cannot be said, however, for Kurt Austin in Blue Gold. Rarely suspenseful or even exciting, Blue Gold is at best a cure cure for insomnia- definitely not comparable with the sterling Dirk Pitt collection.
Rating:
Summary: Tarnished
Review: Unlike the Dirk Pitt series, the adventures of Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala in "Blue Gold" are not only well-worn but highly improbable. Granted, the Dirk Pitt series isn't realistic, but the plot was belted out with such panache and humor that a good read was guaranteed. The same cannot be said, however, for Kurt Austin in Blue Gold. Rarely suspenseful or even exciting, Blue Gold is at best a cure cure for insomnia- definitely not comparable with the sterling Dirk Pitt collection.
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