Saturday, November 04, 2006
**** Blue Gold by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos. Action/adventure.
This is not a Dirk Pitt book--it's the 2nd in Cussler's collaborative series with Paul Kemprecos featuring Kurt Austin--but it's not all that different.
If you've never read Clive Cussler, think James Bond with boats. The villains are over-the-top bad guys, and Dirk Pitt or Kurt Austin has to face impossible odds to save the world on a regular basis.
In Blue Gold, we have a syndicate, headed by an Amazon of a woman, scheming to control "blue gold" (water), and thus, the world. Throw in a scientist who's been lost in the jungle for 10 years after escaping kidnappers (she'd developed a revolutionary desalination technique), the crew at NUMA, and his trusty sidekick Joe Zavala, and you've got a real page-turner.
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip into the jungle--the scientist's innovations reminded me of those in Swiss Family Robinson that I was so fascinated by when I was a kid.
Kurt and Joe are no Pitt and Giordino, but then again. Pitt and Giordino aren't themselves much anymore either.
I didn't really see a difference with the collaboration, but then again, the last 2 Cussler books I read were also collaborations--one with Craig Dirgo, and one with Dirk Cussler. The characters are very similar to those in the Dirk Pitt books, as are the situations, and the style of switching story threads between chapters until they all come together at the end (I'm sure there's a term for that, but I don't know what it is--if you do, please enlighten me--thanks!).
At any rate, Blue Gold is exactly what I expected: a solid, 4-star, action-packed adventure.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 4 stars, action, books
