The Navigator (The Numa Files)
by Clive Cussler, Paul Kemprecos
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Book Reviews of The Navigator (The Numa Files)
Book Review: Good read but has rough spots
Summary: 3 Stars
I read this in two sittings. There is decent action and suspense that pulls the reader along. Phoenicians in the Americas is a stretch, especially the idea that something lay virtually undetected for thousands of years in such an extremely busy locale as Chesapeake Bay, but it provides the intriguing backdrop for another entry in the popular treasure/historical figures/codes/secret societies genre. Book is technically sound and geographically accurate - important attributes that solidify author credibility - but the story line is at times painful to follow due to the author's habit of breaking off quickly to explain references in conversational byplay. Entire paragraphs could have had parentheses around them as they did nothing but unnecessarily expound on what was just said by one or more of the characters. Also, lest we forget after the first chapter where it's mentioned at least once our protagonist Kurt Austin has a hard, bronzed body, it's repeated ad nauseum throughout the book. At times I wasn't sure if I was reading Clive Cussler or a Harlequin romance. Lastly, a word about editing. Spell-check programs catch obvious misspellings but miss the "there" vs. "their" and other grammar/context errors noted in this copy. Have someone read it from end to end before publishing, bottom line, there's no substitute for a set of human eyes. Remember the city that printed thousands of voter ballots and later had to destroy them all amid a huge uproar because the word "public" didn't have the letter L - forming another properly-spelled but very inappropriate word. Luckily for us there were no characters in this story named Fucyk. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book, the tiresome bits of formula and literary cliche only detracted slightly. Thank You, Mr. Cussler, for an entertaining read.Book Review: Comic book yes, but a whole lot of fun!
Summary: 4 Stars
June 5, 2007
An old friend of mine has been trying to get me to try Clive Cussler, ever since he heard how much I enjoyed the cult classic thriller "Tourist in the Yucatan." In spite of the legion of fans, I was skeptical as the Dirk Pitt Novels always sounded a bit to comic book for me (don't get me wrong I love a good thriller). Well, two days ago my friend showed up at my office with his fresh, unread copy of "The Navigator" and left in on my desk at work. He had not even cracked the first page. I asked him why he was not reading it first. He just smiled and replied, "You'll have it back to me in a couple of days. He was right, Once I turned the first page I was hooked! Yes this is comic book stuff, but the tongue is planted firmly in cheek and I could not help enjoying the ride. Kurt Austin and his NUMA special assignments team is after an ancient Phoenician statue called the navigator that was stolen from the Bagdad Museum in 900 BC. This mystery is the heart of the story but there is so much more action and adventure on every page. Think an Indiana Jones Movie on speed and with an underwater motif. If you are looking for great literature, look elsewhere, but if you want a light, entertaining read for a day at the beach you could do a lot worse. I won't be afraid to try more Cussler in the future.
Book Review: The Jefferson Code
Summary: 4 Stars
During his presidency, Thomas Jefferson was researching an explosive secret on the location of King Soloman's mines. Hidden in a code for personal correspondence with Meriwether Lewis, the documents ultimately become a key in the early years of the 21st Century to unlocking a door which has explosive ramifications on world history.
With war, murder, theft and the peeling back of layers of dead leads dating back to at least 900 B.C., co-authors Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos sail on a journey to solve the mystery surrounding an ancient artifact - the Navigator - and the story it can tell on the mastery of the oceans by the Phoenicians.
With good and evil on a collision course on land, sea and in the air, it is up to Kurt Austin and the NUMA team to fight for truth and justice. And there are plenty within the shadows who will stop at nothing to acquire the Navigator; leading the way on this sordid list is a billionaire philanthropist - and his coterie of hired guns - whose smile is oftentimes the kiss of death.
A solid action thriller with quality character development, the 532 pages capture the search for forgotten footprints left by explorers, no matter what the odds.
Book Review: Out of pages... cut story short...
Summary: 2 Stars
What happened between chapters 46 and 47? In the paperback version of the book, this is around pages 470. Was it a deadline or simply a page count issue?
This book is interesting steady to read up to that point, but all of the sudden a chunk of story seems to simply be dropped in favor of getting to the end of the book. After reading 470 pages, this was very, very disappointing - to the point of writing this review and questioning whether to read another Clive Cussler book.
Really, the story builds. It is a bit slow. It takes some goofy turns -- like jousting. But, in the end there is an entertaining story up to about page 470. At that point it seems that the author's focus is simply on wrapping things up to get to an end and not really about taking the story to the end. The result was that I felt ripped off by the author and the publisher.
I threw the book away rather than donating it as I didn't want to waste anyone else's time. I don't like to throw books away. (Actually it will be recycled)
Book Review: "National Treasure" Watch Out!
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Navigator" is another story in the Kurt Austin series from Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos. Their combined writing style leaves nothing to the imagination. The story is so vivid in details, I thought I was living through it as I read it - I could not put the book down. This is clearly the best in the Kurt Austin series. As with all of Cussler's stories, the chapters are short and there is always a good place to put it down for a really short time. Believe me; you will not want to put it down for long.
Much like the "National Treasure" movie, this story is loosely wound around a bit of history involving Thomas Jefferson. This story has it all: history, action, murder, exotic locals, hero's, heroin's and lots of suspense.
Highly recommended, if you are a Clive Cussler fan, then you definitely want to read this one.