Like others in The NUMA Files series, this is the second time I’ve returned to this book. It’s not so much that I dislike Kurt Austin and Joe Zavalla, but that (as copycats of Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino) they’re nothing more than act-alikes. I can’t give them a fair shake, because they’re Cussler’s effortless fakes to double his bibliography without making Dirk and Al’s lives too extraordinary. I’ve mentioned it before, so I needn’t repeat. I’m just not a big fan of the same-old, same-old. At least with the Fargos, the crew of The Oregon, or Isaac Bell, there’s some originality.
With that out of the way, I can say that this book was unique in its foray into the sci-fi world of zombies and mummies. Of course, that’s not my world (though admittedly, I did last through six seasons of The Walking Dead), but at least Clive Cussler tried something new here. This particular story was so outside the norm for the Cussler-verse that it seemed a novel set apart from the rest, and maybe that’s what he and Kemprecos were shooting for. I don’t know.
This novel contains century-old zombies on a Scottish island, a hundred-year-old woman with baby-soft skin, and dungeons that reek of Edgar Allen Poe delusions. It’s a weird one for sure, and yet it ostensibly hangs onto reality through Kurt Austin and his no-nonsense demeanor through it all. The plot follows a family of French armaments designers and their greed for immortality, not to mention an ocean algae growth that threatens to destroy the world’s ecosystems and their oxygen supplies. Thankfully, Kurt (like Dirk) is in the thick of things, so even the direst danger to humanity’s existence seems only like a mere inconvenience.
This fifth book, like the rest of the series, resides along the lowest rungs of Cussler’s impressive bibliography, and it helps me to know that at least something has to reside there! This wouldn’t be my first recommendation, but it’s also not his worst book ever. At least the book’s got that going for it.
Next in the series is the far more impressive Polar Shift.
©2019 E.T.
Read More from Clive Cussler:
Dirk Pitt Adventures:
1. Pacific Vortex! (1983)
2. The Mediterranean Caper (1973)
3. Iceberg (1975)
4. Raise the Titanic! (1976)
5. Vixen 03 (1978)
6. Night Probe! (1981)
7. Deep Six (1984)
8. Cyclops (1986)
9. Treasure (1988)
10. Dragon (1990)
11. Sahara (1992)
12. Inca Gold (1994)
13. Shock Wave (1996)
14. Flood Tide (1997)
15. Atlantis Found (1999)
16. Valhalla Rising (2001)
17. Trojan Odyssey (2003)
18. Black Wind (2004)
19. Treasure of Khan (2006)
20. Arctic Drift (2008)
21. Crescent Dawn (2010)
22. Poseidon’s Arrow (2012)
23 Havana Storm (2014)
24. Odessa Sea (2016)
25. Celtic Empire (2018)
Isaac Bell Adventures:
1. The Chase (2007)
2. The Wrecker (2009)
3. The Spy (2010)
4. The Race (2011)
5. The Thief (2012)
6. The Striker (2013)
7. The Bootlegger (2014)
8. The Assassin (2015)
9. The Gangster (2016)
10. The Cutthroat (2017)
11. The Titanic Secret (2019)
12. The Saboteurs (2021)
Kids:
1. The Adventures of Vin Fiz (2006)
2. The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy (2010)
Nonfiction:
1. The Sea Hunters (1996)
2. The Sea Hunters II (2002)
3. Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed (1998)
4. Silent Killer: Submarines and Underwater Warfare (2011)
5. Built for Adventure (2011)
6. Built to Thrill (2016)
NUMA Files:
1. Serpent (1999)
2. Blue Gold (2000)
3. Fire Ice (2002)
4. White Death (2003)
5. Lost City (2004)
6. Polar Shift (2005)
7. The Navigator (2007)
8. Medusa (2009)
9. Devil’s Gate (2011)
10. The Storm (2012)
11. Zero Hour (2013)
12. Ghost Ship (2014)
13. The Pharaoh’s Secret (2015)
14. Nighthawk (2017)
15. The Rising Se (2018)
16. Sea of Greed (2019)
17. Journey of the Pharaohs (2020)
18. Fast Ice (2021)
19. Dark Vector (2022)
20. Condor’s Fury (2023)
21. Desolation Code (2024)
Oregon Files:
1. Golden Buddha (2003)
2. Sacred Stone (2005)
3. Dark Watch (2005)
4. Skeleton Coast (2006)
5. Plague Ship (2008)
6. Corsair (2009)
7. The Silent Sea (2010)
8. The Jungle (2011)
9. Mirage (2013)
10. Piranha (2015)
11. The Emperor’s Revenge (2017)
12. Typhoon Fury (2017)
13. Shadow Tyrants (2018)
14. The Final Option (2019)
15. Marauder (2020)
Fargo Adventures:
1. Spartan Gold (2009)
2. The Lost Empire (2010)
3. The Kingdom (2011)
4. The Tombs (2012)
5. The Mayan Secrets (2013)
6. The Eye of Heaven (2014)
7. The Solomon Curse (2015)
8. Pirate (2016)
9. The Romanov Ransom (2017)
10. The Gray Ghost (2018)
11. The Oracle (2019)
12. Wrath of Poseidon (2020)
13. The Serpent’s Eye (2025)