Review: Blue Gold

With this book, I have now read all of Clive Cussler’s current softcover fictional books. That makes 28 books in all. And of course, like all of the others, this one didn’t disappoint. It seems appropriate that I have caught up with Clive Cussler’s novels with a book “from the NUMA Files”, his second of three interrelated series. It was one of the books in this series that I first read just over two years ago now before I headed off to my masters in Europe. In fact it was the book I read on the plane over. But that is another book from another time for another review.

I have found that fans of Cussler’s books tend to seek out and read most if not all of them, which is exactly what I did, as did my mother, and my father is slowly but surely catching up. Since starting on this literary journey I have come across other people who are also big fans. This desire to consume the entire bibliography is a tad unusual since a quick scan of the plot outlines will tell you that all of his books are pretty much the same. At risk of losing my Clive Cussler fan club membership, if you’ve read a couple of his books, you’ve read them all. Trust me, I have read them all. I think that might be one of the reasons people do continue to amass the whole library–familiarity. Curling up with a new Cussler book is a bit like hanging out with a dear old friend. Familiar characters; fun, engaging action and the feeling of suspense and anticipation without anxiety. Makes me look forward to reading another already. Of course, now we are looking at the second book in the NUMA Files series called “Blue Gold”.

The blue gold referred to in the title is of course water, which is a central concept in all of the author’s books. In this case, a global shortage of water has brought a corporation out of obscurity which seems to be securing the sources of all of the world’s fresh water. Lead by a larger-than-life villain (literally), this group will stop at nothing to achieve essentially world domination. But these nefarious matters are brought to the attention of Kurt Austin and his special assignments team from NUMA (the National Underwater and Marine Agency). The good guys then set out to stop the bad guys. The particulars of their interaction are the only things which make this a different book from the others. However, like many of the other books, this one features a number of interesting international locations including the depths of the Amazon.

As far as details which make this book any better or worse than its siblings there are only a couple. I noticed when I was close to the end of the book thinking that the resolution seemed a bit more simple than usual. The book wrapped up relatively quickly, but didn’t feel rushed or abrupt. Perhaps a bit less satisfying than an average Cussler book. I’m going to give this one a six because I quite enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn’t anything to write home about. Of course, if you are an avid fan, you likely have read this one already or will once you get a chance, so this review doesn’t count for that much. As far as those people interested in seeing what all this Cussler fuss is about, this likely isn’t the one to start with. If you are interested in going the distance, you might as well start from the beginning with either “Pacific Vortex” or “The Mediterranean Caper” (aka. “MAYDAY!”). Otherwise perhaps try “Lost City” or “Atlantis Found”.