The Navigator

This is an entry in Cussler's Kurt Austin/NUMA Files series. Similar to the others it's a fast-paced rip-roaring action piece spanning the globe, and spanning history as well. There is a WHOLE LOT going on in this story, including the legend of Solomon and Sheba, maritime battles among the ancient Phoenicians, secret societies tracing back to Thomas Jefferson, questions surrounding the death of Merriweather Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame), a megalomaniac villain in the current day, and of course, a brilliant and beautiful love interest in peril for Kurt and crew to rescue. It's a lot to keep straight, and the plot could have been trimmed a bit, but it's a rollicking fun ride.

Summary: Kurt Austin has just signed up to lasso icebergs when he has to rescue a hijacked ship. He ends up protecting a feisty Italian antiquities expert while they try to figure out if it's possible that the Phoenicians reached America.

Ah, nothing like a good adventure chasing down ancient treasure and bad guys at the same time.

This was my first Clive Cussler and it will not be my last. While all the terrible (but funny) features of this kind of book were liberally sprinkled around - blink-of-an-eye-halfway-round-the-world trips, innumerable escapes from bad guys, really grisly end for the bad guys, hero required to have enormous range of skills (this one is a diving expert, but also rides horses) - it did what it said on the tin. show more Great escapist literature with a good range of characters and locations.

Faults that I did not expect in a writer of Cussler's popularity: a lack of bad guys disguised as good ones. We knew pretty much from the start who was behind the violence. Also ALL the characters were physically amazing. Even the librarians. What's with that? There were also at least two proof-reading errors that I picked up on: a mention of the Cussler car museum (seriously? that's not an error?) and a character called Paul says "Paul and I..." where clearly either his wife should have been speaking or he should have been speaking about his wife. There was also a switch at one point where a character had been referred to for 200 pages as Paul, and suddenly he was being referred to by his surname. These might be symptoms of a book which has two authors?

553 pages of fun. show less

There was not a single dull moment - from lassoing ice bergs to revealing the true secrets of the Artichoke Society - this book was a real treat. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to do some light reading and get a break from reality.

St. Barts 2018 #3 - An annual tradition to read a Cussler book on vacation - this being #7 of the NUMA files. Fascinating, if somewhat complicated tale involving King Solomon, Queen Sheba, & none other than Thomas Jefferson!!! These guys attract violent adventure like few others.....and we have the necessary Bad guy Balthazar and his brutal henchman Adriano......globetrotting from D.C. to Istanbul to Cyprus Newfoundland to none other than Mechanicsburg, PA(??)! Kurt, Joe , Paul & Gamay, along with Carina the ingenue.....battle the evils underwater threats......always a fun diversion that makes me all too aware of how lucky i am to be so boring!

Synopsis: '...an invaluable Phoenician statue known as the Navigator was stolen from the Baghdad museum, and there are men who would do anything to get their hands on it. Their first victim is a crooked antiquities dealer, murdered in cold blood. Their second target a UN investigator, only survives thanks to the timely assistance of Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala.

What’s so special about this statue? Austin wonders. The search for answers will take the NUMA team on an astonishing odyssey through time and space, one that encompasses no less than the lost treasures of King Solomon, a mysterious packet of documents personally encoded by Thomas Jefferson, and a top-secret scientific project that could change the world forever.' from show more Amazon.

Review: This book lives up to the hype commonally found on book jackets. The history woven into the story is interesting and moves the plot along. There were no long paragraphs discribing guns, ammo, or military vehicles, thankfully. Now I feel the need to read the other NUMA Files books. show less

Years ago, an ancient Phoenician statue known as the Navigator was stolen from the Baghdad Museum, and there are men who would do anything to get their hands on it. Their first victim is a crooked antiquities dealer, murdered in cold blood. Their second very nearly is a UN investigator who, were it not for the timely assistance of Austin and Zavala, would now be at the bottom of a watery grave.

What's so special about this statue? Austin wonders. The search for answers will take the NUMA team on an astonishing odyssey through time and space, one that encompasses no less than the lost treasures of King Solomon, a mysterious packet of documents personally encoded by Thomas Jefferson, and a top secret scientific project that could change show more the world forever.

And that's before the surprises really begin . . .

Rich with all the hair-raising action and endless invention that have become Cussler's hallmarks, The Navigator is Clive's best yet. show less

Als ik een halve ster kon geven, zou dit anderhalve ster hebben gekregen, omdat ik nog twijfel of een deel misschien lag aan de voorlezer.

Sorry, Clive, maar dit boek was zonde van mijn tijd. Misschien heb ik de laatste tijd te veel Cussler's gelezen (of eigenlijk geluisterd), maar andere delen uit de NUMA serie of uit Dossier Oregon waren veel beter.
De hoofdrol-spelers lijken (haast) geen fouten te hebben. En de tegenspelers? Een megalomane maniak die de mijnen van Salomo in Amerika zoekt, en toch tijd heeft voor zijn hobby, het steekspel. En dan is daar de moordenaar met zijn baby-gezicht. GAAP!!

En dan het (top geheime) vliegtuig dat eventjes van de Amerikaanse overheid wordt geleend om Kurt zo van Amerika naar Cyprus te vliegen om show more zijn vriendin te redden.

Ik ben doorgegaan met dit (audio)boek omdat ik niet graag opgeef en de hoop had dat het misschien nog wel beter zou worden, maar helaas. Wat is er gebeurt met Dirk Pitt bij de NUMA? Dat waren tenminste betere verhalen. Mis nog steeds de clue rond de beelden van de 'Navigator'. En wat is er gebeurt met de kunst-collectie die uit het Iraakse museum waren gestolen? show less