Blue Gold: No. 2 (NUMA Files) - Softcover

Cussler, Clive; Kemprecos, Paul

3.95

10,901 ratings by Goodreads

9780671022174: Blue Gold: No. 2 (NUMA Files)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671022172 ISBN 13: 9780671022174

Publisher: Pocket Books, 2001

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The second in the electrifying NUMA FILES series starring Kurt Austin of the National Underwater and Marine Agency Planet earth is a paradox - a lush, fertile world three-quarters-covered by water, yet in danger of running dry. Fresh water is disappearing from overuse and pollution and the only hope lies in desalination, a process to convert salt water into fresh. Francesca Carval is a brilliant scientist whose newest discovery will save the human race. She has perfected the process of desalination, and is flying to a conference in Rio to announce it to the world. Then a group of terrorists attempts to hijack her plane which crashes in the Venezuelan jungle. Francesca is taken in and protected by a native tribe: she is not heard from again. Ten years later, Kurt Austin and his NUMA team come across the mysterious death of a pod of grey whales off the coast of California. The path leads Austin to the heart of South America where he discovers Francesca, the 'white goddess' of the jungle, living among the tribe that took her in. At the same time Austin stumbles upon a group that aims to control the world's fresh water supply, and which will kill anyone who stands in its way. Racing from the open oceans off the United States to the deep jungles of Venezuela, Austin and the NUMA team engage in a thrilling new adventure with the future of the world at stake...

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Review:

Reading a Clive Cussler novel is like watching several movies at once. He's a master of the jump cut, moving the action from one continent to another with an entirely different cast of characters, good guys and bad, in each place. He always manages to pull the various characters, plots, and counterplots together, though, and the heroes always triumph in the end after saving the world from eco-terrorists, megalomaniacs with their ambitions primed for world domination, and a few regular old criminals thrown in for good measure. In this new adventure from the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA) files, Kurt Austin and his partner Joe Zavala nearly die during a powerboat race when a pod of dead, bloated grey whales bobs to the surface and obstructs the race course. Attempting to discover what killed the whales, Kurt and Joe track their migratory route to a mysterious underwater laboratory on the Baja Peninsula. Once again they narrowly miss death when the lab explodes, destroying their minisubmarine and almost poaching them alive. What seemed like a simple scientific investigation turns into something very different: a confrontation with a seven-foot Valkyrie who's bent on taking over the earth's depleted freshwater reserves. In order to thwart her plans, Austin and Zavala venture deep into the jungle of the Venezuelan rain forest to find a supposedly mythical tribal goddess (one with a PhD in science, of course) whose secret formula to desalinate seawater can put the kibosh on the Valkyrie's plans. Helped by a husband-wife NUMA team who've already made the goddess's acquaintance, plus the always fascinating techno-toys so beloved of superheroes, Kurt and Joe save the day. But before they do, there's plenty of heart-stopping action, random acts of murder and mutilation, and even a little romance. Great pacing, plenty of gadgets, a strong narrative, and bigger-than-life heroes and villains. If you've run out of summer action flicks already, make your own popcorn and curl up with Blue Gold instead. --Jane Adams

About the Author:

Clive Cussler is as active an adventurer as his fictional heroes which adds a thrilling authenticity to his writing. He is an avid collector of classic cars and has 75 examples of hand-built coachwork. He lives in Colorado with his wife and 3 children.

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