Lost City

Lost City, the fifth installment in the NUMA series, is another classic fantasy story of good versus evil, with the usual predecessor event setting the stage for an eventual tie-in to the main story. In this case, Cussler pits Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala against a highly secretive family with a long history of armament development and production and a desire to create the elixir of life. At the same time, their NUMA compatriots seek to find the source of a mutating plant life that threatens the world's oceans. As would be expected, Kurt and Joe again fight tremendous odds and calmly face down death repeatedly as they battle the demented antagonists. The novel is filled with all of the action, suspense, and frequent plot twists that have become Cussler's trademark. While the reader needs to suspend belief when reading Cussler's work, long-time fans will find Lost City to be an enjoyable summer read.

"Lost City" written by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos is a true to form action-adventure book that will keep you rivited with action-adventure, mystery and intrigue throughout. Hold on to your seats when reading this book as you are taken on a world-saving adventure to France and the North Atlantic with the hero in this book Kurt Austin. "Lost City" is full of riviting dialog that keeps you enthralled, you will not want to put this book down as it is a real page turner and before long you'll reach the ending just as I did. I read this book straight through, all 420 pages and was kept on my toes as the heros Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala work there way through a mystery and fight a meglomaniac black widow (Racine Fauchard) and her homocidal son (Emil) from reaching their goal of world domination. "Lost City" starts out with a mystery in the French Alps in 1914 as Jules Fauchard is running away and is prepared to stop World War I. Then there is a segment as to why all of the scientists working on a particually secret project seem to be coming up dead and their boss Angus MacLean running away from the danger of being killed himself. "Lost City takes us on an action-packed adventure to the glaciers in the French Alps and under them and the revelation of a body found in the glacier with some very unusual artifacts. To the Chateau Fauchard, is the next leg of Austin's adventure and the confrontation with the Fauchards. There are underwater scenes with Paul and Gamay Trout leading and expedition into the "Gorgonweed" infestation in the Atlantic Ocean. All in all there are enough things going on in this book to pique the readers interest and hold it throughout the book making for a very plausable read. I gave "Lost City" a solid 5 stars for a very well-written action-adventure book sprinkled with enough mystery and intrigue to really make this book a page-turner.

Lost City is classic Cussler. The plot and characters are totally unbelievable - and it's a great read. Cussler (and co-author Paul Kemprecos) keep the action flowing with one impossible adventure after another. Kurt Austin is your typical kind of guy who functions without sleep, always attracts beautiful and intelligent women, is never a step away from being murdered in some particularly foul fashion, never feels any fear, finds a solution to every situation and always has a wisecrack at the ready. In short, he's a perfect action thriller hero. Lost City is pure entertainment reading. Just the thing for a few hours when you want to whistle goodbye to reality. Cussler may not be to everyone's taste, but he's one heck of a storyteller and, in my opinion, one of the best around in this genre. Jerry

As a long time Dirk Pitt fan, I was rather skeptical that Cussler could introduce another fictional character that could hold a candle to the greatest fictional adventure hero in print today...but 'Serpent' swayed me from almost the opening page. If you have read the abysmal Tom Clancy 'Op Center' novels or virtually all books that feature ghost writers attempting to sell a book based on the popularity of otherwise great novelists, you also understand why I was a bit nervous reading Cussler's first co-authored story. Thankfully Clive did NOT let me down. The Kurt Austin stories have been wonderful and most have been better than the last 2 Dirk Pitt novels. Oops! Yes, I DID write that. 'Valhalla Rising' and 'Trojan Odyssey' have been, shall we say, less than thrilling compared with the bulk of earlier Pitt tales. But the Kurt Austin adventures have been all TOP NOTCH (in MY opinion, anyway). 'Lost City' begins as most Cussler novels do with a trip back a few years, this time we follow a desperate man who escapes just prior to the start of WWI in a monoplane with a host of bad guys in hot pursuit. He has some very disturbing information and is intent on seeing that it reaches the proper authorities, but too late, he is shot down over a French glacier never to be seen from again -- that is until we jump ahead about 90 years when Kurt is assisting his future love interest in a French lake located (surprise!) just a short hop from the glacier containing our frozen pilot. Before long the stiff is located and Kurt's lady-friend is called in to assist the recovery, only to be thwarted by a quick visit by an assassin posing as a journalist who steals something from the frozen pilot and entombs the rest underneath the glacier for what looks to be a rather painful death. But -- NOT if Kurt has anything to do with it. There really isn't any doubt that Kurt will save everyone with just seconds to spare, but this is where the proverbial rubber hits the pavement as far as the story goes. We next jump to a rather isolated part of the Atlantic Ocean known as 'Lost City' named for the monolithic towering rock formations which resemble prehistoric skyscrapers. Out here under the ocean a nasty plague is reproducing at an alarming rate and threatens ALL the ocean life on the planet. What is causing this plague and how can it be stopped, and more importantly, how is this tied together with a bunch of bad guys who desperately want an ancient helmet worn by the frozen pilot? If you think THAT is a lot of dots to connect, we also have another angle featuring large, red-eyed furry human-like demons that attack the cast and crew of a reality show on an isolated island near the United Kingdom. Where did they come from and HOW are they connected to the ocean plague and a possible formula for eternal life? I must admit, 'Lost City' was a bit more on the science fiction side than most of the Cussler/Kemprecos novels, but I STILL enjoyed it from beginning to e