Blue Gold: A Kurt Austin Adventure (A Novel from the NUMA Files, Book 2)

by Paul Kemprecos

2010

Status

Available

Publication

Pocket Books (2010), Edition: Reprint, 464 pages

Description

Earth us a paradox - a fertile world three-quarters covered with water, yet in danger of running dry. Overuse and pollution have drained most of its fresh water, and scientist Francesca Carval's brilliant formula for desalination has vanished with her plane over South America. But when Kurt Austin and his NUMA team come across a pod of dead whales, their investigation takes them to the Venezuelan jungle where a cadre is bent on controlling the world's supply of fresh water.

User reviews

LibraryThing member amacmillen

A Kurt Austin Adventure.

The plot is similar to most others. Trouts are in Venezuela and discover a Brazilian women (Fransisca) being held captive. She as a secrect recipie to make drinking water chiply and simply.

Another womon a tall scandanavian women is trying produce the same results and to

take over the world water supplies. She hoes to control the world. Again, the heros save the world and the day. Fransisca is killed in the end when she sets off a reaction in the Lake Taho purification experiment that kills all the bad guys and saves the process for the world.

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LibraryThing member Darla

This is not a Dirk Pitt book--it's the 2nd in Cussler's collaborative series with Paul Kemprecos featuring Kurt Austin--but it's not all that different.

If you've never read Clive Cussler, think James Bond with boats. The villains are over-the-top bad guys, and Dirk Pitt or Kurt Austin has to face

impossible odds to save the world on a regular basis.

In Blue Gold, we have a syndicate, headed by an Amazon of a woman, scheming to control "blue gold" (water), and thus, the world. Throw in a scientist who's been lost in the jungle for 10 years after escaping kidnappers (she'd developed a revolutionary desalination technique), the crew at NUMA, and his trusty sidekick Joe Zavala, and you've got a real page-turner.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip into the jungle--the scientist's innovations reminded me of those in Swiss Family Robinson that I was so fascinated by when I was a kid.

Kurt and Joe are no Pitt and Giordino, but then again. Pitt and Giordino aren't themselves much anymore either.

I didn't really see a difference with the collaboration, but then again, the last 2 Cussler books I read were also collaborations--one with Craig Dirgo, and one with Dirk Cussler. The characters are very similar to those in the Dirk Pitt books, as are the situations, and the style of switching story threads between chapters until they all come together at the end (I'm sure there's a term for that, but I don't know what it is--if you do, please enlighten me--thanks!).

At any rate, Blue Gold is exactly what I expected: a solid, 4-star, action-packed adventure.

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LibraryThing member miyurose

These are fun books for me to read. Very James Bond-ish. Except Kurt Austin is less of a devil with the ladies than good ol' Dirk Pitt. At least there's something different about their characters. Regardless, I like Cussler's stories, no matter how outlandish and silly they are.

LibraryThing member MsBeautiful

Adventure/Thriller, Fun to listen to on tape or cd

LibraryThing member jeffome

St. Barts 2013 #1 - Another good yarn with the NUMA team. My first vacation book this year and likely the only one with a tropical or island connection. Wow, the life-threatening things these folks go through on a daily basis make me realize just how boring my life really is.....well, not really.

It does however bump these books into that unbelievable realm......yet the energy and excitement certainly kept my interest nonetheless. One never expects Pulitzer Prize winning content from these adventure books anyway. The preciousness of fresh water is also one of those things we often take for granted and I appreciated the chance to give that some thought. Some great scenes in this, but my favorite by far is the discovery of a cool old wartime machine (I'll not spoil the surprise!). I have a lot of Cussler to go and I eagerly look forward to it all.

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LibraryThing member BrynDahlquis

It's not extraordinarily well-written, the plot is a little weird, and the characters are all incredibly one-dimensional and pretty boring. But if you can get past all that, it's not bad.

It's kind of like indulging in a meaningless action movie. You really only watch it for the action.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work quite as well with literature, but Clive Cussler does an admirable job. The book is fun enough and exciting enough to pass as an okay action novel, and I will continue to read the NUMA books every once in a great while. But I'm not gonna reread them.

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LibraryThing member bicyclewriter

While this series is published under the banner of the Clive Cussler stable, Mr Kemprecos is an author I’m really coming to enjoy. He has created some wonderful characters here, and this - the second in the series - continues to evolve and enhance these characters.

In this one, Austin and his

sidekicks rescue the world’s water supply from corporate domination and control, meeting a new but short-lived love interest along the way.

I’m a fan after two, and will continue to read this series to fill the “adventure novel junkie” inside me.

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LibraryThing member deldevries

Another good action adventure tale from Cussler. Good technology and current issues. Of course, far fetched and larger than life bad "guys" as well!

LibraryThing member Carol420

The style is still there...adventure, but the main characters seem like "remakes" of our favorites, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino. The story line is very good and holds your interest throughout the book. I just kept waiting for Dirk and Al. I'll read more of these, of course, because they are always

exciting.

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LibraryThing member jamespurcell

Lively entry in this good series

LibraryThing member neverstopreading

This was the first Clive Cussler book I've listened to, and unfortunately it was abridged. It's never good to form too much of an opinion of an author from an abridged work. The abridged audiobook, as you would expect, leaves you feeling like you missed reading something because, in fact, you

did.

That being said, the gist of the story is one of corporate subterfuge and unchecked capitalism that threatens all of humanity by placing the supply of the world's fresh water ("blue gold") into the hands of a few individuals, thereby making water a hot commodity available only to the highest bidder.

If you're part of the ever growing, but still small, faction of libertarians who oppose any form of government control, regulation, or oversight, be advised you might not like parts of this book.

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LibraryThing member Bruce_McNair

Kurt Austin is the team leader of a special operations team with the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA). He and his team uncover a plot to control the World’s fresh water by a previously unknown multinational corporation. The race is on to stop them before they can succeed. This story was

unputdownable - a classic thriller all the way. There were a few minor beefs - like the ridiculous anasazium. But I was prepared to give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

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LibraryThing member lbswiener

Blue Gold is a solid NUMA story. There is suspense, violence, and best of all a lot of research on the topic of blue gold. There is of course, good guys and bad guys and even a group of Amazonian native people. Very interesting to learn about our natural resource that is blue gold and how important

this is to the survival of the planet earth. The book is highly recommended and thereby receives four stars in this review.

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LibraryThing member nx74defiant

International conspiracies, explosions, villains and danger. An evil plot to control the world's supply of fresh water. NUMA to the rescue. Exactly what you expect.

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