Author: Clive Cussler with Grant Blackwood
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: 31st January 2012 (Kindle)
Pages: 464
ISBN: 9780141047003
Source: Purchased
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
Some treasures are best left buried . . .
Scuba diving off the Tanzanian coast, husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team, Sam and Remi Fargo discover a huge ship's bell, covered in cryptic carvings. But as they struggle to first recover the bell and then decode its clues, they find they are not alone in wanting to discover its secrets.
When news of the find is publicised, Mexican President Quauhtli Garza is forced to act. He knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the African coast and he fears that the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette, which was aboard the ship, will undermine his plans for Mexico's future.
With Garza determined to stop the Fargos investigation at all costs, the couple are drawn into a deadly conspiracy that connects the 1883 Krakatoa explosion with an attempt to resurrect the fallen Aztec empire...
I started reading Lost Empire the same day I finished Spartan Gold because I really enjoyed the adventures of Sam and Remi Fargo. In Lost Empire the treasure hunting duo are scuba diving off the Tanzanian coast when they discover a huge ship's bell, covered in cryptic carvings. They have barely begun to put the pieces of the puzzle back together before an attempt is made on their lives. Mexican President Quauhtli Garza knows where the ship's bell came from, and fears that the discovery of an ancient artefact could undermine his plans for Mexico's future, and completely change the history of the Aztec's.
Lost Empire is thrilling from the word go. As always on my part there's a fear that certain things might go over my head but it seems that Grant Blackwood does his research beforehand so his ideas and the way they are relayed are easy enough to follow. The planning process that must go into writing one of these stories must be quite remarkable. As with Spartan Gold we travel across the world with Sam and Remi as they attempt to uncover the truth about their discovery, whilst at the same time remain alive.
This time around I enjoyed the character development of our married couple and especially like how they bring out each others best and worst parts. In terms of where the story goes Sam and Remi must really question their beliefs, and think about what consequences their actions will have. On their travels they go to Madagascar where they run into a rather strange gentleman who helps them on their travels (and saves their lives). This man is none other than Clive Cussler, or at least somebody with the same name as him. I'm led to believe that Clive features in a lot of his novels which, while it seems to irk some people, I think it's great.
I read Lost Empire in no time at all. A very inventive and thought-provoking story alongside an absolutely relentless pace of storytelling meant that I just didn't want to put the book down. I'm so glad I chose the Fargo adventures as my first Clive Cussler reads and I'll be reading book three very soon.
4/5
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