Ghost Ship (The NUMA Files)

A great story, knowledge of the subject, introduction of and development of characters is right on the mark. As always the storytelling is exciting, intimate, full of respectful commaraderie, and suspense. The US servicemen in the story are given respect For what they do in real life. Great work.

Yet another NUMA Files adventure of the intrepid Kurt Austin and his equally intrepid best friend and sidekick Joe Zavala, and yet another action-packed non-stop page turner by Clive Cussler. This time, Kurt, Joe, and the rest of the NUMA team (to include the hubby-and-wife duo of Paul & Gamay Trout, new supporting characters Duke and Elena, plus Dirk Pitt and Hiram Yaeger in a most behind-the-scenes role) must deal with the murderous Brevard family, a multigenerational family of wealthy gangsters living in their posh compound/palace in Madagascar; mastermind Sebastian, brothers Egan and Laurent, and mysterious sister Calista (is she really a member of their family or not?). The Brevards are making use of both a mind-control technology and the kidnapping & extortion of super-hackers and technology experts from around the world to advance their criminal enterprise. Among the victims of the Brevards' mind-control technology is none other than Kurt Austin himself; did he or did he not really see his friend and former lover, technological genius Sierra Westgate, perish in the sinking of a luxury yacht, and if she did survive (which nobody else but Kurt is initially inclined to believe), is she now in fact a pawn of the Brevards (and other villains like a certain Mr. Acosta)? Wow, while most of Cussler's other heroes--with the possible exception of the Fargos--have suffered their fair share of tragedies and emotional traumas (Dirk Pitt losing his beloved Summer Moran and Maeve Fletcher, Juan Cabrillo losing his wife in a vehicle accident may years prior to the timeline of his Oregon Files adventures, Isaac Bell losing friends and mentors in the line of duty), in "Ghost Ship" quite a different unexpected turn from Kurt Austin suffering from survivor guilt, PTSD, and questioning his own sanity. Still though, dating his therapist (p. 31) would seem be a conflict of interest if this book was a true story. Last but not least, as is the case with many Cussler novels, there is a maritime history element that plays a key role in the plot, in this case the titular "Ghost Ship," the real-life passenger liner S.S. Waratah, which disappeared while en route from Durban to Cape Town, South Africa in July 1909. Filled with the action, intrigue, cool gadgetry, exotic locales, and lovely ladies that Clive Cussler's readers have come to expect. The banter between Kurt and Joe is filled with comedy as always, and I daresay the banter between the Trouts and Elena is even funnier! And speaking of Clive, while he doesn't directly insert himself into this book like he does in many of his Dirk Pitt novels (a la Stephen King in the filmic adaptations of his own books), we still get this indirect and thinly-veiled referral to the author by Paul Trout on p. 222: "NUMA even took a stab at it with the help of this famous author whose name escapes me at the moment." Heh heh heh, I wonder who THAT could be..... A few nitpicks here: --on p. 249, Joe refers to North Korea as the "Democratic Republic of Korea" when in fact the full formal name of that country is the Democratic *People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) --on p. 26, should the "wall" be called the "bulkhead," since it's on a ship deck? --on p. 177: "The seafloor was black, the water around them into the distance was black. Directly above was black. Though it was broad daylight at the surface with a cloudless sky, no light could penetrate this deep." WRONG! This scene takes places at 800 feet deep, and sunlight certainly DOES still penetrate at that depth. albeit very dim! Heck, sunlight can penetrate up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet)! I would expect an oceanographically-astute author like Clive not to make such an egregious error. (In fact, IIRC, in "Dragon" published back in 1991, Clive did acknowledge the presence of dim natural light at the depth of 1,000 feet.) Granted, Graham Brown is doing the lion's share of the actual writing here, but still....to quote the ESPN NFL crew, "C'mon, Man!" But enough nitpicking! Another fun and worthwhile Cussler read. And as a side note, if "Ghost Ship" were even made into a movie (fat chance given Clive's displeasure with the filmic adaptations of "Raise the Titanic!" and "Sahara," but eh, we can still dream, can't we?), I would cast Maria de Medeiros (best known to American audiences for portraying Bruce Willis' girlfriend Fabienne in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction"). Enjoy!

I always get excited when a new Clive Cussler novel is coming out. But I ask myself, "Can he do it again and pull off another fascinating story?" I also ask myself, "What Global Topic hasn't he covered?" Well, here it comes. The world has grown so dependent on computer systems that we don't fully understand just how vulnerable that can really make us. We all know that hackers are out there and they are stealing identities from people every day and ruining credit scores and lives. But what if the hackers were to actually hack a "Government" and steal that "Government's" identity? How devastating could that really be, and is it really possible. Add to that some detective work, some advance bioengineering issues and you have a novel that is fun to read, fast paced and typical Cussler good times. Kurt Austin is struggling as we start the book. He has appeared to have an emotional melt down. He is seeing a psychiatrist to try and get himself back in the game. Really, come on, Kurt Austin? He is our hero of hero's, how can he have a mental breakdown. But it is true and those around him are concerned about his ability to function. Throw into the mix that he answers a rescue call for a ship in distress to discover that it is an old love, Sienna, who is on the ship with her husband and their children. When he and Zavala get there the boat is sinking. He goes aboard (in a huge storm) to try and effect a rescue. But all he does is see the floating body of what is most likely one of Sienna's children. He then is knocked out cold and has to be rescued himself. When he comes to, he accepts the fact that Sienna is dead and moves on. But is that true Kurt Austin fashion? Not on your life and that leads us to believe there truly is something wrong with him. In another "Side" story the Trouts are later diving on the sunken ship that Sienna was in when all their computers go haywire and the computers attempt to thwart their investigations as well as try to kill them. Futuristic computers out of control! That is the stuff of the future thrillers. The Trouts then discover, of all things, a ghost ship. A boat that has been missing for a 100 years. What possibility can this ghost ship have to our current sinking? Well, keep reading to find out. I won't give you any more details, you have to read on your own. But Cussler and his co-writer have done it again, they have given us a fun read that is probable even though fantastical to comprehend. Will Austin come out of his funk? Will he have a chance to save a beautiful girl? Will the world melt down due to a global computer virus? Keep reading to find out. Enjoy!

I think the book by Brown and Custer is one of their best. I have read almost literally all of Cussler’s works, and this one was one of their best best. Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala make a great and entertaining duo! It’s a great read!

I'm a big Cussler fan but I've come to the realization that his series books should be read a couple of months apart. Why? Because whether it's Kurt Austin, Dirk Pitt, or the Oregon, in the end you're reading the same story over and over. I'm actually burnt out on the Oregon completely (which used to be my favorite series) because I read about six of them back to back and by the end it was just... meh. The characters don't age or ever evolve, and it just gets old. Anyway back to the NUMA files. The same issue exists here in the fact that you know Kurt, Joe, Gamay, and Paul are going to end up in crazy situations that they somehow cheat death about a dozen times over but that aside this was a great adventure story. The Titular Ghost Ship is actually a fairly small part, with the main story being about a clandestine organization kidnapping world class hackers in a plot that eventually involves both North and South Korea and a climatic final battle in Madagascar. Its a blast to read despite a few plot holes here and there and the usual Cussler outlandish Austin schemes that would have a snowball's chance of actually succeeding in real life. Calista's an intriguing character and her arc was very satisfying. Sebastian Brevard's a good villain and the history of the Brevard family and the Ghost Ship came together nicely. Definitely worth a look if you want a fun adventure story. I'm going to give it some time and then move on to the next one!

As usual, great historical vignette to start. Followed by an appropriate mystery, a shadowy villain, strong silent hero, his sidekick, beautiful girls, and others. Plot to take over the world, strong silent hero stops the villain, rescues the girl, and solves the mystery. The world is saved, and the hero rides away with the girl, sort of. Great read, superb blending historical facts with modern settings, some of which could come out of recent headlines. Give it 5 stars. Jack Durrett

The "Ghost Ship" (Waratah) plays a lesser part in the story than the title or cover art would have the reader believe. Appearing in the very beginning, we have it's strange disappearance. About 2/3 the way through, it does play a part in some antagonists' background, particularly two. If the reader is looking for a murky ghost ship story, this isn't it. It's a story of modern day kidnapped computer hackers and a captor with an insatiable quest for power. Throw in his cronies and you have the bad guys. Much of it takes place in Mozambique and Korea. It starts like a soap opera with a member of NUMA chasing down his ex-fiancé when she, her husband and kids are involved in the wreck of their yacht. It starts with NUMA and ends with "Bring in the marines." The novel is more like an old James Bond-ish action story. It has plenty of action, borders on the preposterous at times, but is entertaining. I like Mr.Cussler, but the NUMA series is not my favorite of his. Only personal taste.

I enjoyed this book as I like action and adventure series. I look forward to seeing more from this duo of yarn spinners.

I have only just discovered Clive Cussler books and I think they are great. This book has a particular twist to the story which is excellent. It arrived quickly and was in a good condition. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure stories. The author has also done his homework historically too.

L'accoppiata Clive Cussler - Graham Brown consegna un'altra storia avvincente e ben congegnata dai Files della Numa, ossia dalle avventure di Kurt Austin e Joe Zavala. La trama è solida e ben costruita. Si passa rapidamente da un capo all'altro del mondo tra inseguimenti, sparatorie e un pizzico di romanticismo. Un libro sicuramente piacevole per passare qualche ora di evasione e di divertimento.

Gut aufgebaute und spannende Handlung, die vom Anfang bis zum Ende nicht nachlässt. Der Held muss sich durchkämpfen und hat's nicht leicht, kann sich aber stets auf seinen Freund verlassen. Der/Die Böse(n) sind echt bös und der Untergang der Welt liegt jedes Mal auf der Waagschale. Was will der treue Clive Cussler Leser sonst haben? Exzellent!

At a loss of finding anything to take on a short break, gave this a go, which for me was a first time read of a Clive Cussler. Loved it! Couldn't put it down and a real page-turner. Been a while since I so thoroughly enjoyed a book. Exciting modern Indiana Jones type action and adventure and I hadn't realised that was what I going to get when I read the first few chapters, so now found another author to explore when this is the type of read I want. Whilst I don't wish to disparage something that gave me such good entertainment, it is sometimes a bit corny, cliche'd, repetitive in style and not well edited in places, but I really didn't care because I wanted an entertaining read which is exactly what I got. Only real criticism is that I'd like to have known more about the back-story and some of the characters, but I guess that's the trade off to get a zippy never-boring read.

I really enjoyed reading Clive Cussler books! He is the best writer. He keeps you interested in the story where it is leading up to. While other writers just wandered off the beaten track. If you like adventure I would suggest you read his books