Fast Ice

NUMA Files #18

by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown

Kurt Austin races to Antarctica to stop a chilling plot that imperils the entire planet in the latest novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling Grand Master of Adventure.

After a former NUMA colleague disappears while researching the icebergs of Antarctica, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala embark for the freezing edge of the world to investigate. Even as they confront perilous waters and frigid temperatures, they are also are up against a terrifying man-made weapon--a fast-growing ice that could usher in a new Ice Age.

Pitted against a determined madman and a monstrous storm, Kurt and the NUMA team must unravel a Nazi-era plot in order to save the globe from a freeze that would bury it once and for all

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, Action, Mystery, Audiobook, Suspense

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2021

About the author

Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.

Cussler was an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.

In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler was also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He was honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey and Black Wind (this last with his son, Dirk Cussler); the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed; the NUMA® Files novels Serpent, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death and Lost City (written with Paul Kemprecos); and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig Dirgo) and Dark Watch (written with Jack Du Brul).

Clive Cussler died at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 24, 2020.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
Fast Ice, book #18 ties in Nazi exploration of the South Pole in 1939. In the present day, Kurt and Joe headed to Antarctica to find a missing former NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) colleague and her team. Clues led to a climate fanatic mad scientist who wants to start the next ice age.

As much as I was excited about Antarctica, the middle part felt long before a thrilling ending!

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast Ice
By Clive Cussler and Graham Brown
Penguin Group Putnam

I have been a big Clive Cussler fan since the 70s and this book, although not completely written by the Master Adventurer’s own hand, is so close and lives up to his high standards.

In Fast Ice, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala first are just on a mission to find a missing researcher. The story quickly becomes an adventure through the Antarctica, frigid temperatures, and sinking ships.

On their quest to find answers they find more trouble. An ancient history of Nazi science that never came to fruition, which now could create a Snowball Earth scenario.

Nothing is easy for the adventurers, and chaos ensues as they are chased by deranged men and women, hyenas, and lions!

What I love about Cussler’s books is that the science is always so good. Also, we feel the impact of illegal hunting, fishing, endangered species, and climate changes. These are current issues every reader needs to pay more attention to.

The friendship and camaraderie between Kurt and Joe almost jumps off the page. The easy, witty banter and trust between the two is almost envious.

The adrenaline junkie reader will love this and all Cussler’s books. How much action can you cram in a book? Here we read about trekking through a blizzard in the Antarctica, careening about in snowmobiles, being chased in a wild animal park with the animals loose, sinking ships, flying in a small helicopter in the frigid air and low on gas, and being shot at by cultists, and so much more.

The bottom line: Well-developed characters, great plot, entertaining thrills, and high tech fun.

I want to thank Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the uncorrected copy. The review is voluntary and all my own opinion. Originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy an action packed Cussler novel and couldn't resist this latest release when browsing at my local library.

In truth I've only read from his Dirk Pitt series and it was also strange reading a recent title from a different series knowing it was published after his death.

The cold setting of Antarctica was perfect for a wintery December read and the over the top plotline of the evil megalomaniac billionaire and some sinister algae makes for a fun read.

The novel jumping back to 1939 and the Nazi's own plays to build a military base in Antarctica was also enjoyable.

As I mentioned this was my first encounter with Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and NUMA.
It was easy to like these characters and would happily read more from this series.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sinister Nazi plot from World War II reaches out of Antarctica to threaten the modern world. Kurt and Joe from NUMA brave the frigid wilderness to stand against a madman’s scheme to freeze the Earth.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt Austin and Company go up against the usual insane billionaire, with a more audacious plan than most to bring about the end of the world. Of course, there are Nazi links.

Exciting, a little more political than usual. Does someone need a stronger editor?

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was wondering how things would go after Mr Cussler’s passing. Happy to report that this offering was a nice palate cleanser in the theme of his previous books. Fast moving plot and lots of action from the usual cast and crew. If you were thinking, like me, that the author’s death would bring an end to your reading enjoyment of his series, no fear here. Go ahead and jump into this one. Reader approved.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it wasn’t Dirk Pitt, I still loved this book!

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast Ice (GP Putnam and Sons 2021) is written in the style of Clive Cussler by his ghost writer, Graham Brown. A NUMA Files story, Kurt Austin and his NUMA team are pitted against a billionaire intent on causing a Snowball Earth worse than the one 650 million years ago during the Cryogenian period--all to save the planet from destructive humans. But he’s tricky enough to hide his plans behind lies and deceit that to the uninitiated, make him look the opposite of what he is. It starts when a scientist in the Antarctica disappears and Austin is tasked with finding out what happened. After considerable effort and a few battles, he begins to unravel the truth. The problem is, he still must figure out how to stop the billionaire before he finishes. And he's almost done.

If you worried about global cooling in the 1970s, you’ll love Fast Ice but this time, our planet is not cooling incrementally but instantaneously.

The voice of this book while not the same as the master (Clive Cussler) is just as good. Dialogue is snappy with enough humor to make it even more interesting. Narrative is quick and important. Pacing is perfect with no wasted words. If you like science based thrillers, you’ll love this entire series and definitely want to read this one. I think it’s the best yet.

[Wenzel Roessler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good example of what is good and bad in the Cussler universe. There were plenty of intriguing parts of the book which was balanced by some slow spots and some pretty uninspired dialogue.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Clive Cussler has passed away, I'm glad that the books featuring his characters are still coming out. As usual, this is an adventure filled story, this time with Kurt Austin and his team. They are racing against the clock (of course) to try to save the world from an ice age. Highly enjoyable audiobook that's perfect for when one is doing chores or just relaxing.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've thoroughly enjoyed the majority of Clive Cussler's books through the years. We lost him last February but with the coauthors he has used the last several years I have to think many of his characters will live on.
This book is an Austin adventure with an ecoterrorist looking to start a new ice age. Very good book with a few chuckles as expected.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cussler Brand continues apace without an apparent hiccup, the next couple years will see if that continues as the writers steadying hand no longer lays upon the shoulders of his co-authors.
RIP Clive.

Although he's done Nazi's in Antarctica before, I didn't find even a passing reference to it - did anyone else?

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. It moved at a fast clip, had an interesting premise (mystery), and held my interest from start-to-finish. Kurt, Joe, and the Trouts remain pretty much the same so far in each book I have read, so there is really not much room for development for them (sadly). The character development of the "cast of characters" was adequate enough for the story (obviously some characters had a bit more development than others). I think the cover is beautiful; I miss the "artwork/images" at the start of each section in the Dirk Pitt books.

I like how Cussler and the authors now co-writing his stories tie "current events" into their stories or take technology currently available or theoretically available at one time and then extrapolate from it to generate the plots of their stories. In a way, it is like learning about tidbits of history that one would never have learned about otherwise. I remember the anthrax breakout in Russia and how it was tied to reindeer carcasses in the tundra thawing out with the permafrost and releasing the anthrax into the environment. I have read about scientists trying to acquire samples embedded in the ice of the Antarctic glaciers to study what past environments were like; some of these articles included concerns over what might accidentally be released into our modern world that we no longer have any kind of immunity to in terms of potential diseases and such.

I never knew about Operation Habakkuk what this plan entailed. I did Google it and was surprised to learn it truly was a potential plan for the Allies until it was scrapped partly because new long-range bombers and such would be able to perform the job that this proposed aircraft carrier was to do. But the fact that this carrier would have been made of wood pulp mixed with ice was crazy to me, and that fact that it potentially could have worked is even more astounding to me. I never knew Pykrete even existed or that it could be used in such a way (and that they found a way to work around the "plastic flow" of ice and a way to keep it from melting is even more cool!). So, yeah, I thought it was pretty cool that the villain's "super tanker" was made entire up of a modern form of Pykrete and strongly resembled a giant iceberg. That as pretty cool, as was their submarine being made of Pykrete as well.

The whole "sub-plot" of "Nazis in Antarctica" strongly reminded me of Atlantis Found, for some reason. Perhaps because part of that plot involved a secret Nazi base in Antarctica that was still "manned" by Nazis and still functioning in the modern world? In any case, part of me speculated "what if the two groups never knew of each other? but then why would they not have worked together?", but then the other part of my brain kicked in and was, "Compartmentalization, duh! A case of one hand not knowing what one of the other hands was doing!", hahahah!

I liked that Kurt and Joe did what they could to rescue some of the crewmembers of the villain's ship at the end as they tried to sink it. I honestly cannot say that I think Dirk and Al would have done the same thing, although those two characters do seem "less bloodthirsty" in their "newer" stories in comparison to their older/original stories. Granted, Joe did have a method to his madness in ensuring the survival of the engine crew - they led him to the compartment filled with numerous smaller vessels that allowed Joe to escape and rescue Kurt before the vessel capsized.

The ending was interesting, I suppose. I am pretty sure all of the "fast ice algae/organisms" were captured and destroyed at the end of the book to prevent an ice age from forming. But I also had the impression that any such organisms that might have escaped would only be entrapped within the ice that would form in the bay where they were to be uploaded into the hold of the villain's ship due to the nature of the bay. That was maybe the weakest part of the plot for me.

I also liked the scene in which Kurt and Joe are being chased across the Antarctic terrain by some of the villains and set off an avalanche to take out their pursuers (nearly killing Joe in the process). I thought that was a fairly well-written part of the book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Early on in the book, Kurt, Joe, and . . . Leandra (?) visit a game preserve in Africa that is owned by the villains. Kurt sees a "quote"/reference from the Book of Habakkuk as well as a quote by some famous person about how an unreasonable man can change the world. Both come in to play later the book but for different reasons (both the villain and Kurt are "unreasonable men" who seek to bend the world to their wills; Kurt's "bending" and influencing the world tends to be for more benign reasons and the greater common good, fortunately). In any case, Kurt and Joe follow a group to find out what is going on, see an amazing display of ice being melted (with the stated goal being that of getting rid of those pesky ice caps that cover up valuable, untouched resources), and then have to find a way to escape the game preserve with their very lives. There is a crazy moment where they are somewhat trapped between guards seeking to kill them, a group of lions hunting them, and a pack of hyenas hunting them. A "fight" breaks out between the hyenas and lions, allowing Kurt and Joe to seize the moment and escape. I am not doing the moment justice, because it is a crazy, fun moment in the book and I found myself wondering how they were going to get out of it.

Using the winds of a hurricane over Antarctica to provide a tailwind to provide added distance to a long-distance helicopter flight was nuts and fun to read. Another good (fun/creative) moment in the book.

It is "weird," at times, how there seems to be very few "love interests" in these books for Kurt or Joe like there was in the early Dirk Pitt books (up until he married Loren); I keep expecting Kurt to have some kind of love interest or something with some of the female characters that are in his books, but it really has not happened "yet". Which is fine; it's just a different focus and it still works.

One thing that has stood out to me, though, is that in this book and one of the other two books I have read, it feels like the woman who dies is some kind of plot device merely to move the story along. "She's" a "strong female character" but she dies early one in the book. But her death is not meaningless because she is able to provide some kind of clue or something that points Kurt and Joe in the right direction (or, at the very least, points out that there is a mystery to be solved).

Another interesting thing about this book is that there is no treasure of any kind involved; Dirk and Al usually find some kind of treasure or collection or something that is integral to the plot in some way; even the two prior books I read had some kind of "treasure hunt" of some sort as part of the story. Not in this book. Which was fine; it is still interesting that "treasures" or "treasure hunts" are not as integral to the (three/four) stories (I have read) so far.

I was a bit less ambivalent about the Trout's experience(s) in Norway. They go to a center that stores ice cores from around the world to study ice cores from the region of Antarctica that was of interest to . . . Cora? . . . Emma? . . . the woman who was a former NUMA employee and goes off on her own to make her name in the world; she is the woman who dies shortly after the events that occur in the beginning of the book. While they are there, a "hit team" from the villains arrives and seeks to destroy any information that can be found as well as kill the Trouts and anybody with them. I assume there is some kind of "mole" either in NUMA or the U.S. government that has been leaking information to the villains? In any case, it made no sense to me that this hit team would attack this facility "now" instead of some time earlier (especially if the goal is to keep their discoveries and work secret). I felt that part of the book was one of the weaker parts of the story; it was kinda exciting (except I knew they would survive relatively unscathed) but not really as I knew the Trouts were in no real danger of being killed. I just didn't understand why this ice core collection and preservation center had not been 'hit' before this moment in the book, based on how much the villainous group wanted to keep their plot secret.

It was a fun book. These books are reminiscent of Dirk Pitt and his books, but these books also have their own flavor and style that makes them just as fun to read. I am glad I have started reading these books, and I am glad that I read this book.

[Heitham Hammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

One last book of the year.!"

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters were fine but all in all, a pretty lame story line. Lack of adventure and intrigue led to just a routine story. Can you tell I wasn’t paid or received comps for this review. Ignore the 5 star ratings, that’s absurd for this story.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cussler family, like other authors' estates has found a succession of legacy authors that keep the stories coming out, and I'm glad they do...I've been a fan of the Cussler series since the 70s and will pick all of them up as they become available at my library...This NUMA Files entry features Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, the Trout's and the rest of the NUMA team in a race to stop a family of environmental whackos from turning the World into a giant snowball, be releasing an algae that can freeze water quickly...The usual decent Cussler fare!!!

[Sheila Higgs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent adventure novel as usual. Thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't stop reading!!

[Ami Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on the book blog Ceature From the Book Lagoon.

* Trigger Warning: Implied / brief animal cruelty.

The history part of the plot felt a little bit weaker in Fast Ice. Another slight wrinkle is that some of the tech talk went a little bit over my head. Event though there were a few hiccups at the start, it didn’t detract from the over all plot. After the brief confusion up front, the story moved extremely fast. I was so happy to see the whole team got to see a fair amount of action this time.

Something else that made me feel happy is that the danger felt real. We all know the team will never die or get seriously wounded, Fast Ice gives the reader a little seed of doubt. MAYBE they really can get hurt this time? The team always comes off looking superhuman. It was refreshing this time to see them get banged up a bit.

There were a lot of different accents and I’m not really sure if the narrator was nailing them or not. I couldn’t really place where they were supposed to be from. Also, all the characters tended to sound too similar.

Fast Ice is an entertaining read. Happy to see the whole team together. A little bit confusing here or there, but the story was never spoiled because of it. This was your typical fun, fast paced adventure from the NUMA series.

[Ler aos poucos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este foi o meu primeiro contacto com as aventuras escritas por Clive Custer. Autor que, infelizmente, nos deixou em 2020.

Este, foi fundador da NUMA ( National Underwater & Marine Agency), uma organização não lucrativa que estuda a história marítima e naval, e transporta os seus conhecimentos de engenharia e mecânica para os seus livros.

Mas a NUMA das suas histórias é uma agência governamental fictícia. E desta vez acompanhamos a sua equipa numa missão impossível para tentar travar uma nova era do gelo.

O enredo aborda temas muito importantes, que deviam ser mais divulgados. Como é o exemplo das mudanças climáticas, dando grande ênfase ao degelo e às suas consequências nefastas, do aparecimento de novas bactérias que se encontram congeladas e da emissão de gases prejudiciais.

A narrativa, tem uma componente muito forte de consciencialização ambiental, incluindo as espécies em via de extinção, que são, ainda, sujeitas à caça ilegal, e não bastando, também são destruídos os seus habitats naturais.

É um livro com muita adrenalina, fazendo lembrar um episódio da série NCIS, com um plot improvável, mas com o propósito de assustar e dar a conhecer os problemas ambientais.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first NUMA files book I have read. Kurt and Joe are the NUMA guys out to save the world (literally). They really should have been named Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, since they are essentially super hero characters. From their always witty dialog to their ability to solve any problem, they were basically super heroes without the powers. I am pretty good at suspending belief for a thriller, but this was a stretch for me. Goofy plot, too many amazing feats of ability from Kurt and Joe.

[Jenna Scribbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Clive Cussler book. Even though this is number #18? of the series, #75? of his titles, I was able to read it as a stand alone no problem.

So much action! That was expected. I zoomed through it very quickly. No spots were slowed down with too much technical jargon. It just kept rolling along.

Can the NUMA members save the world!!?? I will read more by this author.

[Denis]

Great fast read. Always a fan of Cussler.

[Sami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viimeinen kusleri, harmittavaa. Itse kirja hyvää tuttua toimintaa jne.

[Robert Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very high action.

[Tamar K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sadly disappointed by this novel, one of the first that's come out since Cussler's passing. The characters are there, the heart of the story is good, but it's a blatantly different style. It's heavy on the telling, i.e. rather than showing the reader the story, there's a lot of telling sequences that seemed jarred by the showing. Frankly it slowed the story down and made the reading laborious.

[Drew Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable thriller with an interesting plot. It is ironic, though, that the "science" of global climate change doesn't match with the science of the climate history and present.

[Melisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced read, just as expected. I enjoy reading these books as light reading material after finishing a weighty nonfiction book. It could have been a little shorter, but it was enjoyable. I always look forward to reading these novels.

[Garry Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave the story a one-star review: I gave up.
This was the first Cussler book that I have read in many months.

Perhaps it's my state of mind, but I wasn't prepared to read another wild tale. The escape from the lions and hyenas (midway thru the story) was enough for me to shelf the book.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUBJECTIVE READER REVIEW WITH PLOT SPOILERS FOLLOWS:

I'd call 'Fast Ice' an amazing adaptation of fiction to real world circumstances, in the immediate case global warming. Of course the Clive Cussler Universe isn't gonna walk out on the yardarm with the crazies, they're gonna give it a twist you never saw coming. Actually, 'Fast Ice' is quite the relief from the constant bombardment of the socialists; we must do something about climate change or we're doomed. Well guess what, if the rest of the world went to zero carbon emissions, China would still sink the boat since they produce 60% of the greenhouse gases. So how do you make them play fair? Threaten their asses like Trump did and they dump COVID on the world as a distraction. Nope, the PRC ain't gonna clean up their carbon footprint ever, so we gotta rely on Graham Brown to rescue our asses.

Ryland Lloyd has the backbone of a squid; show him compelling evidence and he's completely morally malleable. He's nominally the CEO of a huge petroleum company but his investments make no sense whatsoever. Neither does his little mini-Jurassic Park in Limpopo Province in South Africa. He's buying up underproducing properties around the globe, all within five degrees of the equator. Now that shoulda been a hint, right? But a hint about what?

Turns out Ryland's tree-hugger sister Yvonne has come upon some interesting evidence about earth cycles. Specifically she and Cora Emmerson have hatched their own Earth Firewall Theory that suggests the Earth experiences recurring Ice Ages, and they're all preceded by climate change, specifically global warming due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases. In their theory, once the global warming melts the Antarctic glaciers, viruses, bacteria and algae are suddenly freed to bloom uncontrollably, eating up all of the greenhouse gases. Of course when the carbon dioxide cloud's gone the Earth begins to cool and continues doing so until there's an ice cap around the whole earth except for a narrow strip around the Equator. So, like Noah's ark, Ryland brings all of his rare animals from Limpopo Province to repopulate the earth once the ice begins to melt.

If you're gonna take advantage of the Earth Firewall Theory you gotta do some advance planning and investment. Thanks to a Nazi Antarctic Expedition in 1938, Yvonne and Cora learn the Swabenland Expedition discovered a lake whose surface froze over within minutes of it becoming liquid. This fact is hidden very deeply until Yvonne discovers Base Zero on the Holtzman Glacier. The 'sludge' covering the bottom of this lake they figure is sufficient to trigger off widespread algae blooming which will in short order render the greenhouse gases kaput. Ryland builds an ice ship Goliath to haul the sludge out to dump it into the open ocean. All goes well until Yvonne and Ryland decide it's time to make the Grishka Arctic Explorer Ship and Expedition disappear so no word leaks out about the sludge plans. Oops, Cora Emmerson is a former member of National Underwater and Marine Agency, and she got off a warning of sorts just before the Grishka died in the Antarctic Ocean.

NUMA explores all anomalies, and if Kurt Austin gets assigned to investigate something, like the disappearance of the Grishka with Cora aboard, your goose is cooked as bad as if Scot Harvath was coming for ya. Kurt Austin is one determined and capable hombre, and with the tech genius Hiram Yeager interpreting all of the Firewall implications to him he figures out that Ryland Lloyd is the world's worst enemy.

I'll let you enjoy the real story of how that happens, now that you know the somewhat challenging microbiological aspects of it. Get this book and enjoy a fun read; I sure did.

[Boomer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just completed Fast Ice, Book 18 of the NUMA files, I can't help but feel it's time to wrap this series up. I accept the fact that when I read a Cussler book I'm not going to get anything ground breaking, but the plots of these adventures really don't change ever. I recently read Book 16 of this series, Sea of Greed, which featured a billionaire villain using a genetically modified bacteria that devoured oil to cripple the word's oil supply and create world chaos - Here you've got a billionaire villain using a genetically modified algae that is able to speed up freezing water in the hopes of creating a new ice age to create world chaos. Same old stuff.

I don't mean to be too harsh because it's not a bad story, but at this point I find myself skimming through these novels because I already know what will occur - Austin disrupts the villain's plan early on, usually comes face to face with said villain in a public setting like a party or a conference where they exchange veiled threats and get the measure of each other. Austin and Zavala survive a few more assassination attempts. A beautiful woman is introduced for Austin or Zavala to collaborate and also flirt with. Paul and Gamay Trout arrive and do some scientific research, resulting in them also being attacked but surviving. In the climax, Austin overcomes all odds and saves the day and there's a two page epilogue about how everyone lives happily ever after.

There was a time where I'd drop $9.99-$14.99 in a heartbeat to preorder the next NUMA files book but those days are gone because nothing every evolves in this series. Austin has been in his mid thirties for what feels like decades and there's been no changes to his character since Book 1. He's never had a serious relationship, never had any family, and never changed physically despite him being injured in just about every book. There's no character deaths or new character introductions. Priya is the only new character I can think of that's been introduced in the last dozen books and she's already vanished after teasing she might be a regular team member.

Sorry this is a rather gloomy review but I'm frustrated because while this is a very enjoyable series, I can't justify paying full price for every entry when it's regurgitating the same plot line with the same characters doing the same actions. I gave up on the Oregon Files around Book 15 for this same reason. If I happen to see future books go on sale for $1.99 or so maybe I'll try them, but I don't go out of my way looking for Cussler books anymore.