Lost City - Book Review

Lost City - from the NUMA files
By Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos
G.Putnam & Sons 2004 (HC)
Berkely Books 2005 (PB)

When you think of a lost city - what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Probably a lost city on land, right?

Well the Lost City of this novel is not on land. It is 2500 feet down under water on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

There are several events happening in this novel. One is the involvement of the Fauchard Family of France when the body of Jules Fauchard is discovered in a glacier. The second is the exploration of the Lost City, the third is the explosion of Seaweed in the worlds oceans, and the last is the increasing rumours of red-eyed monsters.

Skye Labelle is an archaeologist. Her speciality is the movement of trade from the Minoan area along the Amber Route to the rest of Europe. Up until now, the Minoans are thought to have traded with only Greece and Egypt. She and Kurt Austin (Leader of the Special Operations Team from NUMA) are investigating a lake in the European Alps (on the border between France anbd Switzerland) where they discover an underwater tomb. At the same time a body is discovered in a nearby glacier. The melt-water of the glacier is being used to run turbines to create electricity.

Sky is called away from the lake up to the glacier so that she can identify the helmet the body is wearing. The unusual design on the helmet is eventually traced back to the Fauchard family in France. This family originated in Cyprus and eventually moved to France during the Early Middle ages. There they made their living manufacturing and selling weapons. Once of their weapons was the Fauchard - a polearm with a blade attached.

Out in the Atlantic, a strange phenomenon is happening to the seaweed. It is growing and procreating at an alarming rate. The faster rate means it could choke all the oceans within a matter of weeks. This will create a drastic food shortage for all of humanity.

And in Scotland, a reality TV show being fimed on a remote island is destroyed by red-eyed monsters who invade and kill all the participants and TV crew - all except one. When she is rescued, Noone believes her stories and she is diagnosed as being in shock.

All these events are tied together. Kurt and his team are in a race to stop the world being destroyed by sea weed. At the same time, the team must also find and destroy the "fountain of youth".

Excellent novel - especially the parts about the Lost City.