Spartan Gold signifies the launch of a fifth book series by perpetual New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler, this time in partnership with up and coming young author Grant Blackwood.
The books of this new series are called “Fargo Adventures,” so named after the book’s heroes, married couple Sam and Remi Fargo.
Having fulfilled the American dream early in life to become independently wealthy, the Fargos now devote themselves to archeological treasure hunting; and they let nothing stand in their way of finding what they search for.
The Fargo Adventures feature a new set of characters and a new approach in the form of archeological treasure hunting. (New in terms of being the main focus.) But as with any Cussler-novel, we can still expect a lot of the action to take place in and around water, as well as plenty of exotic cars, foods and drinks.
Through Spartan Gold we follow Sam and Remi Fargo as they pursue a trail of clues left behind by Napoleon Bonaparte on the back of wine-bottle labels from his lost wine cellar. Not only are the clues written as riddles but they are also in code, which they must first crack.
Naturally, their quest to unravel this mystery does not go unimpeded. Relentlessly on their heels are the hired ruffians of Bondaruk, a former Soviet freedom fighter from an ethnic minority group, who has since turned into a ruthless mafia billionaire.
The treasure at the end of the trail consists of two ancient Greek statues of pure gold which were stolen and hauled off by Persian ruler Xerxes the Great, to be stashed away and forgotten at a hitherto unknown location. Bondaruk believes himself to be a direct descendant of Xerxes and the rightful heir to this lost and forgotten treasure.
The wine-bottle trail leads Sam and Remi, as well as their adversaries, from a sunken German submarine in the Great Pocomoke Swamp, Maryland, to the Bahamas, through much or Europe, from Germany, France and Italy to Croatia and Ukraine: not necessarily in that order.
Spartan Gold is a solid, action-filled treasure hunting novel in the spirit of The Da Vinci Code. It is also distinctly a Clive Cussler novel with all of what that entails. Another guaranteed New York Times bestseller, in other words.
Britt Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her spouse and three children. She runs her own copywriting business out of her home. Clive Cussler is a long time favorite author. Visit her dedicated Cussler site to order Spartan Gold or read her review of the latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift.
