Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood
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.
In Spartan Gold, Sam and Remi Fargo pursue a trail of clues left on the labels of twelve wine bottles from the lost wine cellar of Napoleon Bonaparte, written in a code they must first decipher.
Of course there are also adversaries to be faced and dealt with. A former Soviet freedom fighter turned mafia billionaire sends his hired hooligans to interfere with the Fargos' investigation, several times imperiling their very lives.
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 riddles on the wine-bottles lead the Fargos and their adversaries from a WWII German submarine in the Great Pocomoke Swamp of Maryland to the Bahamas and through much of Europe including Monaco, Croatia, Italy, Germany, and Ukraine: not necessarily in that sequence.
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 lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children, operating her own copywriting business out of her home. Clive Cussler is a long time favorite author. Visit her dedicated Cussler site to order the Spartan Gold novel or read her review of the most recent Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler.