The Navigator (The Numa Files)

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
The most remarkable novel yet in the number-one New York Times-bestselling series.

Customer Reviews: Read 56 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Comic book yes, but a whole lot of fun! June 5, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful

An old friend of mine has been trying to get me to try Clive Cussler, ever since he heard how much I enjoyed the cult classic thriller "Tourist in the Yucatan." In spite of the legion of fans, I was skeptical as the Dirk Pitt Novels always sounded a bit to comic book for me (don't get me wrong I love a good thriller). Well, two days ago my friend showed up at my office with his fresh, unread copy of "The Navigator" and left in on my desk at work. He had not even cracked the first page. I asked him why he was not reading it first. He just smiled and replied, "You'll have it back to me in a couple of days. He was right, Once I turned the first page I was hooked! Yes this is comic book stuff, but the tongue is planted firmly in cheek and I could not help enjoying the ride. Kurt Austin and his NUMA special assignments team is after an ancient Phoenician statue called the navigator that was stolen from the Bagdad Museum in 900 BC. This mystery is the heart of the story but there is so much more action and adventure on every page. Think an Indiana Jones Movie on speed and with an underwater motif. If you are looking for great literature, look elsewhere, but if you want a light, entertaining read for a day at the beach you could do a lot worse. I won't be afraid to try more Cussler in the future.

4 out of 5 stars

Austin's Action Just Keeps Getting Better July 25, 2007
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

When American forces invaded Iraq the first time, the Baghdad Museum was looted of valuable treasures. UNESCO agent Carina Mechadi is on their trail, and jumps at the chance when wealthy businessman Viktor Baltazar offers to privately finance her search, asking only that she keep him informed of her progress. Carina crosses paths with our hero, Kurt Austin, quite literally when she recovers the most valuable of the museum's missing items and accompanies them on their containership voyage across the Atlantic to the Smithsonian. Kurt Austin and sidekick Joe Zavala had been in the same area of the North Atlantic known as Iceberg Alley, helping to rope in icebergs heading for oil rigs and tow them from harm's way, when Carina's ship, the Ocean Adventure, appears to be steaming directly for an oil rig. When Austin's derring-do puts him aboard, he finds the Ocean Adventure had been boarded by pirates in helicopters. Their one objective seemed to have been recovery of a statue of dubious value in Carina's collection called the Navigator. Austin stops the theft and rescues the ship, seeing Carina safely to Washington. Once there, the mystery deepens when Anthony Saxon, an ill-respected archaeologist and writer, joins forces with Austin and the gang. Someone wants the Navigator badly, for the statue contains an ancient Phoenician map supposedly leading to King Solomon's Mines and a controversial set of the Ten Commandments carved in gold. They aren't the only ones looking for the lost artifacts, and the other guys will stop at nothing to get there first.

I have only one complaint about this book, and that is its inability to resist the urge to oh-so-trendily cast doubt on stories of Biblical origin. The outrage has died down, and so has our interest in this type of subject matter, which is handled with little skill and no attempt at originality. That disappointing detail aside, this is a fast-paced, white-knuckle thrill ride as Kurt Austin and his friends unravel a centuries-old mystery, trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys, who naturally have sinister motives. Though the engaging Paul and Gamay Trout once again played disappointingly small roles and, sadly, maritime historian St. Julien Perlmutter sat this one out, it was nonetheless quite the page turner I found very difficult to put down.

With its seventh book, this series has obviously found its stride. With its Cussleresque abundance of corny similes and nonstop action woven into an intricate plot, combined with Kemprecos' warm, down-to-earth prose, it's hard to find action better than this smoothly-paced novel. Once again, you can't go wrong with a book with Cussler on the cover.

5 out of 5 stars

This is surely another great read by one of America's favorite and, in my opinion, premiere adventure writers. June 18, 2007
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

The Phoenician Empire was at its peak in 850 B.C. Around that time, a dark green statue, nearly six feet in height, was intricately carved. It was known as the Navigator, and it would have an incredible history. It would be stolen several times in its long life and hold many mysteries in its carvings. Originally taken from a Scythian vessel on the high seas around 900 B.C. (only to be found many years later), it would be featured in the Baghdad Museum, along with hundreds of other valuable and rare artifacts.

Thomas Jefferson is featured early in THE NAVIGATOR. A noted inventor, Jefferson had written a detailed treatise on the cultivation of artichokes to be delivered to Meriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. This document was actually a cipher, which Lewis could read with the aid of a perforated sheet of heavy paper --- a list of Indian words that Jefferson had encrypted. Were this document to be intercepted by the wrong people, deciphered and made public, the new nation could be in grave danger.

The centuries that pass from the Navigator's creation through its eventual recoveries is the focus of this newest Clive Cussler novel. Only Cussler could capture the exotic themes, incredible scenarios and plots thick with intrigue.

The artifacts from the Bagdad Museum are slated to be shown in a special exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Navigator was to be the centerpiece of this fine exhibit. The hunt is on to retrieve it yet again.

"Anthony Saxon was a true adventurer. Several years before, Saxon had launched what could have been his greatest adventure. He intended to sail a replica of a Phoenician ship from the Red Sea to the coast of North America. The Pacific Ocean crossing would have proven his theory that Ophis, the fabled site of King Solomon's Mines, was in the America's. However, the ship burned to the waterline one night under mysterious circumstances." Disaster seems to follow the Navigator and the people attempting to secure this fabled statue.

Again, Clive Cussler and co-author Paul Kemprecos have created a unique tale of high-seas adventure, with a complex but not an overwhelming plot. NUMA followers will rejoice at the reappearance of Kurt Austin, who picks right up where Dirk Pitt (now a Director and Austin's boss) left off. To me, the tie-in with Thomas Jefferson and the Indian ciphers was the most interesting aspect of this novel, but the Navigator's history followed closely behind. This is surely another great read by one of America's favorite and, in my opinion, premiere adventure writers.

--- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher

2 out of 5 stars

more of the same formula June 21, 2007
5 out of 15 found this review helpful

If I had to pick one major gripe, it would be the over-played mysterious billionaire villian with ties to an ancient king/queen that wants to set up some kind of monopoly (fuel/weapons/pork-bellies...)and has an army of goons to kill everyone who gets in the way. That's 80% of the Pitt/Austin villians.

Other gripes are more petty, such as NUMA, the only gov't agency with so much money, they can paint every car/ship/plane turquoise, and the CIA can loan an ex-employee an SR71 spy plane so he can rescue his girlfriend. As for the ex-SEAL and Delta Force mercenaries: they seemed more like mindless goons than elite soldiers.

Normally, the highlights for me would be the exploration and recovery of old wrecks and lost mine treasures, but even these seem to be just lifted from a previous story. Seriously, just white out the names of the characters and the ancient historical people and you've got 90% of the next Pitt novel ready to go.

4 out of 5 stars

4 star fun! July 17, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I had given up on Cussler a few years back as the stories all began to run together. My son though left "The Navigator" at the house the other day and little did I know I was in for an adventure/thriller filled weekend. By Sunday night I had finished the book, but still wanted more! Not much depth here but Austin and Zavala keep the buddy action going and there is never a dull moment. Fans know what to expect, but if your new to Cussler I highly recommend you start with his early Dirk Pitt books.

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