Serpent: A Kurt Austin Adventure (NUMA Files Series) Book

Meh. Think there's a reason why I haven't picked up one of his books for at least 5 years. In my defense, I was on vacation and finished the books that I had brought along and this 'novel' was one of the only reasonably good choices available at the hotel gift shop.

At one time in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed the Dirk Pitt series of books from Cussler. Sort of a modern swash-buckling adventurer who always knows the right thing to do, the right thing to say and always gets the girl and the villain in the end. While this was not a Pitt novel per se (although he does show up early on...), the same formulaic approach applies - historical event, usually the sinking of some type of floating object, shift to modern times and the emergence of some villain affecting random person while the protagonists (Kurt Austin and his crew in this case) just happen to be close by. Story progresses and more amazing discoveries are learned, the villain intensifies action and the action is cleanly wrapped up in the end, again, with crazy discovery of historical event object that has been underwater for 100s of years. I guess maybe I've just tired of this formula but also noticed an increased discomfort with the dialogue - nobody I've ever heard talks like any of the people in this book.

Oh well, bottom line, I guess I'd recommend this book if you were stuck at a hotel with no other reading materials and this was the only choice at the hotel gift shop. Other than that, probably best to leave this alone and if you really must read Cussler, try to locate some of his earlier, fresher Dirk Pitt efforts.

Cheers.