The Pharaoh’s Secret by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown.
The Pharaoh’s Secret
by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown (read by Scott Brick)
Penguin (audiobook)
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Clive Cussler’s NUMA series has always brightened up early January, not by dint of its excellence exactly, but by providing some light, diverting but undemanding entertainment. Lead by Kurt Austin, the National Underwater and Marine Agency pursues Cussler’s own hobby: deep-sea research and discovery. Their 13th adventure sees them tussle with a host of Dan Brownish enigmas from the distant past: 1353 BC give or take. Pharaoh Akheaten discovered a secret that, almost inevitably, threatened the entire planet: a deadly plant known as “Black Mist” that could kill in an instant. The last trace of this toxin sank, seemingly without trace, in the late 18th century along with the Orient, a French warship. When NUMA are called in to investigate strange happenings at Lampedusa island, it seems the botanical might just have returned along with Osiris, lord of the underworld. As this suggests, the plot is not boy meets girl, boy takes girl to dinner but granite-jawed heroes confront mythological McGuffins by the Da Vinci Code load.
Scott Brick
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Scott Brick reads with enviable velocity, which lends a certain drama to even the more nonsensical moments, but also a hint of monotony and the sense that he may be trying to finish the book before lunchtime. That at least gives you time for another Cussler before bed.
