Inca Gold

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Summary: Enjoyed Cussler more in my teens
Review: I was an avid Cussler fan until I turned about sixteen. Now, at 28, I realize that I was too young to know any better! Cussler writes the most awkward, stilted dialogue imaginable. The historical diatribes by the archaeologists Kelsey and Rodgers, while interesting, read more like an encyclopedia article than a piece of dialogue. And the ubiquitous English/metric conversions throughout the book become tiresome in the extreme. (Pitt: "That boat is about 200 feet away." Giordino: "Gee, Dirk, that's over 60 meters!") Good escapism/bathroom reading type stuff. Buy it for your kids - at least it beats Nintendo.

Rating:
Summary: Learn from Indiana Jones and Vice Versa!
Review: I kind of wish that Cussler would have stayed with Dirk from beginning to end. There are too many chapters that interrupt and too many characters that really do not have much substance. The Dirk chapters were the most fun. Pitt and company could be even more humorous and more action-packed. Have characters more self-reliant and not Pitt-reliant all the time, but Pitt should be in each chapter. Tupac Amaru also deserved more time on the stage, and build up our desire for the Pitt and Amaru showdown! Lower the length of the book, but raise the focus on the protagonist and antagonist. This could be a good Indiana Jones movie script and possibly, a Dirk Pitt movie (after editing).

Rating:
Summary: Hmmm... I think I already read this one...
Review: No wait, that was just one of Cusslers' other books. After reading two or three of his books, Cussler's plots are easily predicted. Suken ship/ airplane, classic car, beautiful woman, ect. This book did little more than seal the coffin of my interest in his books. Thus is the fate of books written solely to make money...

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Summary: This book was awesome !!!!
Review: Inca gold was a great book! I wish Clive Cussler would make more books adapted for young readers I have read his other book Shock Wave and could not put it down i wish there were more great books like this !!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great-like an Indiana Jones movie on steriods!
Review: I loved this fast-paced action adventure, it was like watching ten Indiana Jones movies rolled into one!

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Summary: A series in need of new ideas.
Review: Mr Cussler's books have all the ingredients of typical escapist literature; romance, adventure, action, exotic locations and so on. If you only look for entertainment and your expectations are not too high you will have a good time reading one of his books. The problem arises when you pick up a second one. You will have the impression of having read the book already. You'll find a prologue set in the past telling some maritime disaster, and will encounter Pitt, Giordino ,Admiral Sandecker and one resourceful woman (not necessarily Loren Smith) in the future. Between incredible rescues and unbelievable chases you will have a break in between to visit Dirk's hangar in Washington DC and enjoy a ride on one of the models of his car collection. The car is different each time as well as the villain or evil corporation our heroes fight against. But that's it!. Inca Gold is no different than the others. But highly enjoyable if this is your first Cussler novel.

Rating:
Summary: If this was a movie, I would have demanded my money back!
Review: I cannot see how so many people have gotten hooked on this guy's writing. It is obviously geared to juvenile tastes (and I have no problem with that), but he is being sold as a 'serious' writer. Predictable plot, predictable characters, predictable outcome. Boring!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding - Great escape from the real world!
Review: This was my fourth Cussler book and I don't plan to stop untill I've read them all! Having been left out in the cold by "the new Clancy" I needed to find another great author - well, I found him. This reading was unique and special because my 11 year old son was reading the Jr. version while I read the classic version. This spawned great dinner table conversations. My other son can't wait to start on it himself. Great characters, scenes, plots, sub-plots and more. Nicely done Mr. Cussler.

Rating:
Summary: Great escapist fun. Anyone would enjoy this book
Review: Inca Gold is probably one of Cussler's best novels ever. It contains all the usual elements that have made Cussler so popular. It's pretty hard on the mind at first (The outlandish plot and dense melodrama makes even the least cynical cringe), but once you get used to it, you realize that those elements just make the story more enjoyable. A perfect book for the beach.

Rating:
Summary: Great book I wish there were more for young readers.
Review: Throughout most of the story Dirk Pitt (the main character) was on adventures. His first adventure was rescuing two scientist named Shannon Kelsey and Miles Rogers from a scarced sink hole in Peru. They were sent down the well to recover ancient artifacts. The people in the town believed in that during harsh storms or extreme droughts that they should make a sacrifice. The sacrifices were men, women an children dressed in gold suits with golden swords and shields. In 1964 two other scientist entered the hole but never came back out. After over an hour had passed there was no sign of Shannon or Miles so Rogers the head scientist on the surface sent in a distress call and with in a few minutes a helicopter arrived with Dirk and his trusted friend Al Gordino from the NUMA (National Underwater Marine Agency). Within minutes Dirk and Al were both ready to enter the pool. One at a time they were both lowered into the well. As they entered into the slimy pool they noticed a small skeleton with no armor surrounding him. As they got closer to the bottom they noticed that all of the skeletons didn't have on any armor, it almost seemed as someone came here before them and took all of the artifacts. As they reached the bottom there was still no sign of them intil something sucked them through a hole they had no seen before. Once they were through the hole there was a steady incline to the surface of the water. They were still not out of the water completely since there was some kind of a dome above there heads blocking there way out. Since Miles and Shannon were almost out of air Al and Dirk gave them their reserved tanks to get out of the hole. Once they got to the suface they were all slowly raised to the surface one by one. After Al reached the surface several people dressed in military uniforms with automatic weapons captured and kidnapped the three doctors, Al and several other students from a local college. They asked if any one was still down but they replied saying no. The kidnappers then took the group on a long trail two there camp in a valley while Dirk was climbing up the slimy well. It took him several hours to reach the top and get over the side. Then with little energy left he followed the kidnappers trail to a large camp. While Al his new friends the scientist were locked in a cell inside a large stone building. Rodgers one of the scientist was making fun of the gaurd, so the gaurd shot him and pull him out of the cell and onto the footsteps of the building. But little did the gaurd know that Dirk was outside behind a stone pillar and he came out and knocked the guard in the head with a rock that was laying near by. Once done with th at he took the man's gun and overcoat fo a disguise after he hid the body. Then Dirk entered the buiding with his gun loaded. Once he found the jail cell the other gaurd named Amaru ask him what took him so long thinking that the man that just entered was the gaurd sent out to remove the body. Instead of killing Amaru he just shot him in the knee just to cripple him. Then they still had to escape from the valley as soon as possiable, but little did they know that two helicopters were on their way. But they weren't coming to help them it was just a larger group of soldiers coming to kill them. They couldn't go back to the helicopter they arrived in since it was set on fire when soldiers came to get them. So with the little guns they had they rounded up the soldiers and put them in the cells. Once they heard the helicopters coming they ran behind a few bushes to hid just in case they were more soldiers. Once the new group of soldiers landed they went for the main bulding were the other soldiers were locked-up. Once they had entered the building they made a dash for the Helicopter sitting on the ground a few hundred yards away from them. Once they were near it they knocked out the pilots and they all got on one of them. Leaving the other one behind they took off but not before one of the soldiers saw them and started to shoot at them. By the time they were in the air the feul tank was leaking and the other helicopter was being borded to chase after them. Since they didn't have alot of fuel left in it they radioed the boat that Dirk and Al came from. Know that the rescue boat was heading there way they had to get rid of the helicopter that was getting closer. So they moved around intil they were above the other helicopter and threw a life raft out of the helicopter making the rotor blades fall apart sending them down crashing into the water. With one raft remaining they had to crash the helicpter saftly in the water and get on the raft to drift intil help arrived. In the book Inca Gold Dirk and Al go on several adventures this being one of them. The last adventure in the book is when Dirk and Al travel through underground rivers to rescue Shannon and Miles again from Amaru in a cave inside a mountain. They were in there because there was more ancient artifact worth twice King Tut's tomb and it's riches. Then Dirk kills Amaru while being sent down underground rapids sending them to the gulf.

Read the book you will love it. I am currently Shock-Wave