Lost Empire

September 27, 2010
While scuba-diving on the Tanzania coast, Sam and Remi Fargo find a U.S. Civil War ship's bell engraved with Aztec hieroglyphs. Recovering it and discovering its provenance becomes irresistible—especially when they realize someone is desperate to conceal its secrets. From Africa through North America to Asia, the Fargos race to stay ahead of their ruthless pursuers. Narrator Scott Brick continues to keep Cussler's escapades light entertainment; having narrated the previous books in the series, Brick is now part and parcel of the Cussler audiobook fan's continued enjoyment—and essential in ratcheting up the tension and excitement as needed. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 2).

August 2, 2010
Cussler and Blackwood's second adventure to feature husband-wife treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo deviates little from the familiar formula of the first in the series, Spartan Gold. When Sam and Remi find a huge ship's bell on a dive off the Tanzanian coast, they must work to find a way to recover it without running afoul of the Tanzanian government. Meanwhile, Mexican president Quauhtli Garza, a staunch nationalist, knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the east African coast after the Civil War. Garza fears the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette, which was aboard the ship, will undermine his grip on power. Once Garza dispatches his henchman to Tanzania to deal with the Fargos, the novel devolves into a standard chase thriller. Uninspired dialogue ("I love adventure as much as the next gal, but there's something to be said for good food and a warm bed with clean sheets," Remi tells Sam) doesn't help.