Thriller

http://pro-libertate.net/20150620/265-read-navigator ( )

The Navigator refers to a large life size statue of a sailor. On this statue is a map. This statue used to sit in the basement of the Baghdad musem for many years. Until the US army occupied the country in 2003. Since then, a lot of irreplaceable art has been stolen from the Baghdad museum and sold on the illegal arts market.

One of the statues stolen is the Navigator. It was dated to Phoenician times (about 1000 BCE). The Phoenicians were a great trading and seafaring people. Their home land was the coastal area we know as the Levant - which covers Palestine and Lebanon. The Phoenicians were known to have traded all over the Mediterranean, and possble along the Atlantic coast of North Africa and Southern Europe as well.

When Carina Mechadi (a former journalist and now an art detective) is given the opportunity and the money to find the Navigator, she tracks it down using all her contacts in the Middle east - especially in Iraq. When she finds it, she gets it packed up and placed on a container ship. Carina then purchases a passenger ticket on the same container ship in order to stay close to the statue, and travels with the statue back to USA. The statue is to be the centre piece of a museum display and tour.

En route to USA, the container ship is attacked by pirates, who attempt to steal the statue. By chance Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala (From NUMA) are on board an ice patrol ship in the vicinity catching icebergs and towing them to a safe place, so that they do not hit the oil rigs and platforms dotting the North Atlantic.

When the container ship captain does not answer the radio, Kurt and Joe head to the ship to find out what is happening, and to steer it away from the oilrig directly in its path. Which is where they meet Carina.

This novel has plenty of action. Kurt, Joe and Carina work together to find out who wants the statue so badly, and why. They also travel to Turkey where they locate a second statue.

Together they find gold mines, maps, scrolls, a ship that should not be where it is found and a startling letter from Thomas Jefferson (the 3rd president of the USA) which reveals that if the scrolls are released to the world, their contents could cause unrest and possibly war in the Middle East. Carina also finds out a stunning secret about her ancestry.

This is one of my favourite Kurt Austin Novels. Mostly because of the Art history. I love Art History!! ( )

Als ik een halve ster kon geven, zou dit anderhalve ster hebben gekregen, omdat ik nog twijfel of een deel misschien lag aan de voorlezer.

Sorry, Clive, maar dit boek was zonde van mijn tijd. Misschien heb ik de laatste tijd te veel Cussler's gelezen (of eigenlijk geluisterd), maar andere delen uit de NUMA serie of uit Dossier Oregon waren veel beter.
De hoofdrol-spelers lijken (haast) geen fouten te hebben. En de tegenspelers? Een megalomane maniak die de mijnen van Salomo in Amerika zoekt, en toch tijd heeft voor zijn hobby, het steekspel. En dan is daar de moordenaar met zijn baby-gezicht. GAAP!!

En dan het (top geheime) vliegtuig dat eventjes van de Amerikaanse overheid wordt geleend om Kurt zo van Amerika naar Cyprus te vliegen om zijn vriendin te redden.

Ik ben doorgegaan met dit (audio)boek omdat ik niet graag opgeef en de hoop had dat het misschien nog wel beter zou worden, maar helaas. Wat is er gebeurt met Dirk Pitt bij de NUMA? Dat waren tenminste betere verhalen. Mis nog steeds de clue rond de beelden van de 'Navigator'. En wat is er gebeurt met de kunst-collectie die uit het Iraakse museum waren gestolen? ( )

Maybe books like this should come with a warning? Matt's review just about sums up how I felt after reading this ! ( )