Spartan Gold is the first in a new series by New York Times bestseller Clive Cussler in cooperation with action novel writer Grant Blackwood.
The new series is referred to as “Fargo Adventures,” based on its action heroes, a married couple named Sam and Remi Fargo.
Having fulfilled the American dream early in life to become independently wealthy, the Fargos now devote themselves to archeological treasure hunting; and they let nothing stand in their way of finding what they search for.
While the Fargo Adventures feature a new cast of characters and a slightly different action venue – treasure hunting – the telltale hallmarks of a true Cussler-novel that we have all come to love and expect still remain: Exotic cars, foods and drinks, as well as lots of excitement on, in and around water.
In Spartan Gold, Sam and Remi Fargo pursue a trail of clues left on the labels of twelve wine bottles from the lost wine cellar of Napoleon Bonaparte, written in a code they must first decipher.
Naturally, their quest to unravel this mystery does not go unimpeded. Relentlessly on their heels are the hired ruffians of Bondaruk, a former Soviet freedom fighter from an ethnic minority group, who has since turned into a ruthless mafia billionaire.
The treasure at the end of the trail consists of two ancient Greek statues of pure gold which were stolen and hauled off by Persian ruler Xerxes the Great, to be stashed away and forgotten at a hitherto unknown location. Bondaruk believes himself to be a direct descendant of Xerxes and the rightful heir to this lost and forgotten treasure.
The riddles on the wine-bottles lead the Fargos and their adversaries from a WWII German submarine in the Great Pocomoke Swamp of Maryland to the Bahamas and through much of Europe including Monaco, Croatia, Italy, Germany, and Ukraine: not necessarily in that sequence.
Spartan Gold is a solid, action-filled treasure hunting novel in the spirit of The Da Vinci Code. It is also distinctly a Clive Cussler novel with all of what that entails. Another guaranteed New York Times bestseller, in other words.
Britt Hellman resides in North Carolina with her spouse and three children, operating her own copywriting business from home. Clive Cussler is a long time favorite author. Visit her dedicated Cussler site to order the Spartan Gold novel or read her review of the latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler.