Medusa (NUMA Files Series) by Clive Cussler, Paul Kemprecos

From the Publisher

For seven books, Clive Cussler has dazzled readers with the "spine-tingling adventures" (Chicago Tribune) of Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA(r) Special Assignments Team, but in Medusa the NUMA(r) team faces what may be its most perilous mission of all.

In the Micronesian Islands, a top secret, U.S. government- sponsored undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa suddenly . . . disappears. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere is attacked by an underwater vehicle and left helpless a half mile below the surface, its passengers-including Zavala-left to die. Only Kurt Austin's heroic measures save them from a watery grave, but, suspecting a connection, Austin puts the NUMA(r) team on the case. He has no idea what he's just gotten them all into. A hideous series of medical experiments . . . an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization . . . a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic. Austin and Zavala have been in tight spots before, but this time it's not just their own skins they're trying to save-it's the lives of millions.

Filled with the high-stakes suspense and boundless invention unique to Cussler, Medusa is the most thrilling novel yet from the grand master of adventure.

Publishers Weekly

In the eighth Kurt Austin adventure, a lethal flu virus emerges in China, and the Chinese and American governments join together to search for a vaccine to prevent a global pandemic. Research suggests the sea holds the cure, but when the vital deep sea research laboratory goes missing, NUMA's Special Assignments Team with Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala pursue leads into danger to recover the invaluable resources. Scott Brick adds texture to one of Cussler's deep sea adventures; the timbre and tone of his voice are pleasing—even as he ratchets up the tension to the story's memorable climax. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 20). (June)

Robert Conroy - Library Journal

In the latest in the long line of popular adventure novels by Cussler, whose first major success, Raise the Titanic, now seems eons ago, an influenza pandemic in China threatens to explode and kill countless millions. While a joint U.S. and Chinese team makes strides on a vaccine, bad guys working on their own vaccine to gain great wealth and power kidnap the scientists. Enter Cussler hero Kurt Austin (The Navigator) and his NUMA® buddies to take on the villains, and who do you think will win? Cussler loves to combine history with current action, so the key to a vaccine lies in the log of an 1847 whaling ship owned by the descendants of a crewman. VERDICT Cussler's thrillers are predictable and over the top, attributes relished by his legions of fans, and this one is filled with action, heroics, and apparently plausible science, which makes for great summer escape reading. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/1/09.]—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

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