I enjoy reading books that are adventure and move around the world showing different perspectives of peoples and cultures. Clive Cussler has written numerous books about the National Underwater Marine Association (NUMA) that have given me these perspectives.
I like how Cussler tells a story of some past relic or artifact that will come to affect how the story will progress and what topics will be shared. I enjoy reading the intertwining stories that have the history in them and somehow always end up in the same place in the end. I like how Cussler describes his characters and how he makes them seem life like. It seems like you can actually have a conversation with them. In his books he often includes himself as a random character that will tell a story or be part of a race. I find it fascinating to picture Cussler and his main character Dirk Pitt having a conversation where Pitt has always seen Cussler before, but can never put a name to his face.
Inca Gold is an excellent example of a classic Cussler book. In Inca Gold the plot takes place all over the world, sharing in the cultures from South American to European countries. I like that Cussler does not create random trouble for the characters of his books, instead he uses real time problems and increases the awareness of what they are. Like in Inca Gold there is a massive artifact smuggling organization that is trying to get their hands on billions of dollars worth of gold that an ancient Incan king hid when he learned that his brother was plotting to execute him. I like that Cussler can create a very realistic book without over-doing the details.
I am entertained by the style that Cussler uses to make his writing seem realistic but it is clearly unreal as the stories pop out. The style that he writes makes it easier for me to read more difficult books and makes comprehension of other writing come faster and smoother. I have read many of Cussler’s books and have enjoyed them all. All the other series, that I have read stop after three or four books with the main character dying or the author not wanting to write that story anymore. I like that the Dirk Pitt series just keeps going and he keeps reappearing. The adventure continues and the story is always a new untold tail. Another thing that I like about Cussler’s writing is that a lot of his stories are based on something that he has done in his life time. In his stories Dirk Pitt has a collection of antique cars and he gets a new one in every book. Cussler also has an antique car collection and the cars that are in the stories are cars that he has or has recently acquired. Cussler also bases the artifacts and locations of his stories off of what he does in NUMA, an organization that he created and is run primarily from the proceeds of the books he sells.
I like how Cussler can mix old relics with current time and make it all into one big adventure story. He can take an object from the past, anything from ancient Native American treasure maps to old atomic bombs and tie it into a story that has vivid descriptions of what is going on in the world at the time and how it all ties together.
When I read I like to get a feel for who is telling the story, where the story is going, and how I think it will end. With this I can begin to grasp how other cultures live and what they do to survive, along with some of the more important customs.

Inca Gold starts off with a sequence befitting a grand finale. The 150 page opening scene is unlike any other previous Cussler style and sets the scene for an epic treasure hunt. Dirk Pitt and the usual NUMA cast find themselves embroiled in race to unearth the Incan treasure before the shadowy and evil Zolans. It's all typical Cussler - however at some point Pitt has become almost unbreakable. Realism is stretched to a transparent layer as Pitt moves from one escape from death to the next, taking an incredible beating and never stopping. It's entertaining of course and Dirk Pitt fans will lap it up, however Inca Gold isn't the most gripping entry in the series. ( )

First Dirk Pitt novel read and went on from there. Loved the link of history with present mystery/action/adventure. ( )

I loved this book. I love the Dirk Pitt adventures. A really good all aruond book. ( )

Inca Gold is filled with fast-paced excitement, as Dirk Pitt races from the Andes to Mexico in order to stop a family of art stealers from getting their greedy hands on the largest treasure ever known. Also, the oceanography facts, and the comedy bits make it interesting the whole way through.Unpredictable, you never tire of of Pitt racing from one scene to the next, always laughing in the face of danger.

Adam S. ( )