White Death, A Kurt Austin Adventure by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

The Islanders of the Faroe Islands are killing whale in frightful numbers. A group of determined whale rescuers try and stop these ignorant hunters. During the mission off the Faroe Islands the rescuers lose control of their vessel which sends it crashing into a Danish ship. Many men on the Danish vessel are trapped inside and their air supply is running out. This whole incidence occurred because of an unknown helicopter above took control of the vessel via a strange transmitting force. Half way around the world Kurt Austin and his team of search and surveyors are testing a brand new device. They are aboard the NUMA ship in the Berents Sea analysing a new machine that will greatly help their cause. The contraption will be able to attach itself to the hull of a ship, cut a substantial hole into it, which will enable the men to enter and salvage the remains of the ship. Kurt hears of this event and immediately, in hero fashion, wants to go try out his mechanism in order to save the lives of these trapped seamen. The only thing holding him back is that he must travel a large distance in order to make it to the point of this shipwreck. With the help of the Russians he is able to do this but Kurt and his crew soon realise that these men aren’t exactly helping to save these men. Instead, they have very different interests in mind.

Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos are the authors of the exhilarating novel. They really do know how to write with suspense making the reader nervous with every twist and turn that takes place. The novel had a healthy mix of dialogue and descript. This was great idea for the type of novel as it really showed how the men communicated with each other but would also describe scenes well. A couple of Mr. Cussler’s novels have been transformed in to movies and while reading I could really see how a style like theirs could be put onto the screen with ease.

“Admiral James Sandecker, the driving force behind NUMA, sat at a long conference table, his head enveloped in a purple cloud that belched from the fat cigar in his hand.”

This quotation from the novel really portrays the Admiral very well. He is an old, near retirement, leader of a government organization, bearded man, who is sure of himself, and has a lot of pull within the government. He also smokes about 10 cigars a day. To me, this is a perfect description of a man in his walk of life, and this quotation demonstrates the calmness of such a character.

“To quote the great Yogi Berra, ‘This is like déjà, all over again’”.

This quotation appeals to me because it shows that the characters are very real. Many people, even in real life might refer to situation like this. I thought it was interesting that the author, Mr. Cussler, decided to put this in.

“His assignments for NUMA, and before that for the CIA, took him all over the globe.”

This quotation appeals to me as is shows that the protagonist or hero, Kurt Austin is a well traveled man. I believe that travelling the world gives you a great perspective on life and is something that I hope to do as I get older.