The Mayan Secrets: A Fargo Adventure, Book 5

I liked this book

Clive Cussler is one of my favorite authors and has been for almost the entire period of time he has been publishing novels. At this point of his career, he has formed collaborations with other novelists, all of whom also have successful soloist careers. These collaborations produce novels in five series. Of the five, I think the Fargo Adventure series is my favorite, although it receives stiff competition from the Dirk Pitt series the elder Cussler now coauthors with his son, who is the namesake of Cussler’s longest-running character. The entries in the Fargo series are now coauthored with Thomas Perry, so will be familiar to some readers in his own right, especially as the author of the clever Jane Whitfield series. The Fargos, Sam and Remi, are charming characters who have starred in five novels to date, The Mayan Secrets being the most recent. The locale in which the action is placed is one very familiar to me, involving the stretch from Pacific coastal Baja California to Guatemala. I have visited a number of the settings in this novel, so it has more resonance for me than some of the others in this series. Nonetheless, readers who have never traveled to Mesoamerica will find the story very interesting, I think, and I highly recommend to anyone familiar with Cussler’s work. If the reader of this review happens to be one of the few people on the planet who have never read this author, you are in for a real treat. I suggest you use the opportunity to delve into the rest of this accomplished author’s work.

Sam and Remi Fargo are vacationing in Mexico when a violent earthquake rocks the region. The Fargos remain in the area, providing medical assistance to the injured. While there, they come across a volcano; but it's what's inside the volcano that is truly amazing; for inside the volcano is an ancient building containing the remains of a mummified man. But even more amazing is the discovery of a Mayan codex. Soon, Sam and Remi have shipped the codex back to the United States and are on their way home.Upon returning, they are approached by Sarah Allersby, a wealthy English heiress who has an interest in the codex. Rebuffed by the Fargos when she expresses a desire to purchase the codex, Sarah leaves, but this initial encounter is only the beginning, for Sarah soon becomes obsessed at possessing the codex and will do everything in ther power to acquire it, including murder. Will Sam and Remi survive? Who will end up with the codex?I've become a fan of Cussler's Fargo series, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Mayan Secrets". The story is good, and Sam and Remi always keep the action moving. The other characters introduced in this book are very good, too, especially Sarah Allersby and the two thugs who work for her. The ending is a bit of a surprise, too.I highly recommend "The Mayan Secrets". It is a worthy addition to the Fargo series.

Finally I'm going to write a review. I think this is the third or forth time I have read this book. It is as easy to get lost in the story this time as it was the first.I like the way Clive Cheaper wrote hos books to be able to make you feel like you are over looking the story in a way you seem to be a part of it.

what a great read.I could not put it down till I finished the book.now I have to find the next book. can't wait.

Exciting from the start, this book keeps your imagination growing with every chapter. The story is filled with historical and present era topics that intertwine, and lots of action-packed scenes that are detailed to keep the reader from putting the book down. I enjoyed this book, as I have all of Clive Cussler's series. I can't wait to read the next Fargo Adventure.

I'm glad this is the last in the series that Perry is attached to as it was almost the last nail in the coffin for me. To be blunt, this is a really, really poorly written book. Dull, predictable, bad dialogue, cliche characters, etc.We have further devolution of Sam and Remi, characters that were so carefully crafted in the first three books, to the point that by the end they're not even the same people. Worse still, you find you don't really care about them at the end. There are so many things in this book that make me wonder if the writer bothered reading the first three books or just winged it... I also wonder why an editor didn't catch any of the obvious, glaring errors. Selma has completely shifted from the quirky, straight-laced researcher that was a critical team member to just being a two-dimensional space filler with inconsistent dialogue. Sam's background was carefully crafted and fully accounted for in the first books, but I guess someone wrote themselves into a corner and came up with a climax so completely stupid I almost tossed my Kindle across the room. In addition to being just an absurd scenario it also rewrites all of Sam's past that was laid out so carefully in the beginning. It really was an astonishingly lazy close to a book that was already jammed full of filler.I may continue on with the new co-author attached in the next book, but probably not. At $10 a pop it'd be nice if the publisher would put a little more effort into making sure these ghost writers are at least staying consistent. I don't necessarily blame Mr. Cussler, the old guard writers are all farming out their existing properties to other writers to continue on with... at least I'm hoping that's what happened here.

Action, suspense, intrigue, of all the books I've read so far of Clive Cussler, I think this one is the best. I look forward to reading all of them in the series. Clive Cussler's writing and historical facts has kept me enthralled as I've scrolled through each page.

The Fargos return for an adventure in South America, where an accidental discovery sets them at odds with a mysterious collector. As recent Clive Cussler novels go, it's not a bad little adventure, although there are holes when you look too closely.The story itself is quite plausible and fits the traditional Cussler setup, which was a good early indication that it was going to be a good adventure. The characters are slightly more realistic than they've been before in this series, being cardboard cutouts.Where the book falls down is in the detail - the motivation of the baddies is thin and their backgrounds are vague. There are places where problems could be easily solved with the application of modern technology, and one scene in the UK makes an error that a tiny bit of research would have spotted. It's disappointing that a mistake in something that I do know about makes me doubt what the book tells me about subjects, such as the Mayans, that I don't know a lot about.Overall I've rather enjoyed this adventure, and think it's probably the best in the Fargo series so far.

Once again Clive Cussler has hit the money with the Fargos. They are off the Mexican coast when a volcano erupts causing devastation in the area. Although they are over 3 days sailing away the Fargo's don their emergency evacuation plans and sail to save the day. Whilst on land with various equipment they uncover a cave that has been disturbed and find a Mayan pot which holds a codex mayan book dating from the 15th century. Needles to say every Tom, Dick and Harry are after this precious relic. Following there previous escapade their house is currently under revamp, so they store the mayan artefact in the house under there close protection systems and book into a hotel. The house is subject to a potential break in but was unsuccessful. This book, is a laid back adventure where you know they will become the heroes, but you cannot help but love the Fargos.

Most of the book was pretty good and interesting. However it was completely let down by a highly improbable, poorly plotted ending. They could have made it more reasonable if they would have had the Oregon and its crew save the day. However, given that Sam Fargo is learning to fly a helicopter in book 1, his all of the sudden having been part of a secret black helicopter group (shades of Airwolf anyone?) is a ridiculous plot device. Cussler seems to have been pushing things too far and going for quantity rather than quality.

Having read all of Clive Cussler's books I look forward to getting my hands on a new one. This one however is a real poor read and would seem he has written it to possible comply with the publishers request for more books. There seems to be no real story line, no continuity and the end could have been written by a 10 year old. It is so out of character and something we have never been told about Sam and even Remi is in the dark about his past or this part of it. The end seems to be from someone that has no idea as to how to end the book which makes for a real disappointing read. Sorry Clive, you must do better!!

This book, like so many CC has written is a masterpiece and once you've read a few pages it's difficult to put down.