Sea of Greed

Sea of Greed is the latest instalment in Clive Cussler’s NUMA files. The book begins in 1968 with a French-Israeli research mission. However, something goes wrong, and both the French and Israeli submarines go missing, taking their research findings with them. Fast forward to the present day, and the research findings resurface. Kurt Austin’s team, the National Underwater Marine Agency, is summoned to the White House with a new mission. They soon learn that a billionaire environmentalist, Tessa Franco, has a developed a new alternative energy source that will end the current oil supply. To do this, she, along with genetic engineer and oil tycoon Arat Buran, have developed bacteria that will infect the world’s oil supply. Their plan is to disrupt and weaken the oil industry and put the new alternative energy source on the market, bringing untold wealth to Franco and Buran, as only they will control the world’s energy sector. With oil prices rising and the global economy on the brink of collapse, Kurt and his team must find and stop Franco and Buran before it is too late.

As is the case with the previous Cussler books, Sea of Greed is full of white-knuckle suspense. The plot is fairly linear and is easy to follow. The characters are very well developed, including not only Kurt Austin and the team but the villains as well. The reader gets a clear picture of the motivations behind their actions.

Cussler definitely does what he does best, which is deliver a storyline that is both suspenseful and believable.