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The Tombs: A Fargo Adventure

Review

The Tombs: A Fargo Adventure

Clive Cussler teams up with Thomas Perry to produce an action-adventure story that stars the treasure-hunting couple Sam and Remi Fargo. THE TOMBS begins in the barbarian empire of Pannonia in 453 C.E., where the High King Attila the Hun lies dead in his chamber. By his own decree, Attila instructed his trusted warriors to bury him with utmost secrecy. Tales of multiple tombs, gilded treasures and clues to his burial tomb whereabouts have confused archaeologists throughout the world for years. No one has yet to unearth Attila’s final resting place. 

"Cussler and Perry take readers on a trip of discovery, thwarted plans, murder and comic relief.... This latest installment should enhance the Fargo Adventure series through good storytelling enriched with a rich historical overview."

Flash forward to 2012, where Sam and Remi Fargo dive off the coast of Louisiana into a swamp to recover artifacts to be cataloged by state officials. However, they are fully aware that several other people want the artifacts as well. Thieves are known to follow treasure hunters, pillage the findings and sometimes do physical harm to the divers. Uneasy, the Fargos tell their colleague from the state about the shadowing gray and black boat and group tracking them. When they return to their boat, the deck has been ransacked and rented equipment savaged. Sam launches a ruse to trap the treasure hunters, steal their boat, and strand the six deep in bayou swamps.

Meanwhile, the Fargos’ chief assistant, Selma Wondrash, calls from the Fargo home in California with a new request. Selma sends the couple on a chase across continents to satisfy a German scientist. The Fargos find that the scientist may have discovered the key to Attila’s burial place. Knowing the couple’s reputation for authenticity and integrity, he seeks their help.

Complications become commonplace for the Fargos. When they arrive at their hotel, two of the people who have spied on them in Louisiana are in the lobby. When the German scientist fails to keep his dinner engagement, the Fargos track clues back to the university lab. Blood, struggle and stolen artifacts prove that he has been kidnapped. Ensuing days bring rescue, discovery, high-style action and a wild chase across the European continent. What the team discovers is a series of not one but five tombs, each of which contains a clue to the final secret Attila resting place. A frantic race takes them across the land where Attila’s guards were supposed to have diverted a river, to seal his tomb forever. 

Cussler and Perry take readers on a trip of discovery, thwarted plans, murder and comic relief. THE TOMBS is a real adventure filled with bits of personal interaction and intimacy, while light banter takes the edge from serious encounters. This latest installment should enhance the Fargo Adventure series through good storytelling enriched with a rich historical overview.

Reviewed by Judy Gigstad on September 7, 2012

The Tombs: A Fargo Adventure
by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry

  • Publication Date: July 30, 2013
  • Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley
  • ISBN-10: 0425265072
  • ISBN-13: 9780425265079