The Solomon Curse

Zusatztext Praise for The Solomon Curse This adventure series stands as one of the crown jewels in the Cussler empire. Publishers Weekly The Solomon Curse is another riveting thriller. Sam and Remi are fearless! honest! curious! and resourceful in all situations. Fasten your seat belt for this wonderful read! Library Journal Scenes! settings! and action are graphic-novel worthy! from sweat-stained jungle treks to bad-guy confrontations! all laced with historical factoids and a soupcon of fantasy for across-the-board appeal. Cussler and Company continue the winning formula! and this jungle episode will satisfy the cravings of every fan. Kirkus Reviews Irresistible. Associated Press Informationen zum Autor Clive Cussler is the author of dozens of New York Times bestsellers! most recently The Bootlegger and Ghost Ship . He lives in Arizona and Colorado. Russell Blake is the author of dozens of acclaimed thrillers! including the Assassin! JET! and BLACK series! and is the coauthor with Cussler of The Eye of Heaven . He lives on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Chapter 1 Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 1170 AD Dawn's glow shimmered off the flat ocean as a column of islanders marched along a jungle track, their voices hushed as they neared the coast, their destination, the new city said to have been built on the very surface of the sea. At the head of the group was the chief holy man, decked out in a colorful robe in defiance of the ever-present heat. His skin was the color of jerky, and a sheen of sweat coated his face. One of the few to have already made the pilgrimage to the just-completed palace near the western tip of Guadalcanal, he was now leading his flock to the site. He gazed back at the procession with satisfaction he'd collected the most important men in the kingdom for the journey, many of whom were newly arrived from the surrounding islands, for the ceremony and festivities that were to last the remainder of the week. Slivers of light filtered through the overhead canopy of tropical trees as the group moved along the faint game trail, surrounded on all sides by dense jungle. The islands were untamed, and the majority of the Guadalcanal tribes lived within a hundred yards of the shore, avoiding the inland areas that abounded with predators both real and imagined. Legends of giants, ferocious creatures more than twice the size of a man who traversed the island through a series of underground caves, and satisfied their thirst for human blood by attacking the unwary or the careless. Besides, there was no reason to brave the unknown in the interior of the island when a generous bounty from the sea could be had for the asking. The shaman halted at the top of a rise. The miracle beyond now jutted from the bay buildings rising from the waves where before had only been water. He pointed at the impossible spectacle with his staff, ornately carved with reliefs of deities, and murmured the king's name in a tone reserved for prayer to the gods. Indeed, the king seemed like he'd descended from heaven, so unlike ordinary men that he had become a legend during his lifetime. This King Loc's greatest achievement made all his others pale in comparison. Loc's vision of a series of man-made islets had been realized using local rock in the relative shallow of the half-moon-shaped harbor. After the celebration, the buildings would be used as the royal residence. The island's holy men considered the compound sacred, evidence of Loc's divine superiority. His builders had spent a decade creating it, with thousands of men quarrying and transporting the rock to the shore. Nothing like it had ever been seen, and the king had assured his counselors that its completion signaled the beginning ...

***Praise for The Solomon Curse
*
“This adventure series stands as one of the crown jewels in the Cussler empire.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“The Solomon Curse is another riveting thriller. Sam and Remi are fearless, honest, curious, and resourceful in all situations. Fasten your seat belt for this wonderful read!” —Library Journal
 
“Scenes, settings, and action are graphic-novel worthy, from sweat-stained jungle treks to bad-guy confrontations, all laced with historical factoids and a soupcon of fantasy for across-the-board appeal. Cussler and Company continue the winning formula, and this jungle episode will satisfy the cravings of every fan.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Irresistible.” —Associated Press

Autorentext

Clive Cussler is the author of dozens of New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Bootlegger and Ghost Ship. He lives in Arizona and Colorado.
 
Russell Blake is the author of dozens of acclaimed thrillers, including the Assassin, JET, and BLACK series, and is the coauthor with Cussler of The Eye of Heaven. He lives on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Zusammenfassung

Sam and Remi Fargo search for a legendary lost city in this thrilling adventure from the #1 New York Times–bestselling author.
 
Husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo have heard many rumors about the bay off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Some say it was the site of the vanished empire of the Solomon king and that great treasure lies beneath the waters. Others say terrible things happened here, atrocities and disappearances at the hands of cannibal giants, and those who venture there do not return. It is cursed. 

The Fargos can’t resist the mystery, but their exploration takes a turn when islanders start disappearing. Soon the pair learn there may be truth behind the fables. Clues and whispers lead them on a hunt from the Solomons to Australia to Japan, and what they find at the end of the trail is both wonderful and monstrous—and like nothing they have ever seen before.

Leseprobe
 
Chapter 1
 
Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 1170 AD
 
Dawn’s glow shimmered off the flat ocean as a column of islanders marched along a jungle track, their voices hushed as they neared the coast, their destination, the new city said to have been built on the very surface of the sea.
At the head of the group was the chief holy man, decked out in a colorful robe in defiance of the ever-present heat. His skin was the color of jerky, and a sheen of sweat coated his face. One of the few to have already made the pilgrimage to the just-completed palace near the western tip of Guadalcanal, he was now leading his flock to the site. He gazed back at the procession with satisfaction – he’d collected the most important men in the kingdom for the journey, many of whom were newly arrived from the surrounding islands, for the ceremony and festivities that were to last the remainder of the week.
Slivers of light filtered through the overhead canopy of tropical trees as the group moved along the faint game trail, surrounded on all sides by dense jungle. The islands were untamed, and the majority of the Guadalcanal tribes lived within a hundred yards of the shore, avoiding the inland areas that abounded with predators both real and imagined. Legends of giants, ferocious creatures  more than twice the size of a man who traversed the island through a series of underground caves, and satisfied their thirst for human blood by attacking the unwary or the careless. Besides, there was no reason to brave the unknown in the interior of the island when a generous bounty from the sea could be had for the asking.
The shaman halted at the top of a rise. The miracle beyond now jutted from the bay – buildings rising from the waves where before had only been water. He pointed at the impossible spectacle with his staff, ornately carved with reliefs of deities, and murmured the king’s name in a tone reserved for prayer to th…