New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler launches a fifth parallel action series with the publication of Spartan Gold, co-authored by up and coming novelist Grant Blackwood.

Referred to as “Fargo Adventures,” the new series is, as the name suggests, based on the adventures of the Fargos, a married couple by the names of Sam and Remi.

After a few years of entrepreneurship early in life which made them a fortune, the Fargos have been able to devote their new lives to their main passion, archeological treasure hunting. And they generally let nothing and no one deter them from finding their prize.

The Fargo Adventures feature a new set of characters and a new approach in the form of archeological treasure hunting. (New in terms of being the main focus.) But as with any Cussler-novel, we can still expect a lot of the action to take place in and around water, as well as plenty of exotic cars, foods and drinks.

In Spartan Gold, Sam and Remi Fargo pursue a trail of clues left on the labels of twelve wine bottles from the lost wine cellar of Napoleon Bonaparte, written in a code they must first decipher.

Needless to say, the unraveling of this mystery also includes adversaries. A former Soviet freedom fighter named Bondaruk, turned ruthless Mafioso billionaire, sends a his hired help to interfere with the Fargos, first by trying to kill them, and later by taking advantage of their greater experience.

Bondaruk believes the end of the trail will lead to an ancient Greek gold-treasure once conquered by his ancestor, the Persian ruler Xerxes the Great. A treasure which Bondaruk has convinced himself is his rightful heritage, and no one will be allowed to stand in his way of getting it.

The wine-bottle trail leads Sam and Remi, as well as their adversaries, from a sunken German submarine in the Great Pocomoke Swamp, Maryland, to the Bahamas, through much or Europe, from Germany, France and Italy to Croatia and Ukraine: not necessarily in that order.

In the end, Spartan Gold is a solidly written treasure hunting action novel in the spirit of The Da Vinci Code, and also a distinctly Cusslerian novel undoubtedly destined for a top-spot on the New York Times best-seller list.

Britt Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, operating her own copywriting business out of her home. Clive Cussler has been long time favorite author. Visit her Cussler book site to order the Spartan Gold novel or read her review of the latest Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler.