NEW BOX SET

Last month I came across something quite interesting at a local Barnes Noble. Occasionally when I visit I’ll scan the shelves of Cussler books in the fiction section. Rarely do I find anything of interest and mainly do so to make certain I haven’t missed any new paperback releases. On this particular visit I noticed a “box set” of Cussler paperbacks. It contained The Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg and Raise the Titanic!, Clive’s first three published novels. They were the newer released Pocket Books editions which can currently be found (individually) nearly anywhere. But the fact that they were part of a box set was exciting—at least to me. I love Cussler sets like these and wish more were available. From what I can determine, the UK does an admirable job of producing box sets, mixing old and new titles while incorporating several of the different series. Of those I have a few of them. After discovering this one at Barnes Noble I went home and researched it online. Evidently, it came out a month earlier on October 23. The bookstore’s retail price was $29.95 (the actual combined cost of the three paperbacks). Amazon listed it at a discounted price. Although I’d have to pay for shipping, the one at Amazon would still be a few dollars less than Barnes Noble. Still, I decided to go back and purchase that one at the store. It was in perfect condition with the shrinkwrap completely intact. I didn’t want to take a chance that the box would get banged up or crushed during shipping. In addition, it was the only one at that Barnes Noble. I did visit another store and found a set at that one as well. It was not with Clive’s books but rather with box sets of other popular authors and was the only one at that store. From what I can tell, it seems to be a bit rare and is, I believe, worth having in a collection.