Upon arrival at the farm where he was born, and that is now managed by his brother, Jemmy Wheale finds a corpse and his brother bathing in his own blood.  It looks like an ordinary robbery, and it even looks like the subject of the robbery, a not even too precious dish, wasn't even stolen.  Though there is evidence of a second robber, it looks as if Jemmy's brother got killed while shooting one of the robber in self defence.  But then it turns out that during the last week different men, all Americans, have been asking Bob, Jemmy's brother, if he'd sell the dish.  Two of them are still in the village, and after they approach Jemmy about the dish he organises a meeting with both of them, at the same time, something neither of them appreciates.

Envy, greed, suspicion and ambition has turned archeologists Fallon and Halstead into sworn enemies, but Jemmy Wheale forces them into an agreement after he heard about the remarkable history of the dish.  A man called Vivero came to Mexico with Cortez in the 16th century, and was captured by the Maya.  He lived among them for many years, learning their language and habits, and learning them a new method for working gold.  Once he managed to smuggle something out, towards Spain: a letter to his sons, and a dish for each of them.  It's one of those dishes that ended up in the farm of Jemmy's parents, many years ago.  The letter tells of lots of gold and a Christian emblem up in the hills.

So Fallon, Halstead and his wife, and Jemmy go to Mexico to prepare the search for the lost city that is mentioned in Vivero's letter.  Fallon, a millionaire, turns it into a professional expedition, complete with a security team.  And it's this team that reveals that the third American that wanted the dish is now in Mexico too.  Coincidence?  Probably not.  It takes the presence of an amateur like Jemmy to make the archeologists see that visions of piles of gold is what makes Gatt keep an eye on every move they make.  The word "priceless" has for archeologists and crooks a different meaning.  They hope that once they are in the jungle Gatt won't be able to do anything anymore...

The bad news first.  There are some holes in the plot, to say the least.  Jemmy's decision to take part in the expedition is not too credible, neither is Katherine's change of feelings towards him, later in the story (I'm not going to give that part away, you better read the book...), and there are some other things that bothered me a bit.  Too much coincidence.

So far for the bad news.  This is a typical Desmond Bagley adventure novel: it starts on the first page, it rushes forward and grabs you in the process, not to let go until the last page.  When you're almost out of breath it slows down a little -you need some background information, don't you?- making you wonder when it will really start, but you noticed too late it has started already, you just didn't know it yet.  And then it speeds up towards the finale, disabling your ability to put it down.  Who cares about the holes in the plot, you're reading Bagley to be entertained, and entertaining it is.  Some cool humor, some cool action, a touch of romance, and finally someone who managed to make me understand what is hidden inside the word "jungle": heat, sweat, desorientation, deshydration, and also fear, danger, invisible enemies.  Ready to dive into it?