Clive Cussler

Well, first, let me say that Dirk Pitt is cool! If you have read any Clive Cussler, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, Dirk is the main character of most of Cussler's books. The only one that I know of in which Dirk isn't the main character is his one non-fiction work. His novels are all adventure / mystery novels, and Dirk works for N.U.M.A. (the National Underwater and Marine Agency). Doesn't sound like it would spawn adventures or mysteries, but Dirk's main job is to bring things to the surface. Things being ships, trains, treasure, or whatever else one might find underwater. He regularly manages to get embroiled in high-level stuff kind of like an American James Bond. In fact, he basically is an American James Bond. So if you like James Bond, you'll probably like Dirk Pitt, unless you hate all things water related, in which case, don't bother to read any of Cussler's books.

Books I've Read by Clive Cussler

The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA)

Dirk Pitt

1. Pacific Vortex! (or the large-print hard cover edition)

   Dirk Pitt's first, most terrific adventure! Dirk Pitt, death-defying adventurer and deep-sea expert, is out to the ultimate test as he plunges into the perilous waters of the Pacific Vortex -- a fog-shrouded sea zone where dozens of ships have vanished without a trace. The latest victim is the awesome superb Starbuck, America's deep-diving nuclear arsenal. Its loss poses an unthinkable threat to national defense. Pitt's job is to find it, salvage it, before the sea explodes. In a furious race against time, Pitt's mission swirls him into a battle with underwater assassins-and traps him in the arms of Summer Moran, the most stunningly exotic and dangerous toward disaster, Clive Cussler plummets his hero onto an ancient sunken island-the astonishing setting for the explosive climax of Pacific Vortex! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

2. The Mediterranean Caper (or the hard cover edition)

   On an isolated Greek island, a World War I fighter plane attacks a modern U.S. Air Force base...a mysterious saboteur preys on an American scientific expedition...and DIRK PITT plays a deadly game of hunter and hunted with the elusive head of an international smuggling ring. DIRK PITT, intrepid hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Dragon, Sahara, and Inca Gold, is hot on the trail of a mammoth drug conspiracy controlled by a missing Nazi war criminal. On land and in the depths of the Aegean, Pitt trouble-shoots his way through one of his most daring, desperate adventures! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

3. Iceberg (or the hard cover edition)

   Frozen inside a million-ton mass of ice -- the charred remains of a long-missing luxury yacht, vanished en route to a secret White House rendezvous. The only clues to the ships priceless -- and missing -- cargo: nine ornately carved rings and the horribly burned bodies of its crew. DIRK PITT, intrepid hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Dragon, Sahara, and Inca Gold, confronts the most lethal network of intrigue and murder in his war against international crime. Only his strength, skill and daring can thwart a supercharged scheme that could blow every fuse on earth! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

4. Raise the Titanic! (or the hard cover edition)

   The President's secret task force develops the ultimate defensive weapon. At its core: byzanium, a radioactive element so rare sufficient quantities have never been found. But a frozen American corpse on a desolate Soviet mountainside, a bizarre mining accident in Colorado, and a madman's dying message lead DlRK PITT to a secret cache of byzanium. Now he begins his most thrilling, daunting mission -- to raise from its watery grave the shipwreck of the century! In a daring gamble, DIRK PITT locates the Titanic -- and suddenly his crew is in deadly jeopardy. Sabotaged by Russian spies and savage storms, Pitt must stop a diabolical plan for Soviet world supremacy -- or see the mighty Titanic blasted out of existence! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

5. Vixen 03 (or the hard cover edition)

   1954. Vixen 03 is down. The plane, bound for the Pacific carrying thirty-six Doomsday bombs -- canisters armed with quick-death germs of unbelievable potency -- vanishes. Vixen has in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in Colorado. 1988. Dirk Pitt, who heroically raised the Titanic, discovers the wreckage of Vixen 03. But two deadly canisters are missing. They're in the hands of a terrorist group. Their lethal mission: to sail a battleship seventy-five miles up the Potomac and blast Washington, D.C., to kingdom come. Only Dirk can stop them. (from a Simon & Schuster review)

6. Night Probe! (or the hard cover edition)

   Dirk Pitt proved invincible in RAISE THE TITANIC! Now, with the future of virtually every person in the world at stake, he is enlisted to spearhead his most daring mission yet--the rescue of a vital document for the United States. To an energy-starved, economically devastated America, possession of this document is worth billions. But to Great Britain, it's worth a war. Pitt's quest plunges him into a head-to-head confrontation with Britain's most cunning secret agent--and into the throes of a torrid love triangle. As time runs out for a desperate America, Dirk Pitt races toward an underwater clash more terrifying than anything Clive Cussler has ever created--the breathtaking climax of Night Probe! (book description)

7. Deep Six (or the hard cover edition)

   A deadly tide of poison flows into ocean waters. A ghost ship drifts across the empty northern Pacific. A luxury Soviet liner blazes into a funeral pyre. The Presidential yacht cruises the Potomac night -- and the President disappears without a trace. DIRK PITT, the swashbuckling hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Sahara and Inca Gold, takes on a sinister Asian shipping empire in an intercontinental duel of nerves. In his most dangerous, fast-paced adventure, he fights to save the U.S. government -- and to seize one desperate moment of revenge! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

8. Cyclops (or the hard cover edition)

   A wealthy American financier disappears on a treasure hunt in an antique blimp. From Cuban waters, the blimp drifts toward Florida with a crew of dead men -- Soviet cosmonauts. DIRK PITT discovers a shocking scheme: a covert group of U.S. industrialists has put a colony on the moon, a secret base they will defend at any cost. Threatened in space, the Russians are about to strike a savage blow in Cuba -- and only DIRK PITT can stop them. From a Cuban torture chamber to the cold ocean depths, Pitt is racing to defuse an international conspiracy that threatens to shatter the earth! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

9. Treasure (or the hard cover edition)

   Charts of lost gold...breathtaking art and rare volumes...maps of hidden oil and mineral deposits that could change the world's balance of power. Now DIRK PITT discovers the secret trail of the treasures of Alexandria -- a trail that plunges him into a brutal conspiracy for total domination of the globe. Zealots threaten to unseat the governments of Egypt and Mexico, exposing America to invasion and economic collapse. Suddenly, from East to West, anarchists reach their deadly tentacles into the heart of the United States. And DIRK PITT, the hard-hitting hero of Clive Cussler's smash bestsellers Sahara and Inca Gold, is up against the most feared assassin known to man. An international band of terrorists is making its play for world power on the high seas -- and Pitt is the only man alive who can stop them! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

10. Dragon (or the hard cover edition)

    Japan, 1945: Two U.S. bombers take off with atomic bombs. Only one gets through. The Pacific, 1993: A Japanese cargo ship bound for the United States is instantly, thunderously vaporized, taking with it a Norwegian vessel. Japanese fanatics have developed a chilling plan to devastate and destroy the Western powers. From the ocean depths to the discovery of cache of lost Nazi loot, DIRK PITT is untangling a savage conspiracy and igniting a daring counterattack. While Washington bureaucrats scramble, a brutal industrialist commands his blackmail scheme from a secret island control center. And DIRK PITT, the dauntless hero of Sahara and Inca Gold, is taking on death-dealing robots and a human-hunting descendant of samurai warriors. Pitt alone controls the West's secret ace in the hole: a tidal wave of destruction waiting to be triggered on the ocean floor! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

11. Sahara (or the hard cover edition)

    1996, Egypt. Searching for a treasure on the Nile, DIRK PITT thwarts the attempted assassination of a beautiful U.N. scientist investigating a disease that is driving thousands of North Africans into madness, cannibalism, and death. The suspected cause of the raging epidemic is vast, unprecedented pollution that threatens to extinguish all life in the world's seas. Racing to save the world from environmental catastrophe, Pitt and his team, equipped with an extraordinary, state-of-the-art yacht, run a gauntlet between a billionaire industrialist and a bloodthirsty West African tyrant. In the scorching desert, Pitt finds a gold mine manned by slaves and uncovers the truth behind two enduring mysteries -- the fate of a Civil War ironclad and its secret connection with Lincoln's assassination, and the last flight of a long-lost female pilot....Now, amidst the blazing, shifting sands of the Sahara, DIRK PITT will make a desperate stand -- in a battle the world cannot afford to lose! (from a Simon & Schuster review)

12. Inca Gold (or the hard cover edition)

    Nearly five centuries ago a fleet of boats landed mysteriously on an island in an inland sea. There, an ancient Andean people hid a golden hoard greater than that of any pharaoh, then they and their treasure vanished into history -- until now. 1998, the Andes Mountains of Peru. DIRK PITT dives into an ancient sacrificial pool, saving two American archaeologists from certain drowning. But his death-defying rescue is only the beginning, as it draws the intrepid Pitt into a vortex of darkness and danger, corruption and betrayal. A sinister crime syndicate has traced the long-lost treasure -- worth almost a billion dollars -- from the Andes to the banks of a hidden underground river flowing beneath a Mexican desert. Driven by burning greed and a ruthless bloodlust, the syndicate is racing to seize the golden prize...and to terminate the one man who can stop them. (from a Simon & Schuster review)

13. Shock Wave (or the hard cover edition)

    Tasman Sea, 1856. A British clipper ship bound for Australia's penal colony is crushed in a raging typhoon. A few pitiful survivors wash up on a deserted island. Among them are Betsy Fletcher and Jess Dorsett, who discover an immense supply of exquisite diamonds... Seymour Island, Antarctica, 2000. Dirk Pitt rescues Maeve Fletcher, a descendant of Betsy and Jess, after an unknouwn cataclysm kills thousands of marine animals plus nearly two hundred people aboard a cruise ship. Pitt traces the carnage to the global diamond operations of Maeve's father, Arthur Dorsett, and her callous sisters. From a chilling escape at a high-security Canadian mine to a tiny boat adrift on lonely, shark-infested seas, the ingenious Pitt is racing to thwart Dorsett's ruthless plans -- before an unthinkable disaster claims millions of innocent lives! (book description)

14. Flood Tide (or the hard cover edition)

    When a hero whose name never appears in print without a registered trademark symbol beside it sets out on a new adventure, readers should know what to expect: a great deal of derring-do, outlandish adventures, and fantastical scenarios. For Dirk Pitt, reality is an inconsequential construct. What matters is the U.S. National Underwater and Maritime Agency (NUMA) superhero's unflagging energy, wit, strength, sex appeal, and patriotism. In this tale of a Chinese billionaire who plans to divert the mighty Mississippi in order to expand his illegal smuggling ring, find a treasure lost at sea nearly half a century ago, and, incidentally, split the U.S. into three countries controlled by China, Cussler's American version of James Bond struggles to save the day. All his trusty sidekicks are here, including Al Giordino, a regular partner in Pitt's underwater adventures, and Admiral Sandecker, the NUMA commander. This time there's a beautiful Chinese American INS agent as the love interest, and a mendacious American president, too. Flood Tide is a romp that will tickle Pitt and Cussler's many fans, as well as readers new to this author who may find themselves stranded on the tarmac or tanning on Caribbean beaches. (from an Amazon review)

15. Atlantis Found (or the hardcover edition)

    September l858: An Antarctic whaler stumbles upon an aged wreck, its grisly frozen crew guarding crates of odd antiquities--and a skull carved from black obsidian. March 200l: A team of anthropologists gazes in awe at a wall of strange inscriptions, moments before a blast seals them deep within the Colorado rock. April 200l: A research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is set upon and nearly sunk by an impossibility--a vessel that should have died fifty-six years before. Pitt knows that somehow all these incidents are connected, and his investigations soon land him deep into an ancient mystery with very modern consequences, up against a diabolical enemy unlike any he has ever known, and racing to save not only his own life but the future of the world itself. The trap is set. The clock is ticking. And only one man stands between earth and Armageddon. . . . (from an Amazon review)

16. Valhalla Rising (with Paul Kemprecos) (or the hardcover edition)

    It is July 2003. In the middle of its maiden voyage, the luxury cruise ship Emerald Dolphin suddenly catches fire and sinks. What caused it? Why didn't the alarms go off? What was its connection to the revolutionary new engines powering the ship? NUMA special projects director Dirk Pitt races to rescue the passengers and investigate the disaster, but he has no idea of the bizarre events that are about to engulf him. Before the next few weeks are over, Pitt will find himself confronted by an extraordinary series of monsters, both human and mechanical, modern and ancient. He will tread upon territory previously known only to legend. And, at the end of it all, though many lives will be lost, and many saved, it is Pitt's own life that will be changed forever. . . . (from a Simon & Schuster review)

17. Trojan Odyssey (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

    Dirk Pitt battles his deadliest, and most extraordinary, foe--with help from a very unexpected source. Long hailed as the grand master of fiction, Clive Cussler has continued to astound with the intricate plotting and astonishing set pieces of his novels. Now, with a few surprising twists, he gives us his most audacious work yet. At the end of Valhalla Rising,Dirk Pitt discovered, to his shock, that he had two grown children that he had never known about, twenty-three-year-old fraternal twins born to a woman who he thought had died in an underwater earthquake. Both have inherited his love of the sea: the girl, Summer, a marine biologist; the boy, himself named Dirk, a marine engineer. And now they are about to help their father in the adventure of a lifetime. A brown tide is infesting the ocean off the shore of Nicaragua. the twins are working in a NUMA® underwater enclusure, trying to determine its origin, when two startling things happen: Summer discovers an artifact, something strange and beautiful and ancient; and the worst storm in years boils up out of the sky, heading straight for them--and for a luxurious floating resort hotel square in its path. The peril for everybody concerned is incalculable, and Pitt, Al Giordino, and the rest of the NUMA® crew desperately rush to the rescue, but what they find in the storm's wake makes the furies of nature pale in comparison. For there is an all-too-human evil at work in that part of the world, and the tide is only a byproduct of its plan. Soon, the work will be complete--and the world will be a very different place If Summer's discovery is to be believed, the world as we know it is already a very different place . . . . Filled with dazzling suspense and breathtaking action, Trojan Odyssey is Cussler at the height of his storytelling powers. (book description)

18. (I haven't read this book, yet) Black Wind (with Dirk Cussler) (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

    Clive Cussler's dazzling new Dirk Pitt® adventure "Clive the Mighty!" hailed Kirkus Reviews about Cussler's last Dirk Pitt® novel, Trojan Odyssey. "Hurricane Clive at his most tumultuous." Nobody has been able to match Cussler yet for the intricate plotting and sheer audacity of his work, and Black Wind sets the bar even higher. In the waning days of World War II, unbeknownst to all but a handful of people, the Japanese tried a last, desperate measure. Two submarines were sent to the West Coast of the United States, their cargo a revolutionary new strain of biological virus, their mission to unleash hell. Neither sub made it to the designated target. But that does not mean they were lost. Someone knows about the subs and what they carried, knows too where they might be, and has an extraordinary plan in mind for the prize inside--a plan that could reshape America, and the world, as we know it. All that stands in the way are three people: a marine biologist named Summer, a marine engineer named Dirk . . . and their father, Dirk Pitt, the new head of NUMA. Pitt has faced devastating enemies before, has even teamed up with his children to track them down. But never has he encountered such pure evil--until now. Filled with breathtaking suspense and extraordinary imagination, Black Wind is yet further proof that when it comes to adventure writing, nobody beats Clive Cussler. (book description)

19. Treasure of Khan (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)
    (by Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler

    Black Wind continued Dirk Pitt’s meteoric career with one of Clive Cussler’s most audacious, and well-received, novels yet: "Black Wind more than maintains the supercharged Cusslerian danger" (Kirkus Reviews). "Thriller fans will revel in this action-packed yarn" (Publishers Weekly). But now Cussler takes an extraordinary leap, with one of his most remarkable villains ever. Genghis Khan—the greatest conqueror of all time, who, at his peak, ruled an empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea. His conquests are the stuff of legend, his tomb a forgotten mystery. Until now. When Dirk Pitt is nearly killed rescuing an oil survey team from a freak wave on Russia’s Lake Baikal, it appears a simple act of nature. When the survey team is abducted and Pitt’s research vessel nearly sunk, however, it’s obvious there’s something more sinister involved. All trails lead to Mongolia, and a mysterious mogul who is conducting covert deals for supplying oil to the Chinese while wreaking havoc on global oil markets utilizing a secret technology. The Mongolian harbors a dream of restoring the conquests of his ancestors, and holds a dark secret about Genghis Khan that just might give him the wealth and power to make that dream come true. From the frigid lakes of Siberia to the hot sands of the Gobi Desert, Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino find intrigue, adventure, and peril while collecting clues to the mysterious treasure of Xanadu. But first, they must keep the tycoon from murder—and the unleashing of a natural disaster of calamitous proportions. Filled with breathtaking suspense and brilliant imagination, his new novel is yet further proof that when it comes to adventure writing, nobody beats Clive Cussler. (book description) Personal note: This book was a "Hot Read" at my local library. They only wanted to let it be checked out for a week, despite its 500 plus pages. Every time I saw it, I wanted to check it out, but figured a week was not much time to finish it. So I asked the librarian how long books stay a "Hot Read", figuring that if it was going to be a long time, I might just risk it, making note of what page I was on if I couldn’t finish it. She kind of explained how the system works, and then asked what book it was I was interested in. She ended up letting me have it for the usual 3 weeks instead of one, which was enough time to finish it. I probably could have finished it in a week, but it would have been close. Well, I really enjoyed the book, as is the norm with Clive Cussler, and I’m really glad I asked about it.

The NUMA Files

1. Serpent (with Paul Kemprecos)

   When Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater & Marine Agency exploration team, rescues beautiful marine archaeologist Nina Kirov off the coast of Morocco, he becomes the next target of Texas industrialist Don Halcon. A madman bent on carving a new nation out of the southwestern United States and Mexico, Halcon's scheme hinges on Nina's recent discovery involving Christopher Columbus, and a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity buried in the battered remains of the sunken Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria. Only Kurt Austin and his crack NUMA team stand between Holcon and the Andrea Doria's silent steel hull--and if their deadly mission fails, Halcon will ride to power on a wave of death and destruction. (book description)

2. Blue Gold (with Paul Kemprecos)

   An investigation into the sudden deaths of a pod of gray whales leads National Underwater & Marine Agency leader Kurt Austin to the Mexican coast, where someone tries to put him and his mini-sub permanently out of commission. Meanwhile, in South America's lush hills, a specially assigned NUMA team discovers a mysterious tribe, a mythical white goddess, and a murderous cadre of bio-pirates intent on stealing medicinal secrets worth millions. Soon, Austin and his crew realize they're working opposite ends of the same grand scheme and must race against time to save the world's freshwater supply from a twisted eco-extortionist. But every step toward salvation takes them deeper into a dense jungle of treachery, blackmail, and death. (book description)

3. Fire Ice (with Paul Kemprecos) (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

   Critics and fans everywhere have welcomed the enormously entertaining new series from Clive Cussler: the adventures of Kurt Austin, taken from the NUMA Files. It's "a jolt of energy," praises The Denver Post. "As always, Cussler twists fact and fiction into a rope of tension that will leave you dangling until the last page," says the Tulsa World. In Serpent and Blue Gold, Cussler introduced a hero for the new millennium in Kurt Austin, the leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team. In previous encounters, Austin and his colleague Joe Zavala have battled eco-extortionists and mad empire builders--but they have never faced a menace like the one before them now. In the heart of the old Soviet Union, a mining tycoon has proclaimed himself czar of Russia. Claiming Romanov ancestry and backed by billions of dollars, he is determined to overthrow the already shaky Russian government--and U.S. opposition doesn't bother him one bit. A little crisis of their own should distract the Americans for a while, and he knows just the thing. All along the eastern seabord lie pockets of methane hydrate, a notoriously unstable compound known as "fire ice." What if somebody should set them off, say, outside a major city? Think of the explosions. Think of the earth tremors. Think of the tidal waves. . . . Filled with all the hair-raising action and endless imagination that are Cussler's hallmarks, Fire Ice is a dazzling thriller from the grand master of adventure fiction. (book description)

4. White Death (with Paul Kemprecos) (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

   Critics and fans everywhere have welcomed the enormously entertaining new series from Clive Cussler: the adventures of Kurt Austin, taken from the NUMA® Files. Hailed as a hero for the new millennium, Austin is the leader of NUMA®'s Special Assignments Team--and the threat before him now is definitely special. A confrontation between a radical environmentalist group and a Danish cruiser has forced Austin and colleague Joe Zavala to come to the rescue of a shipful of trapped men; but when the two of them investigate further, they discover that something far more sinister is at work. A shadowy multinational corporation is attempting to wrest control of the very seas themselves--no matter what havoc results--and is killing anyone who attempts to stop them. When Austin's boat blows up and he just barely survives, it seems certain he is the next in line to die--but he cannot stop now. For the environmental disaster has already begun, and only he and NUMA® stand in the way . . . . Rich with all the hair-raising adventure and endless imagination unique to Cussler, White Death is an exceptional thriller from the grand master of adventure fiction. (book description)

5. Lost City (with Paul Kemprecos) (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

   For "spine-tingling adventure on the high seas" (Chicago Tribune), nobody beats Clive Cussler! Over the last few years, Clive Cussler's NUMA® Files novels, written with Paul Kemprecos, have become critical and fan favorites, each received more enthusiastically than the last. About the most recent triumph, Publisher's Weekly wrote, "Cussler's multitude of fans arrive at the table expecting a roiling stew of seafaring adventure, exotic travel destinations, cutting-edge science [and] a splash of romance. In White Death, they will find their expectations extravagantly fulfilled!" And they will find them fulfilled again in Lost City. An enzyme that will dramatically prolong life has been discovered two thousand feet down in the North Atlantic, in an area known as "Lost City." But why are the people attempting to harvest it getting killed? Why are the scientists in a remote Greek laboratory disappearing one by one? What does this all have to do with a body found frozen in the ice high up in the Alps? To Kurt Austin, leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team, and his colleague Joe Zavala, it's clear they have their work cut out for them, but it may be even bigger than they think--in fact, it may be their greatest challenge ever . . . . Rich with all the hair-raising action and endless imagination that have become Cussler's hallmarks, Lost City is an exceptional thriller--one of the best yet from "Clive the Mighty" (Kirkus Reviews) (book description)

6. Polar Shift (with Paul Kemprecos) (Hardcover edition)

   The most exciting NUMA® Files novel yet from "Clive the Incredible" (Kirkus Reviews). The Kurt Austin adventures continue to grow exponentially, in both popularity and praise. "An excellent series," wrote Publisher's Weekly of Lost City. "Kidnappings, hair's-breadth escapes, fierce battles, strange science, beautiful women and plenty of action add up to vintage Cussler." His new one, however, is the most dramatic adventure yet. Polar shift: It is the name for a phenomenon that may have occurred many times in the past. At its weakest, it disorients birds and animals, and damages electrical equipment. At its worst, it causes massive eruptions, earthquakes, and climatic changes. At its very worst, it would mean the obliteration of all living matter . . . . Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift, but then his work disappeared, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an antiglobalization group plans to use it to give the world's industrialized nations a small jolt, before reversing the shift back again. The only problem is, it cannot be reversed. Once it starts, there is nothing anyone can do. Austin, Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team certainly have faced dire situations before, but never have they encountered anything like this. This time . . . even they may be too late. Rich with all the hair-raising action and endless imagination that have become Cussler's hallmarks, Polar Shift is a wonderful thriller--indeed, "vintage Cussler". (book description)

1. Golden Buddha (with Craig Dirgo) (Paperback edition) or (Hardcover edition)

   Chairman Juan Cabrillo - explains the mission of his organization: "We were formed to make a profit, that's for sure but as much as we like the money, we are also cognizant of the chances that arise for us to somehow right the wrongs of others." Clive Cussler, creator of the Dirk Pitt series, presents his latest and most intriguing adventure with high seas action hero, Juan Cabrillo. In his first feature-length adventure, it's up to Cabrillo and his crew of expert intelligence to put Tibet back in the hands of the Dalai Lama. In this mission, they will be forced to steal a Golden Buddha containing records of vast oil reserves. What's more, this mission must be pulled off in four days and there are certain people who would do anything in their power to see him fail . . . (book description) Personal note: I really enjoyed this first book in Cussler’s latest series. A few niggling details kept it from being perfect, but it was a very good read. The biggest problem I had was that a ship like the Oregon would quickly gain a reputation if it was observed by outsiders to have its particular hidden capabilities as often as it was in this book (whew, that was a convoluted sentance). Such a reputation would defeat its ability to be ignored, requiring it to change names and appearances on a regular basis. Also, there were a number of places where Cussler used timeframes that seemed abnormally long to me, saying it took 3 or 4 minutes to do things that should have taken 30 or 40 seconds at the most. Thankfully, these details were easilly overlooked for my overall enjoyment of this excellent book.

2. Sacred Stone (with Craig Dirgo) (Paperback edition)

   In the remote wastes of Greenland, a young scientist has unearthed an artifact hidden in a cave for a millennium--a 50,000-year-old meteorite known as the Sacred Stone, which possesses potentially catastrophic radioactive power. But the astounding find places him in the crosshairs of two opposing terrorist groups who seek the stone for themselves. One is a group of Muslim extremists who have stolen a nuclear device. With the power of the meteorite, they could vaporize any city in the West. The other group is led by a megalomaniacal industrialist who seeks to carry out the utter annihilation of Islam itself. Caught between two militant factions bent on wholesale slaughter, Juan Cabrillo and his ship of high-tech mercenaries known as the Corporation must fight to protect the Sacred Stone--and prevent the outbreak of World War III . . . (book description)

3. (I haven't read this book, yet) Dark Watch (with Jack Du Brul) (Paperback edition)

   The author of the bestselling NUMA and Dirk Pitt series returns with an all-new novel of adventure and intrigue featuring his unbeatable hero of the high seas--Juan Cabrillo. Cabrillo and his motley crew aboard the clandestine spy ship Oregon have made a very comfortable and very dangerous living working for high-powered Western interests. But their newest clients have come from the Far East to ask for Cabrillo's special brand of assistance: a consortium of Japanese shipping magnates whose fortunes are being threatened by brutal pirates trolling the waters of Southeast Asia. Normally, such attacks on the high seas are limited to smaller ships and foreign-owned yachts--easy targets on the open ocean. Now, however, giant commercial freighters are disappearing. But when Cabrillo confronts the enemy, he learns that the pirates' predations hide a deadly international conspiracy--a scheme of death and slavery that Juan Cabrillo is going to blow out of the water. (book description)