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Clive Cussler

Clive Eric Cussler

Born July 15, 1931

Died February 24, 2020

Clive Cussler was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. Cussler was the founder and chairman of the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60 shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks. He was the sole author or main author of more than 80 books. His novels have inspired various other works of fiction.

Adaptations

The first movie of a Clive Cussler novel was Raise The Titanic! (1980), featuring Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt, Jason Robards as Admiral James Sandecker, David Selby as Gene Seagram, and Anne Archer as Dana Seagram.

Paramount Pictures released the movie Sahara on April 8, 2005, featuring Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt, Steve Zahn as Al Giordino, William H. Macy as Admiral Sandecker, and Penélope Cruz as Eva Rojas. It grossed $122 million with $241 million in production and distribution expenses.

Bibliography - Click on the book name to buy the book.

Dirk Pitt Adventures

1              The Mediterranean Caper   1973

2              Iceberg   1975

3              Raise the Titanic!   1976

4              Vixen 03   1978

5              Night Probe   1981

6              Pacific Vortex!  1983

7              Deep Six   1984

8              Cyclops   1986

9              Treasure   1988

10           Dragon 1990

11           Sahara  1992

12           Inca Gold   1994

13           Shock Wave   1996

14           Flood Tide   1997

15           Atlantis Found   1999

16           Valhalla Rising   2001

17           Trojan Odyssey 2003

18           Black Wind          2004

19           Treasure of Khan              2006

20           Arctic Drift          2008

21           Crescent Dawn  2010

22           Poseidon's Arrow             2012

23           Havana Storm    2014

24           Odessa Sea         2016

25           Celtic Empire      2019

26           Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea     2021

27           Clive Cussler's The Corsican Shadow        2023

The NUMA Files

This series of books is based on the character Kurt Austin, Team Leader of NUMA's Special Assignments division and his adventures. Some characters from the Pitt novels appear such as Sandecker, Al Giordino, Rudi Gunn, Hiram Yaeger and St. Julien Perlmutter. Pitt makes brief appearances in the books Serpent, White Death, Polar Shift, Devil's Gate, The Storm, Zero Hour, and Ghost Ship and is mentioned in Lost City. Juan Cabrillo, the captain of the ship Oregon, also made a brief appearance in The Pharaoh's Secret.

 #            Title       Publication date

1              Serpent *            1999, Jun 1

2              Blue Gold *         2000, Aug 1

3              Fire Ice *              2002, Jun 3

4              White Death *   2003, Jun 23

5              Lost City *           2004, Jul 22

6              Polar Shift *        2005, Aug 30

7              The Navigator *                2007, Jun 5

8              Medusa *            2009, Jul 2

9              Devil's Gate †     2011, Nov 14

10           The Storm †        2012, May 29

11           Zero Hour †        2013, May 28

12           Ghost Ship †       2014, May 27

13           The Pharaoh's Secret †  2015, Nov 17

14           Nighthawk †       2017, Jun 19

15           The Rising Sea † 2018, Mar 13

16           Sea of Greed †  2018, Nov 6

17           Journey of the Pharaohs †            2020, Mar 10

18           Fast Ice †             2021, Mar 9

19           Clive Cussler's Dark Vector ††     2022, May 24

20           Clive Cussler's Condor's Fury †† 2023, September

The Oregon Files

This series of books features a ship named the Oregon, which Cussler introduced in the Dirk Pitt Adventures novel Flood Tide (1997). While appearing to be a decrepit freighter, it is actually a high-tech advanced ship used by an unnamed and mysterious "Corporation" under the leadership of Juan Cabrillo. The ship is run like a business, with its crew being shareholders, taking jobs for the CIA and other agencies to help stop crime and terrorism. The crew is adept at disguises, combat, computer hacking and more to aid them in their missions. Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and Dirk Pitt all make cameo appearances in the fourth volume, Skeleton Coast (Cabrillo speaks to Pitt on the telephone; and Austin and Zavala appear at the end).

 #            Title       Publication date

1              Golden Buddha 2003

2              Sacred Stone      2004

3              Dark Watch         2005

4              Skeleton Coast  2006

5              Plague Ship         2008

6              Corsair  2009

7              The Silent Sea    2010

8              The Jungle          2011

9              Mirage  2013

10           Piranha 2015

11           The Emperor's Revenge 2016

12           Typhoon Fury    2017

13           Shadow Tyrants 2018

14           Final Option       2019

15           Marauder            2020

16           Clive Cussler's Hellburner             2022

17           Clive Cussler's Fire Strike               2023

18           Clive Cussler's Ghost Soldier        2024

Isaac Bell Adventures

These books are set mostly in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century. They center around Isaac Bell, a brilliant investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, which appears to be modeled after the real-life Pinkerton Agency. Like Pitt, Bell has an affinity for automobiles and is a crack shot. The first book reveals that Bell survives into 1950 with a wife and grown children. Though the setting is a century ago, the books still qualify as techno-thrillers, since they feature the advanced technology of that time such as private express trains, telegraphs, telephones, dreadnought battleships and early airplanes. Isaac Bell also is a principal character of the background story in the Fargo Adventures novel The Gray Ghost.

 #            Title       Publication date

1              The Chase           2007

2              The Wrecker ‖   2009

3              The Spy ‖             2010

4              The Race ‖           2011

5              The Thief ‖          2012

6              The Striker ‖       2013

7              The Bootlegger ‖              2014

8              The Assassin‖    2015

9              The Gangster ‖  2016

10           The Cutthroat ‖ 2017

11           The Titanic Secret §         2019

12           The Saboteurs §                2021

13           Clive Cussler's The Sea Wolves §§             2022

14           Clive Cussler's The Heist §§          2024

 

Fargo Adventures

The series focuses on Sam and Remi Fargo, a married couple who are professional treasure hunters.

1              Spartan Gold ^  2009

2              Lost Empire ^     2010

3              The Kingdom ^  2011

4              The Tombs +      2012

5              The Mayan Secrets +      2013

6              The Eye of Heaven ×       2014

7              The Solomon Curse ×      2015

8              Pirate **              2016

9              The Romanov Ransom **             2017

10           The Gray Ghost **           2018

11           The Oracle **    2019

12           Wrath of Poseidon **    2020

Non-fiction

The Sea Hunters: True Adventures With Famous Shipwrecks ‡     1996

Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed ‡      1998

The Sea Hunters II: Diving the World's Seas for Famous Shipwrecks ‡        2002

Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt              2011

Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt  2016

 

Children's books

The Adventures of Vin Fiz             2006

The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy  2010