About the Author

Clive Cussler (1931-2020) was the author or coauthor of over eighty books in five bestselling series, including DIRK PITT(R), THE NUMA FILES(R), THE OREGON FILES (R), AN ISAAC BELL ADVENTURE (R), A SAM AND REMI FARGO ADVENTURE (R), and A KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURE (R). His nonfiction works include Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, The Sea Hunters, and The Sea Hunters II; these describe the true adventures of the real NUMA, which, led by Cussler, searches for lost ships of historic significance. With his crew of volunteers, Cussler discovered more than sixty ships, including the long-lost Civil War submarine Hunley.

Reviews

"San Antonio Express-News" Marvelously entertaining....Full of action, intrigue and beautiful women.

"San Francisco Examiner" Pure Cussler, pure fun....The action just keeps accelerating.

We can't say much yet about Dirk Pitt's 14th outing‘even Cussler's publicist doesn't know plot details yet‘but we can bet that it will attract an enthusiastic readership.

Fresh from battling an evil diamond merchant in Shock Wave, Dirk Pitt, Cussler's perennial hero, and his sidekick, Al Giordino, are out to catch a Chinese shipping magnate who smuggles illegal Chinese immigrants into countries around the world to be worked as indentured slaves. On a lake near Seattle, Pitt stumbles across Qin Shang's heavily guarded compound. Pitt is the special projects director for the National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA, the nonprofit organization Cussler founded in real life to explore underwater sites). Searching the lake with a robotic observation device, Pitt finds heaps of mass-executed Chinese bodies. He then rescues a dozen still-living captives, including beautiful Immigration and Naturalization Services agent Julia Lee. It's revealed that Qin Shang's hefty campaign contributions have led the White House to block INS action against the wealthy manipulator. NUMA and INS bosses join to set up a secret task force spearheaded by Pitt, Girodino and Lee and supported by an ex-CIA mercenary naval vessel to launch clandestine sorties against Qin Shang's strongholds. They narrowly squash a plot that would cause ecological and economic destruction from New Orleans to eastern Texas, but Qin Shang remains untouched‘perhaps to surface in a sequel. Some readers will wince at the way Cussler heightens the drama by tapping into right-wing fears of a flood tide of nonwhite immigrants. Still, series fans will delight in the well-executed plot twists and revel in Cussler's portrayal of a shipwreck laden with tons of Chinese antiquities. 750,000 first printing; author tour. (Sept.)

"San Antonio Express-News" Marvelously entertaining....Full of action, intrigue and beautiful women.
"San Francisco Examiner" Pure Cussler, pure fun....The action just keeps accelerating.