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Clive Cussler | |
|---|---|
 Clive Cussler 2012 | |
| Born | Clive Eric Cussler (1931-07-15)July 15, 1931 Aurora, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 2020(2020-02-24) (aged 88) Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | Pasadena City College |
| Period | 1973–2020 |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Notable works |
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| Spouse | |
| Children |
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| Military Service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Years of service | 1950–1953 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Website | |
| cusslerbooks | |
Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an Americanadventure novelist andunderwater explorer.[1] Histhriller novels, many featuring the characterDirk Pitt, have been listed onThe New York Times fiction best-seller list more than 20 times. Cussler was the founder and chairman[2] of theNational Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), which has discovered more than 60shipwreck sites and numerous other notable underwater wrecks. He was the sole author or main author of more than 80 books. He often placed himself into his books as himself.
Clive Cussler was born inAurora, Illinois, the son of Eric Edward Cussler and Amy Adeline (née Hunnewell),[3] and grew up inAlhambra, California. His father was from Germany and his mother's ancestors were fromEngland.[4]
In his memoirThe Sea Hunters: True Adventures with Famous Shipwrecks, Cussler revealed that his father served in theImperial German Army on theWestern Front duringWorld War I. Furthermore, one of Cussler's uncles served in theImperial German Air Service and became aflying ace, shooting down 14 Alliedaeroplanes.[5]
He was awarded the rank ofEagle Scout when he was 14 years old.[6] He attendedPasadena City College[2] for two years and then enlisted in theUnited States Air Force during theKorean War.[7] During his service with the Air Force, he was promoted to sergeant and worked as an aircraft mechanic and flight engineer for theMilitary Air Transport Service (MATS).[8]
After his discharge from the military, Cussler went to work for the advertising industry, first as a copywriter and later as a creative director for two of the nation's most successful advertising agencies.[2] As part of his duties, Cussler produced radio and television commercials, many of which won international awards including an award at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[9]
After the publication in 1996 of Cussler's first nonfiction work,The Sea Hunters, he was awarded aDoctor of Letters degree in 1997 by the Board of Governors of theState University of New York Maritime College who accepted the workin lieu of a Ph.D. thesis. This was the first time in the college's 123-year history that such a degree had been awarded.[2]
In 2002, Cussler was awarded the Naval Heritage Award from the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation for his efforts concerning marine exploration.[10]
Cussler was a fellow of theExplorers Club of New York, theRoyal Geographical Society in London, and the American Society ofOceanographers.[11]
Clive Cussler began writing in 1965 when his wife took a job working nights for the local police department where they lived in California. After making dinner for the children and putting them to bed, he had no one to talk to and nothing much to do, so he decided to start writing.[12] His most famous character is marine engineer, government agent and adventurerDirk Pitt. The Dirk Pitt novels frequently have an alternative history premise—such as What ifAtlantis were real?" or "What ifAbraham Lincoln wasn't assassinated but was kidnapped?"[citation needed]
The first two Pitt novels,The Mediterranean Caper andIceberg, were relatively conventional maritime thrillers. The third,Raise the Titanic!, made Cussler's reputation and established the pattern that subsequent Pitt novels would follow: a blend of adventure and advanced technology, generally involvingmegalomaniacal villains, lost ships, beautiful women, and sunken treasure.
Cussler's novels almost always begin with a chapter set in the past. These contain none of the novel's main characters and often seem disconnected from the plot until the main characters discover a mystery or secret relating the events of the first chapter to the rest of the story. This is almost always in the form of a long-lost artifact that is important to the villain's or hero's objectives. Often in the first chapter, a ship or airplane carrying a top-secret, important, or dangerous cargo is lost and never found, until it is recovered by a modern character later in the book.
Cussler's novels, like those ofMichael Crichton, are examples oftechno-thrillers that do not use military plots and settings. Where Crichton strove for scrupulous realism, however, Cussler prefers fantastic spectacles and outlandish plot devices. The Pitt novels, in particular, have the improbable quality of theJames Bond orIndiana Jones movies, while also sometimes borrowing fromAlistair MacLean's novels. Pitt himself is a super-hero reminiscent ofDoc Savage and other characters frompulp magazines.
Cussler had seventeen consecutive titles listed onThe New York Times fictionbest seller list.[7] In 2014,McFarland Publishing releasedThe Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review by Steven Philip Jones, the first critical review textbook of Cussler's novels.[13]
As an underwaterexplorer, Cussler discovered more than 60shipwreck sites[14] and wrote non-fiction books about his findings. He was also the initiator of theNational Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), a non-profit organization with the same name as the fictional government agency that employs Dirk Pitt.
Important finds by NUMA include:
A visual and interactive depiction of Cussler's NUMA Foundation Expeditions has been made available as an extension of NUMA's original website that has since been deleted.
Finds formerly believed to be important include:
Clive Cussler married Barbara Knight in 1955, and they remained married for nearly 50 years until her death in 2003.[17] Together they had three children—Teri,Dirk, andDayna—four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
He was an avid car collector of classic automobiles that are on display at the Cussler Museum[18] inArvada, Colorado. Clive Cussler was a part-time resident of both Arizona and Colorado.[19]
Cussler died at his home inParadise Valley, Arizona, on February 24, 2020, at age 88 of undisclosed causes.[20]
| # | Title | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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 booksSerpent,White Death,Polar Shift,Devil's Gate,The Storm,Zero Hour, andGhost Ship and is mentioned inLost City. Juan Cabrillo, the captain of the shipOregon, also made a brief appearance inThe Pharaoh's Secret.
| # | Title | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serpent* | Jun 1, 1999 |
| 2 | Blue Gold* | Aug 1, 2000 |
| 3 | Fire Ice* | Jun 3, 2002 |
| 4 | White Death* | Jun 23, 2003 |
| 5 | Lost City* | Jul 22, 2004 |
| 6 | Polar Shift* | Aug 30, 2005 |
| 7 | The Navigator* | Jun 5, 2007 |
| 8 | Medusa* | Jul 2, 2009 |
| 9 | Devil's Gate† | Nov 14, 2011 |
| 10 | The Storm† | May 29, 2012 |
| 11 | Zero Hour† | May 28, 2013 |
| 12 | Ghost Ship† | May 27, 2014 |
| 13 | The Pharaoh's Secret† | Nov 17, 2015 |
| 14 | Nighthawk† | Jun 19, 2017 |
| 15 | The Rising Sea† | Mar 13, 2018 |
| 16 | Sea of Greed† | Nov 6, 2018 |
| 17 | Journey of the Pharaohs† | Mar 10, 2020 |
| 18 | Fast Ice† | Mar 9, 2021 |
| 19 | Clive Cussler's Dark Vector†† | May 24, 2022 |
| 20 | Clive Cussler's Condor's Fury†† | Sept 5, 2023 |
| 21 | Clive Cussler's Desolation Code†† | Nov 17, 2024 |
This series of books features a ship named theOregon, which Cussler introduced in the Dirk Pitt Adventures novelFlood 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 ofJuan Cabrillo. The ship is run like a business, with its crew being shareholders, taking jobs for theCIA 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 |
| 19 | Clive Cussler's Quantum Tempest╛ | 2025 |
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-lifePinkerton 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 novelThe 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 |
| 15 | Clive Cussler's The Iron Storm§§ | 2025 |
The series focuses on Sam and Remi Fargo, a married couple who are professional treasure hunters.
| # | Title | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Title | Publication date |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Title | Publication date |
|---|---|
| The Adventures of Vin Fiz | 2006 |
| The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy | 2010 |
(*) indicates books co-authored withPaul Kemprecos.
(†) indicates books co-authored with Graham Brown.
(††) indicates books authored by Graham Brown.
(‡) indicates books co-authored withCraig Dirgo.
(§) indicates books co-authored withJack Du Brul.
(§§) indicates books authored byJack Du Brul.
(‖) indicates books co-authored withJustin Scott.
(^) indicates books co-authored withGrant Blackwood.
(+) indicates books co-authored withThomas Perry.
(×) indicates books co-authored withRussell Blake.
(≠) indicates books co-authored withBoyd Morrison.
(**) indicates books co-authored with Robin Burcell.
(***) indicates books authored by Robin Burcell.
(╛) indicates books authored by Mike Maden.
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Edgar Allan Poe Award | Best Paperback Original | The Mediterranean Caper | Nominated | |
| 1992 | Japan Adventure Fiction Association Prize | - | Sahara | Won | |
| 2006 | International Thriller Writers Awards | "Thrillermaster" Award | - | Won |
